Walkthrough :
If you keep your ship stationary in the centre of the screen and spin around to shoot the oncoming asteroids, you will soon discover that after a while, you will frequently be using your shield and diminishing it's power. Although this strategy does work, it is not always the best plan to use. You might find that accelerating slightly in one direction will clear you of any oncoming danger heading towards the centre of the screen. You must not forget however, that other asteroids will be heading into your pathway, and these are the asteroids that must be cleared first. This accelleration technique is only really necessary on the higher levels, and is much easier to pull off if you have super boosters.

Never shoot a large or medium sized asteroid that is too close to your ship or you may be caught unawares by a smaller asteroid that is produced. Instead, if possible, shoot an asteriod when it is far away from your ship, and you shall reduce the risk of being hit by the debris.

It is possible to destroy a whole asteroid by accelerating at top speed towards it, and activating the shields just before impact. As your ship speeds along, it will destroy the debris it produces as you pass through it. This method is fairly risky, but is an alternative way of destroying a fast moving asteroid which cannot be shot easily. It can drain your shields down drastically if you activate them too soon before impact or leave them on for too long afterwards, so try to master this technique if you think it will be useful. You have to watch out for ather asteroids afterwards, so try and slow yourself down quickly after pulling off this move.

Sometimes when shooting an asteroid, it splits into just two smaller sections instead of three. It is possible that shooting an asteroid at different angles can cause this to happen. Experiment and see whether or not this works, because it may be work, and you can use this to reduce the amount of debris produced.

Concentrate on destroying one large asteroid and its debris at a time, otherwise you will find yourself under threat from all sides!

Never go out of your way to collect the power ups, or to shoot the bonuses, as it is easy to forget about the asteriods and be killed if you are distracted. Only go for a power up if there is no threat near to or coming to your ship. Supply cannisters are the hardest bonuses to collect and keep because it is all to easy to accellerate after one and collide with an asteroid before reaching the bonus. Try to predict where the cannister is going to go and go to that place to intercept it instead of chasing after it. Never chase one at high speed unless the screen in virtually clear of obstacles.

Don't worry if a comet is heading towards you and you are not ready to shoot it as it cannot harm you and will pass straight through you (I think!).

Steel asteroids may appear to be indestructable but they are not. If you shoot them too many times in one direction they can speed up and become hazardous. To slow them down, you must shoot them repeatedly as they come towards you. If you ever get a freeze bonus in a cannister, go for the steel asteroid if you can, as it cannot be speeded up from shooting it. They take many hits to destroy, but they are worth a lot of points if you can destroy them. You don't have to destroy a steel asteroid to go on to the next round. It is advisablt to try and shoot it so that it is left stationary.

Press X on the title screen for a message quoting the lyrics of a the Red Hot Chilli Peppers song.

Press L for a level select, and the option for Turbofunk (speeded up mode!). Some versions of Maelstrom do not have Turbofunk mode available.

The luck bonus may appear to be useless at first, as its bonuses are not immediately obvious. When you get hit by an asteroid, there is a 1 in 3 chance that you will survive, and when you get killed, there is a 1 in 3 chance that you will keep your power-ups. Also, more bonuses appear more often.

Collect the spinning out of control ships to get extra lives.

Extra lives are awarded when you reach ceratin point totals.

Watch out for cannister showers. This causes several supply cannisters to appear at once. Collect as many as you can to be super-powered up.

The effects of supply cannisters are as follows:

Freezes all asteroids to leave them as an easy shot
Destroys a lot of the asteroids for you
Extra shield power
Gives you long shots
Gives you triple shots
Gives you rapid fire shots
Gives you retro thrusters
Gives you luck (see above for details)