Kitsune the red pods I'm talking about from Image Fight are a little different than the usual force attachments of R type games... the red pods respond to your movment by rotating in the opposite direction...
OOOOOOOOOH, ok I get you. I don't think I used them.
You've gotta try them out! I don't know where or how to get them in the game, as I haven't tried it yet...
EDIT: From
this faq on gamefaqs the ships that can use the red pods (listed in the bits museum in r type final, apparently) are ships 49-53
The Image Fight pods are bits B, Y, and of course R is the addicting red pod.