All three types of bonuses (gray, green and red) have a great impact on game play.
When you die, your current 'equipment' (not just the special equipment) is to be decreased by a factor of one. This means that if you die having the triple red shot, double shields, triple propulsion and six teletransports, your next ship will have the double green shot, normal shields, double propulsion and five teletransports. 'Course, man, you'll lose a ship too!
The rule behind bonuses tends to maximize your ship's power, so... you've gotta be stingy *only* while collecting equipment. When you'll have full power, you shall use your equipment very often; in this situation, red barrels shall give you special equipment (completing the current row) or points, if the current equipment is already at its full stage (e.g. six items). A good player should try to collect special equipment via the green barrels, and score thru the red ones.
