This is probably an obvious point but 2d commands like 'drawimage' are faster if you call the 'graphics' command as opposed to the 'graphics3d' command - and as Sledge says b3d is fine for 2d games as well as 3d games.
A lot of what you are asking for is mentioned, I think, in the thread a few threads up from this - the Space Invaders thread which is sticky at the top.
A lot of what you are asking for is mentioned, I think, in the thread a few threads up from this - the Space Invaders thread which is sticky at the top.