Played until 3rd boss where the game always froze. I tried 4 different roms, then watched a video online up to the end of the world 2. At that point the video mentioned a password so I used that for stage select. The 2 stages all crashed so I had to start at world 3 and was able to beat all the way to the final stage. The penultimate stage stuttered every several seconds in tune with the music which made the boss much more difficult. The final stage crashed so I watched that on the video. It was a full stage leading to a stationary final boss with multiple parts to destroy. The control was a little choppy but the mechanics were interesting. The main shot only froze enemies for a short while and they could only be killed using the up and down attacks, which was a spear. Enemies dropped pick ups that buffed the basic attacks, buffed jump height and healed, though it was annoying that they fell through the ground and that red potions hurt. Certain enemies always dropped secondary weapons with limited ammo, which helped give angles and ranged attacks for bosses. There was a fire shot, boomerang, bomb that went up diagonal slightly before falling down, and a wide beam shot. There were also vehicles that could be taken from enemies for a limited duration, and that took damage in place of you. There was a mech with spread shot, a spider thing with melee blade legs, and a hover bike with bombs. The video said there were 2 secret stages that could be found using vehicles. I almost found one by flying way up past the boss but missed the hidden passage. There were also 2nd and 3rd quests with higher difficultly. I would probably do the hardest if the game ran properly but not going to bother. The music and stage intros gave off Mega Man vibes but the gameplay did not. It was very methodical and satisfying to progress through the enemies, who did not respawn and were not overwhelming. Though I took some annoying hits by jumping up into enemies that were not on screen. Most of the platforming was very simple with only a few places with death pits. This game had a lot of good aspects though sometimes I wished I could freeze up or spear horizontal. It was a good design choice for limited buttons though. The boss design was very good as I always enjoy multiple pieces to destroy. My biggest criticism was the stage design, which a little simple and repetitive. It could have used more variety, optional paths to explore, more intricate platforming, and more combat. Still very solid and fun shooter.

7.5/10