Keep an eye on your Energy and don't waste too much of it, otherwise you won't have enough Energy to use Drill Guard when needed. Using Healing Potions can also recover your Energy as well.
I downloaded 1.76 yesterday, installed it today...I was very pleasantly surprised that I was still able to load my saved games. It still took a few tries, but Jason, Louis and David finally defeated the three sisters! Took a few tries, but Jason and Blu defeated them, too! Now Ryu keeps getting slaughtered by them. I'll keep trying. Thanks for responding. I do feel at least a little better now that I've seen comments from other people having the same problem, at least it isn't just me.