Hi Weareroad,
I've made some small games inspired from classic arcade games and people complained about some of the elements of nostalgia I added...but I kept them in! So I totally get the staying true to the original.
I usually don't mind reading, but tried to read these twice and never made it through, lol.
If you did want to incorporate them into the game you could do something like the following with the prompts for each level:
Level 1: Find the key to progress
Level 2: Avoid the yellow mummy (while finding the key of course)
Level 3: Unearth treasure along with the key
Level 4: Beware of unearthing the blue mummy!
etc etc, in whatever order most logical for you, but that way they learn a new mechanic every level. Just an idea though!
Best of luck!
—Lou Bagel, Bagel Industries Inc.