Woohoo, finally finished on normal difficulty. Had been holding out for the physical version, but as that's taking so long, I downloaded and played on my UII+ plugged into original hardware. Played through legitimately without cheats or save states. Man was it tough, took a couple of weeks on and off, but it was worth it. Fantastic game beautifully presented. It's oldskool, so you don't get mid-level checkpoints or free saves. I'm not sure how I feel about that. On the one hand, it provides a good challenge and a greater sense of satisfaction when you beat a level. On the other hand, it was hard to figure out exactly what you're supposed to be doing at many points, so you end up going all over the map and flailing around trying to avoid flying enemies in an often fruitless attempt to figure out what on Earth the next task is. Very frustrating, and a lot of deaths felt a bit cheap because of this. You can try to read the scrolling text at the bottom of the screen for hints, but you'll often find your hands too full avoiding airborne pests to pay attention to the scroller. Levels 2-5 may have benefited from being split into two. The fairly easy (once you figure it out) surface section of Level 5, for instance, was absolute tedium to complete every single time just to get to the challenging underground part, which is what I needed to spend time practicing. Split that surface section off into a mini level, I say. It's beautiful, just like the rest of the game, and fun on its own, and it deserves to be in there, but not as a speed bump. Don't make me perform a menial task over and over just so I can get at the main part of the level. The pestilent and incessantly respawing flying enemies in later levels can be utter killjoys. They will converge on your position, and if they manage to reach your little piggy before you can blast them out of the air, they will smother the poor blighter. Once they're on top of you, you can't just blast them--you have to move left or right and then fire a shot back at them. The problem is that this can sometimes be nigh on impossible in confined spaces. Watch on hopelessly as your health is drained quite unfairly in these situations. Upon contact, such enemies should, having taken away some of your health, themselves perish. Controls are responsive, and the platforming is spot on, for the most part. Music and SFX are great. The variety of tracks is wonderful and each is appropriate to the setting. Graphically, the game is an absolute feast, a true labor of love. Just visually stunning all the way through, never boring for a second. This game is a masterpiece.