Around 6 hours 42 minutes to beat. This doesnt include the time spent getting to the end of the USA Rom which crashes at the end. I had to replay the Japan version. There was some differences in the level layouts and difficulty so I played through this version legit to get back to where I was in the USA Rom and finish the game. If you plan to work on this game keep that in mind. Play the Japan Rom. The difficulty doesnt really spike to around World 3. Its a short game but once the difficulty spikes the stages can be pretty extreme. Stage 4-3 gave me the most trouble and can be a tough one to put together.
In this video I edited out unsuccessful continues. I show deaths but only on successful continues where I beat a stage. This way you can see where stage checkpoints are and how the game works with the 1 hit deaths.
I will have a tutorial version up soon. This version will have most of the deaths edited out and break down all my strategies, including how I practiced and put the game together. I will also post up a review of the game soon.
This original arcade version is like an Expert Difficulty version of the Genesis port, if you enjoyed that game. I recommend the Genesis game over this version for a better time, but if you want something much harder then this game delivers that version.
2