Around 3 hours to beat (complete the first loop). This port was MUCH harder than the arcade and NES ports so far. Hard to say exactly why but the last two fights were tough. The final boss especially is aggressive to the point where I usually have to survive the full timer and try to come out ontop. The third, semi final opponent is also quite tough. Failing that fight means starting the game over, so it really limits attempts on the final boss. Its very hard to recover from getting stun-locked on the last two opponents. Getting hit can be an automatic loss. Sometimes you get pinned.
This took quite long even though I fast forwarded through the bonus stages for the last 2 hours or so. The bonus stages do nothing but waste time since they are optional and you have to beat the game on one life. For someone who aims for the KILL and not scoring, its just a waste of time with no risk. Occasionally I will fast forward through parts like that on an emulator to save time.
For the second loop I left the bonus stages in, so most of them are still present in the playthrough. Maybe all. I got to the final opponent of the second loop. Setting the throw button to turbo was definately helpful but the game was still quite intense near the end.
Still have the NEC88 and Sharp X1 ports left to beat. So will see if either one of those is harder than this version.
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