I was messing about with Cerberus in last night's session, after finding the stage's second Hell Hole. I should go back and record, as I'm finally pretty confident. Ser Pounce is indeed a total menace, his comrades Rainy and The Blower aren't nearly as effective without his ass complicating things! I actually messed about with Quickening, but man... that thing conks out so fast, it almost feels like a glitch. Not at all recommended, imo. And the longer all three dogs are onscreen, the likelier you'll get tied up.
Instead, I've had good results using a well-timed Doppelganger to bait and then i-frame speedkill Pounce (much like in the preceding climb setpiece). He can't survive under focus fire, ideally Daggers. If there's one good thing about the bastard, it's that he'll readily come straight to you for quick dispatch. Just have to ensure you're not in Blower's line of fire during this. I typically don't know WTF Rainy is even doing, during, but he's NBD really.
re: the platforms, Lander made an excellent point about Option Select positioning. Feels like you should have a couple options open at all times, if possible, to counteract the dogs' speed. Basic info, but it's the kind of thing that's easy to forget in such hectic surroundings.
It's actually the second phase, with the reassembled Cerberus's lateral charges, that I find nervier atm. But that's mostly because I've been cheesing it with yet more Doppy Bomb since the start.
I almost wish they'd given Arthur's run just a few more pixels-per-second... besides Pounce, the Unicorn's diving stomp is also a lot deadlier than it might look to an observer. You don't have more than a split-second to get out from under either, owing as much to their huge hitboxes as their speed. On the other hand, bunnyhop is a good countermeasure, so it's ultimately NBD.
I really wonder if Quickening has some cutoff mechanic I'm unaware of... now I mention it, maybe jumping? It always feels short, but sometimes it's like being robbed blind and left in cooldown.
Besides the monster DPS and generous i-frame burst, this is why I love both Doppies; lots of mileage! Committed
HYPER OFFENCE FORMATION Dagger + Boulder down to muscle memory. You don't want it the other way round, shot limit leaves Arthur vulnerable and reliant on his bros.
For Shadow Zone 4-1, upmost route, my partitioning is basically:
1] take first elevator up, snipe the lone turret while hauling ass to the next. (the Pink Gremlins can't catch up to you)
2] be ready to snipe all three ceiling turrets on entry; their firing schedule is RNG, but their aim is set, so it's very consistently doable.
3] press forward until you've got the very last ceiling turret, beyond the alarm, onscreen; then nuke the lot with your bomb of choice (I like Thunder L3). Job done, haul ass through to the vine before the Burritos gather.
This is nervy, since the ceiling turrets will be potshotting during the approach; but their fire is very baitable, and you can snipe a couple if need be. The really dangerous thing is missing the platform's descent - usually happens if I mistime my bomb, leaving Arthur invincible and unchallenged, yet immobilised. This'll strand you smack in the middle of Burrito Country, waiting on the paths ahead
and back to re-open. As you say, the Shadow Burritos will have a field day, particularly with the moving terrain dragging you into their range (and keeping them out of yours).
This disaster is easily planned ahead of, though. I was nailing it so consistently, I started wondering if I'd stumbled on the EZmodo path.
GNGR being so fiendishly crafted, and giving you such a large toolkit, I bet there's a lot of these cases where players end up crafting their own safe routes, only to find others doing something completely different.
*I'm calling it Boulder for now, "Iron Ball" is clunking me euphonies hard, like 3; I wanna say it's the head of a Mace or Morningstar, salvaged from a monstrous fallen demon, heftable by only the buffest warrior KANGZ - except it's clearly the same Shot hefted by Big Bois. Then again, maybe they salvaged theirs too? Whee, headcanon!
Speaking of Big Bois, that fist-pumping idle animation makes me think of
this gem from blackoak:
Hiroaki wrote:Overall, SNK had a lot of “jock” types. They kept 5kg barbells beside their desk, and every now and then they’d get up, stretch their arms, and in a semi-threatening voice say “Man, I’m getting stiff here. I need to pump!” Then they’d start lifting right there in the middle of the office. I’m sitting here thinking, “How the hell did these guys get into game development?”
EDIT: Yo WTF you can jump over charging Big Bois?!
They'll even slam face-first into walls, dohoho. Nice.
It's Augustamura, or DaiRallyMura, the way all arcade games ultimately are, only without the hard "You've hit the wall, loser!" and 
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I was unimpressed by the exorbitant cooldown, not bothering with it during my initial stage clears. But when you know exactly where you're headed, being able to bust out Gold Armor on tap is amazing. Gold Doppelganger LV2 with Crossbow = NES Contra Spreadshot. 
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