I am posting to commemorate my finally beating Revenge of Shinobi/Super Shinobi and Alisia Dragoon. Revenge is the game that made me want to have a Genesis in the first place; the later levels of the game were really taxing for a good long while.
I will admit that I cheesed out in the labyrinth by finally breaking down and looking at a map, because after dicking around for ~20 minutes I was not feeling it anymore. And then I lost my 1CC at Zeed. >.> Two credits later I made it back, kept my full power with ninjitsu (how the hell do you beat this guy without it?), and basked in that
glorious ending tune.
Joe Mushashi will return in.... THE SHADOW DANCER!
I guess in retrospect, the game isn't
too hard, but I wasn't good enough. Though the Bay and Labyrinth require a lot of inching forward and killing enemies before they start their attack patterns.
In Alisia Dragoon I finally found out how to counter the level 7 midboss's Toaplan-esque bullet-spread and get through without losing all my life. For my money that cult dude and his hard-gay thugs were harder than the evil leader the very next stage. Dodging that guy's lightning-floor attack called to mind all of BIL's complaints about that jump bug; it gave me a lot more damage than needed. I still enjoyed it thoroughly, even if the game is now a bit more qualified by its minor flaws rather than an out-and-out masterpiece.