Finally got the 1CC with Haggar.
In fact, this run went better than the ones with the other characters.
I got to the last stage with 7 lives in stock, reached the boss with 7 as well (lost some, but gained the same amount) and lost 3 against him (got another extend during the fight), though the last life lost was completely unnecessary, as I decided to try to finish him with a piledriver, and was trying to grab him (a single punch would have killed him) but he killed me in the mean time.
On average, I think I lost between 1~2 lives during the stages themselves, and 1 during the boss fights (didn't lose any during the first stage at all, but with more lives lost as the game went on).
I'm pretty happy with the result either way, especially as some of the boss fights went much better than usual (chiefly Philippe, Rolento and Retu). On Philippe (Stage 4 boss) I usually lost some 3 lives (rarely 2), and on Rolento most often 2. On the last boss it used to range from 3 to 5.
Some remarks now that I've finally got enough playtime with all the characters:
Though I still miss the Jump+Stun, Haggar's Bodyslam is very useful indeed, as it is fantastic to put all the enemies on the same side of the screen. Another of its uses, is on screen edges, where one of the edges of the screen is a solid wall, and enemies only come from the other direction. In this situations, I like to put all the enemies against the wall, so that you can easily and quickly dispatch them, but there's no easy way to put them all there (I'd usually jump kick the group, and hopefully be fast enough to make to the other side, so that I could hit them in the wall's direction), but with Haggar you can simply jump backwards and use the Bodyslam, and the enemy group will be knocked down in front of you (which, since you're going backwards, is towards the wall).
With Maki you can do a wall kick to quickly get to the other side of the screen, but it's not quite as effective.
Another skill unique to Haggar, is the ability to move around while holding an enemy. This is pretty useful when you want to position yourself before you throw/suplex the enemy. Other characters cannot move while holding an enemy.
Also, the last-hit-throw doesn't work quite as well in Final Fight 2, as it does in FF1.
In FF1, you can hold the D-Pad down as soon as you start the combo, and regardless of the distance to the enemy you're hitting (as long as you're hitting one), and you'll automatically throw on the last hit. In FF2 this isn't always the case.
I don't know if it's a timing issue, or whatever, but I find myself missing these throws every so often.
I'm sure most of you already know this, but this last-hit-throw can be performed with any direction except the one facing the enemy (down, up and back). You can hold up or down as soon as you start the common combo, and you'll throw on the last hit, but when pressing backwards, you need to time it properly, or you'll either not throw (if you press too late), or you'll turn around and punch behind you (if you press too early).
I've gone a long time without knowing you could press down/up instead of backwards, and that's why I thought this 'skill' was harder than it really is.
Another difference from the original game, is that in FF1, after you grab an enemy, you will throw the enemy backwards if you press any direction except forwards (forwards throws to the front, no direction knees the enemy), but in FF2 the up and down directions do nothing (behave as if you don't press a direction, and your character knees the enemy).
Also Vludi, you were right, I've tried the arcade FF1, and Haggar has quite a generous timeframe before he drops a grabbed enemy.
I still think this happens more commonly on the SFC's port, but perhaps it is exacerbated by the lag?
One thing I believe it's worth noting, is that the enemies' behaviour, in general, is considerably simpler in FF2 than in the original.
In FF1 most enemies will actively run from you, and the yellow, mohawk guys can be pretty fast and dangerous, but in FF2 they mostly behave the same, moving a bit every second or so.
I am of the opinion that this makes the game easier comparatively to FF1 (comparing the SFC games, not the arcade game).
One of the most interesting, albeit annoying, is the El Gado replacements.
They get up fast, and will move much faster and longer than the other enemies, and they'll constantly try to move behind you (unlike most other enemies, they'll rarely (if ever) try to attack you head-on). Now, most of the time, they aren't much of a threat, but their usefulness (as an opponent) comes when there's a particularly tough enemy group on-screen (like a couple Andores, or groups of the lightning rod dudes/bear hug dudes), as they will make you have to constantly watch your back, since they'll automatically make a run nehind you. This prevents you from being able to pummel the entire enemy group when they're around.
They work similarly well during boss fights. A nice teamwork strategy if I may say so.
To finish this up, and for those who aren't too familiar with the series, there are several hidden items in the game, much like in FF1 (especially during the last stretch of the last stage). They are hidden behind foreground objects, and although I'm not sure if their contents are fixed, I usually find 2 lives when picking them up (sometimes I get another on a regular oil drum). You just have to press the attack button to pick them up, much like you do with the regular items. Do try to move up or down in small increments if you can't find them, as you might just be slightly above or below the item.
One 1-Up (or it should be a 1-Up) is at the start of stage 4 (London), on the left side of the screen from where you spawn (behind a train, I believe). Two more items are behind the 2 pillars at the start of stage 5 (Italy), and there 3 items in the final stage (one of them is a 1-Up), behind 3 bushes, right after the part where you have to move up, vertically (one item in each bush).
There could be more, but these are the only ones I can recall right now.