Difficulty spike on world 4 kind of ruins the game

[Paul]

The game was fun on worlds 1-3 but the moment you hit world 4 you run into countless things that can destroy your suit in one hit. It's not fun replaying the same section over and over in an attempt to memorize what's happening with the hopes that you get an effective suit.

Any chance you guys are working on adjustments?

[johnny_sinister]

I am not a developer, but I have been playing the game on Xbox and can probably offer some tips.

I don't believe this game has unbalanced difficulty, at least not for the game it is trying to be (throwback to classic games with notorious challenges)

Honestly, the game is actually very generous in the sense that (regardless of difficulty) you get 3 lives at each stage (regardless if you had less and the end of the previous), game overs allow you to start at the same stage (I.e stage 3/4) instead of restarting from the beginning, and the game will keep offering you new armor that frequently pops up if you are without.

Sure, the game is hard (again, it is supposed to be), but in a way that rewards players for learning enemy patterns, memorizing certain areas of maps, and master controls.
I am currently on a playthough on 'Hell' difficulty (any damage instantly destroys your armor), and it is painfully slow progress, but doable.

My tips are (regardless of difficulty):

-Don't forget to use your special attack. They don't carry over and are wasted if you lose your armor. There is also a brief invincibility buffer each time you use one.
-Hold down on the right stick (assuming you are using a controller) to see what is beneath you. This is great when trying to avoid spikes and pitfalls, or when looking for hidden items.
-Keep an eye out for 1-ups. The game is pretty generous with the number of them lying around. Sometimes you have to hunt for them though.
-Any time you lose your armor, try and back track to a safe area and try moving/jumping around until a free armor capsule teleports near you. You never want to be unarmed.

I hope this helps!

[Paul]

I know how to play the game. World 4 has a difficulty spike because the levels are about 3 times longer than the other worlds.

[johnny_sinister]

Then I should probably let you know that chapter 9 has 6 stages.

[Paul]

The amount of worlds isn't an issue. The levels on worlds 1-3 are about 3 minutes each. then when you get to world 4 the levels are 9-10 minutes long. Then the levels on world 5 go back to being 3 minutes long.

I ended up putting it on easy just to get past that section because it stopped being fun. There was no build up to that level of difficulty. The game had a nice pace and rhythm to it and the suddenly the levels just became 3 times longer for a little bit.