I spent $40 to watch the OVA based off of this only to realize the game barely even follows the source material. The things I do only to get hit in the head for wasting time.

But yeah the game isn't bad, though I think I partially think this cause I used save states. The game is brutally hard and it feels like they give you mechanics like the ring shield (which wasn't even in the OVA btw) only to just circumvent the bs the game throws at you. It's only five stages but the level design does not compliment the stiff controls whatsover. So much of it is slanted surfaces and just never really feel good to platform with. There's even wind mechanics in the first and last level like why would they do this?! They don't even have many items littered across stages, it's just health refills and a 1-up in each stage.

Enemy placement is rancid. You can tell it won't be good the moment you notice how many times the game loves to throw enemies off screen rushing at you at blazing speeds. The bosses though are actually pretty easy and don't feel well thought out at times. It doesn't help the timer is really strict too. Did I also mention you have 0 I-frames? You will die fast if you rush. You also have limited continues so good luck!

I wanted to think people on here and other sites were being too harsh. My stupid mental self was thinking "ahh, I watched the source unlike them, I'll truly get what makes this good" only to play it and find out I'm sort of on the same bar. It does have decent music at least but it doesn't impress me graphically. It surprisingly lacks fanservice which the OVAs loved using. I can't really recommend the game unfortunately, even if you're a fan of the source material, it's a pass in my book. I don't blame anyone for hating this game even if I didn't despise it.