Depending on who you ask this is either easier than the first game or harder. I think it all comes down to how reliant you are on the extra lives codes and if you mastered the mechanics of the first game. With that said I feel this game improves on most of the things that were present in the first installment while still retaining some of its weaknesses.
Having to manually press the fire button for your starting gun still sucks and not having a secondary is a pain but thankfully this game swaps the 3D hallway levels for top down levels. These flow a lot better and aren't as finicky as the 3D ones in the first game.
The one thing I love the most about this game, however, is the overhaul given to the fireball weapon. I like that you can now charge up its blast because it adds an extra layer to the gameplay and arguably makes it better than the sacred spread shot.
While some may still prefer the original due to setting the standard for what's to come I much prefer this one. The music is better, the graphics are arguably better, and there's a bit more polish this time around. It may not reach the heights of say Hard Corps but you can't go wrong with this one.
Having to manually press the fire button for your starting gun still sucks and not having a secondary is a pain but thankfully this game swaps the 3D hallway levels for top down levels. These flow a lot better and aren't as finicky as the 3D ones in the first game.
The one thing I love the most about this game, however, is the overhaul given to the fireball weapon. I like that you can now charge up its blast because it adds an extra layer to the gameplay and arguably makes it better than the sacred spread shot.
While some may still prefer the original due to setting the standard for what's to come I much prefer this one. The music is better, the graphics are arguably better, and there's a bit more polish this time around. It may not reach the heights of say Hard Corps but you can't go wrong with this one.