So here it is. I completed what by many people is referred to as one of the hardest games ever made. And sure, a big reason for that is that you are intended to play it on the NES, which has no saves. That, and the fact that if you die to the final bosses even once, you are sent back three levels. I played it on the 3DS, so I used save states. Initially I only used it so I wouldn't have to start over from the very beginning every time I started up the game. But in the end, I realized that the final boss gauntlet would actually be way too difficult (in that you have to play through three levels to get one single try at them, those levels being some of the hardest in the entire already damn hard game), so I saved before the final boss and retried until I beat them. Now that I have figured out the strategy, I could probably beat the game without using those final save states if I tried to, and I may do that in the future. Why? Because this game was so much FUN! I cannot underemphasize the importance of everything dying in one hit in this game. Because this game is hard, the enemies are relentless and infinitely spawning, and they knock you back into bottomless pits if they hit you, killing you instantly. You can also die by running out of health, which happened to me many times because of how relentless the barrage of enemies is. This would have been majorly annoying and have made the game borderline unplayable if the enemies did not die in one hit. But they do, and this makes the game SO enjoyable! Sure, it's trial and error most of the time, and you have to memorize many of the later stages and make up strategies for them, but I actually think that is part of the fun. The infinite continues this game gives you encourages this play style in my opinion, and it's very quick to restart, so it feels seamless. Probably one of the best games for the NES!