I started with Tunnel Rhino and that helped a lot more with backtracking, cutting backtracks to Blast Hornet and Blizzard Buffalo’s stages. Neat! Collision damage, and detection feel decidedly off with this one. The early game is pretty punishing on that, and the final boss’s hitbox is famously off. I also died to a crushing hazard abruptly after the final boss during an escape sequence, so yeah man. Ride armors can make the game feel kind of cluttered in terms of items but it’s not bad, and the order I did this time helped a lot. Not gonna say the entire soundtrack is bad, because that’d be a lie, but Neon Tiger is just penis music, and Blizzard Buffalo’s stage sounds like it’s mid-loop on start. I think it’s the weak link of the front half of the series, but still enjoyable, though maybe not as much on a first run due to a learning curve, and better than pretty much the entire back half of the series. Also has a pretty good weapon selection, which is great.