Ha!

After seven hours I just got a fake ending. A very easy boss battle followed by an stupidly unsatisfying cut scene that resolved nothing, followed by credits.

But I’d noticed something during that final boss battle and so went back and did it again and did something… different. And the game continues! It wasn’t the end at all! Those wacky Konami dudes and their tricksy ways!

I’ve turned it off for now. There’s no warp point near the final battle, so I’ve got a long trek back from the save point.

And I wish I could work out how to damage those huge armoured guys. Nothing I do does more than one point of damage.

And there’s that underwater passage with the spikes I can’t get past…