Glad you guys liked 'em!
StickmanLoser: That's not a manhole cover he's throwing. In the third stage, you fight across a bunch of semis rumbling down the highway, and the tetris-like blocks are the loads they're carrying (maybe they ARE supposed to be hauling Tetris bricks, I dunno, you never can tell with Japanese game developers).
JoshuaF: You an me both, the enemy rundown/descriptions was always my favorite section of instruction manuals. Occasionally you'll still see it done today, but not very often. That said, in-game, comprehensive bestiaries are a wicked awesome alternative to the old print version.