Well I recently did pick up the fight again after some extensive Super Ghouls and Ghosts sessions...
If those sessions should somehow make a comeback, then here are some impressions from my recent playthrough (about 100cc, hahaha...).
I tested three versions: Best one is the Super Famicom one, second Saturn, last PS1. Saturn version has a different pixel aspect ratio, one graphical shortcoming in the second part of the water level (less transparencies) and one graphical glich in the 4th stage (the zoom out/mode 7 bridge from first to second part is broken). PS1 handles those parts appropriate BUT the way it handles the slowdowns makes the game unplayable for me (speeds up/breaks the frame rate in the most disturbing way). Saturn's pacing is
overall slower, thus slowdowns occur in a very "fluent" way, they're integrated well into the gameplay, so to speak.
In regards to the weapons, I'd first like to quote this...
...alas, with some restrictions this time. Choumakaimura offers the toughest Arremers from all three games and it takes ages to beat them flawlessly with the knife,
if you don't own the Golden Armor. If you do, then just use its special when the Red Demon still sits there, touching the edge of the screen -- and it becomes a piece of cake. If you don't... try to get the
Bow.
At first, you'll likely dump the idea of using this weapon: it's weak, has an odd angle, a faulty upgrade and a quasi useless special. All true, yet, these defects can be challenged with a bit of skill. The weakness is balanced by it's spreading qualities, the odd angle can be handled with constant kneeling (take advantage of the fact, that this time, you are allowed to turn Arthur while he's down on his knee), the upgrade, by triggering it more precise and learning how to dodge enemies (when you can't shoot your next round, because one arrow is still flying aimlessly around, which happens a lot). Finally, the special weapon gives you at least some seconds of invulnerability, which can come in handy, if used properly.
And the benefits? It's
the weapon to fight Red Arremer & all bosses in the game. You basically dont have to jump up to strike their high hitboxes and can exclusively concentrate on dodging their attacks. It's not a beginner's weapon, but definitely worth a consideration.
Edit: And what about the Goddess' Bracelet? Well, unfortunately, it's the worst one of all games. The best version is found in Daimakaimura, because it offers great width and range, is very powerful and destroys enemy bullets (requires Golden Armor). The only major drawback is fighting Ohme. In Makaimura you have to live with the crosses' short range, but you can trigger it incredibly fast, while still remaining the other benefits (destroying enemy bullets doesn't require anything!).
Much of this is gone in Choumakaimura, where the Golden Armor just improves the range of your shot and destroys projectiles. My advice is: get it only in the last level after destroying the last Red Arremer. There are enough hidden Treasure Boxes in this stage, to grant you that necessary key to fight Samael.
. Maybe Pasky could re-post his top 1cc here, too.
