I picked it up on 3DS like the moment 9am struck the west coast yesterday. I had since made it up to the 2nd level of the Fortress and I didn't find any part of the game too difficult or unfair.
The only REALLY challenging bits were Plague Knight because he is a fucking fleaman on speed, and Propeller Knight's level because it was almost too awesome. Bouncing on cannon balls over large pits, and having crazy wind direction shifts that blow you up and down or up and to the right alternately was pretty crazy.
I also initially cried foul at a room in the first fortress level until I realized I had to watch the raindrops like in Metroid Prime.
Honestly pretty much every level so far (I probably have 1-2 to go) has had something really great, and challenging, or unusual. Some of them honestly make me squee in delight.
There are so many freaking secrets!
I still haven't found some stuff in Polar/Propeller and thats just what I KNOW I've missed.
The bonus levels are even harder and they are FUN.
The bosses are easily on par or better than any Mega Man boss I've fought and I've played practically all of them (the ones in this style anyways).
The first 2 bosses are pretty easy, but fun and they each have their quirks. Then things get progressively more difficult.
I'm one of those people that prefers to do Mega Buster only runs on Mega Man games through the levels, only using the sub weapons as required. This game however scares me at the prospect of ever getting the Feat where you beat the game with no relics.
The Feat system is like the one in MM9 but far more forgiving. For example there isn't a Feat for taking no damage the entire game. There are ones for collecting no money, spending no money, no damage on a level, on a boss, no deaths, no falling in pits etc. so you can tackle them all together or bit by bit as you like.
The one where you beat the game under 1h30m strikes me as being possibly the hardest one as its a pretty beefy game. The levels themselves are a happy medium between say Mega Man 2, and the ridiculously long ones with little to no checkpoints in your more well known Mega Man fan games.
On the subject of money, there are several things to buy, but you should never be in need of cash. There is plenty even if you die often. You can totally get everything you need money for easily with plenty to spare and then its more like having a high score.
Every Relic is useful (though I rarely found myself using the bouncy ball outside of Plague Knight simply to make my life easier) and fun to use. The magic system is not overly restrictive, so you will always have mp for your items if you don't go nuts.
There is even an armor set that gives you 50 more than max mp, and enemies drop more mana pots, at the cost of taking extra damage in case you really wanna burn them with fire.
There are a variety of armors, and some shovel upgrades. I'm surprised there weren't more shovel upgrades though.
The game is FUNNY! While there are plenty of groan worthy puns, a few are quite laughable.
And most importantly there is the Troupple King. Long may his stem grow!
If you are a fan of Wayforward's Shantae series, then this game will probably resolve every thing you were disappointed with in them.
Its much longer, it has more characters, it has better combat, magic, items, music, challenge, and so one. It even arguably has better dancing, though it IS so far lacking in skimpy outfits and cute monkeys.
I eagerly await all the additional (I believe it will be free) content on the way in the future, as well as any future games from Yachtclub. They are the real deal, and I hope they take off like Fromsoftware or Atlus which are just about the only 2 companies left that make the games I like to play.
