I did this play through on a rom hack with Japanese difficulty and settings 10 lives 5 continues 3 hits to die and it was great. I was able to beat the game taking a different route it was alot more difficult than the route I took when I originally beat the game for the first time but very doable with this Japanese version rom hack. This is definitely one of my favorite sega genesis games this was already a great game. I would recommend the Japanese version to anyone that hasn't played it is much easier, great game.

This game was a frustration simulator but god it's just so good, like I've never felt happy after beating a game like I did with this game whenever I finished some new path of the game. The action is top notch to say the least, like you're right in it at the very first second of gameplay and the pacing is excellent throughout the entire thing except against the boss of the 4th level which I feel is way too long for its own good. Now for the level design and the bosses, pretty good although the platforming sections are so short compared to how much time you spend fighting bosses, this game is more or less a glorified boss rush, which gives it a solid identity among run n guns. The game gives you an appropriate amount of lives and continues for the difficulty of the overall experience, well at least it didn't feel too unfair for me because I only ever used browny, who feels like the most broken character by far for me, from his hitbox to his double jump to his weapons. Some bosses feel like they go out too easily while others are behemoths of bulk, it's a very strange balance, the final bosses do not go out too quickly at least. And once again for weapons, I don't know about other characters but I got use out of every weapon in browny's arsenal, everything has its use and it's very cool that you're able to switch between so many weapons depending on the situation. The bombs also feel like big deals, if you just wanna nuke an enemy and get over with it quickly because you're not confident in your ability to dodge, they will bail you out, they are wincons that should be saved for parts of the game you haven't touched yet.
Arguably, this game's greatest strenght is the fact that it has 6 different paths you can take on for 6 different endings. Ok, calling them all different paths might be a bit of stretch considering that no matter what, you're always starting on the same first level and always visit the 3rd and 4th stage no matter the route you take (except for the secret ending). There is still alterning paths for the 2nd level, 5th level and 6th level and every single ending offers a different final boss (aside from one) which is quite a lot of replayability. It works very well with a game like this too since it only takes about 30 minutes to finish one single route.
Contra hard corps is just a great Genesis title and you should try it if you have the means to do so.