I think in the NES days, it was more about extending the length of the game by making it hard so the player didn't feel cheated by so few levels. At least, I'm pretty sure these games were made with a home audience in mind (Castlevania and Mega Man) but I guess you're still right in the sense that those games may have mimicked arcade platformers.
I dunno. Don't listen to me.
Robolt sounded fun, too bad it is unfinished.
I think the Zelda game you're thinking of is Link's Awakening.
Hey, my birth year!
Hate to say this, but I found both Castlevania III and Mega Man III harder than original Castlevania and Mega Man 2, respectively.
I thought Alan Wake was ... ok. There was a lot of interesting stuff but also a lot of jank. The DLC left a really bad taste in my mouth regarding the jank.
My favorite dictatorship from which to order heros, I mean gyros.
Anyway, other reason for change in Kiev's pronunciation (and I did not Google spelling) = U.S. solidarity with Ukraine. The pronunciation used before then was Russia's, I believe.
For the Mega Man 2 frogs, you just have to wait to shoot once their jump arc gets in front of your gun.
Pro-tip: stand in one corner and throw the crosses that go in an arc pattern at him.
