* AnticlimaxBoss: Once you [[TennisBoss find out how to damage]] [[FinalBoss Z-Leo]], you'll find him much easier than some bosses you've already defeated. His moves are telegraphed and predictable, and his [[BeamSpam laser barrage]] will likely see few uses before his death.
* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The whole soundtrack; of worthy note is "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOt6NjBJ8nw Runner AD2025]]", the first stage theme.
* BestBossEver: Seven Force is just as cool, varied, and difficult as it was in ''Gunstar Heroes'', putting up a greater fight than even the final boss. Wolfgunblood/Garopa are also quite notorious by this point.
* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: A blue teddy bear, menaced by kissing mutants, proceeds to operate a speedboat and is unceremoniously thrown overboard by a giant lobster.
* BreatherBoss: [[TheCameo Melon Bread]], a.k.a. "Jampan", is just as easy as he was in ''VideoGame/GunstarHeroes'', and you can, as before, kill him before he can even attack. Right after him is [[SequentialBoss Seven]] [[MarathonBoss Force]].
* SugarWiki/FunnyMoments: Melon Bread appears as the boss of Stage 19 and looks just as goofy as he did in ''VideoGame/GunstarHeroes''. When defeated, his head disappears, but his face continues to float around harmlessly with the same silly smile until Epsilon-2 goes to the next stage. It's a brief respite before the player has to tackle [[ThatOneBoss Seven Force]].
* GoddamnedBats: Those bee-like enemies that you fight between boss battles. Better have Homing Force ready, as they come in swarms, shoot at you, then fly erratically and [[RammingAlwaysWorks kamikaze]] you. The bomb-dropping mutant birds also get really annoying.
* GoddamnedBoss: Artemis Force. It only attacks by jumping forward and firing explosive shots, which can be dashed past easily, but it has massive resistance everywhere except for its tail tip. You could counter it with Lancer Force, but every other weapon will prove ineffective to various degrees. There's an alternate strategy in parrying the explosive shots to gain health and using Phoenix Force, but parrying the shots is difficult to do and Artemis Force likes to stall its movements. The fight was seemingly designed to waste time.
* ItsHardSoItSucks: Epsilon's rather unique selection of abilities means that anyone coming in for a traditional RunAndGun experience is likely to be unaware of Zero Teleport, resulting in them getting rammed a few times by the "inescapable" first boss and dying. Similar experiences await you further down the line.
* NightmareFuel:
** More than a few of the enemies encountered are grotesque. Highlights go to [[EvilIsVisceral Sniper Honeyviper]] and [[SpidersAreScary Back Stringer]], which also gores a mechanical fly rather messily.
** [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Xi-Tiger]]'s boss fight begins with a jarring transformation cutscene that features a sudden perspective shift to a close up of his face as he screams and shakes in an animation style rife with all the UncannyValley eeriness one would expect from attempting to render a realistic face with 16-bit graphics. He then lunges forward into a literal JumpScare before the screen is dominated by a dark silhouette of his new, werewolf-like monstrous form as ominous music plays in the background.
* PolishedPort: The Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack version, ported by Creator/{{M2}} (along with the rest of the games in the Genesis / Mega Drive collection on NSO), plays smooth as silk and features savestates and rewinds ([[NintendoHard which you will quite likely need]]).
* NintendoHard: Even on the Supereasy difficulty, the game is incredibly hard in Treasure tradition. Mastering the controls is also more challenging than in most comparable titles. Even the game's Nintendo Switch Online listing implies this, informing the player that "you can learn new tactics with every defeat..."
* ScrappyMechanic: The weapon change mechanic has caused a fair number of players to get hurt or die outright, as rather than just pressing the weapon change button to cycle weapons, it opens up a RingMenu and then the player must press left or right to change weapons and then press a button again to confirm weapon change. This does not pause the game or make the player invincible at any point in the process.
* SelfImposedChallenge: During the initial weapon selection and configuration, the player has the option to make all information about his health, ammunition and boss health into "???", essentially preventing the player from tracking how much damage was taken or dealt or how much ammo they have left.
* TearJerker: That cute blue bear that drives the boat for you? He gets thrown into the river by the Lobster boss, helplessly calling for help.
-->'''[[PlayerPunch "HELP!"]]'''
* ThatOneAttack: Epsilon-1's bombing wave, where it flies upwards, comes down in a random spot and fires straight down, and fires bullets from all of its wing segments while flying back offscreen. Epsilon-Eagle's dash won't help you dodge the initial fire since he'll just get caught in the wing bullets; you just have to quickly move out of the way and stay in the safe spots next to Epsilon-1's head.
* ThatOneBoss:
** Deep Strider isn't difficult to beat if you know what to do, but its patterns are extremely fast and extremely annoying, and may present a barrier for newer players.
** Seven Force. You have to deal with five forms, each requiring its own strategy to beat. You are on a [[TimedMission time limit]]. The last three forms all have their gimmicks, from blocking your shots, to wasting time and demanding a specific loadout or Phoenix Force use, to straight-up removing your non-energy weapons. The last phase offers a constantly-moving vortex of mines and bladed arms for you to dodge, if having to make potshots with your lasers wasn't hard enough.
** Epsilon-1, your character's [[SuperpoweredEvilSide evil side]]. It only takes damage if you [[AttackItsWeakPoint hit]] its [[RemovingTheHeadOrDestroyingTheBrain head]]. The head is protected by two invulnerable talons. You can't heal during this fight, so you won't get to use Phoenix Force. Epsilon-1's attacks directly counter Zero Teleport, and can still be unpredictable, even if memorized. Finally, it deals enough damage to kill you in a few hits. That you enter the fight weary after a BossRush does not help.