Yeah, I have a cousin I used to play that game with back in Sega days. He was way better than I was, so we could usually complete the game together.
It's so weird how hard some of those games are now. I frequently buy Sega and Nintendo classics and am amazed at the difficulty. Especially since I used to destroy them back in the day.
I tried playing Contra IV a couple of months ago and got TROUNCED.
Einhander for Playstation is another one. Used to play and beat that game all the time and got smoked the last time I played.