>>112226
As John. The lack of a diagonal attempt isn't compensated by Eric's super jump. Plus, i think the spear only has a hitbox on the tip, though i'm not completely sure about that.
In the manual it says that LeCarde would have to take different paths than John at times. In practice you only skip a screen here and there, it's not like there are unique areas only accesible through the jump ┐(ﾟ～ﾟ)┌

>Never finished it
The password system makes it so you only have to beat a stage once if you choose so. I don't agree with it design-wise since, in my opinion, a full run is so enjoyable, but the option is there