Wonder Boy in Monster Land [AC] 1CC 

A unique and interesting game. It's a platformer RPG where most of the difficulty and strategy come from navigating the RPG elements. As an action game it's pretty clumsy.
This game has what I assume to be a glitch where you can cause hidden gold to be worth quite a bit more by doing arbitrary things. The most reliable method is to cast the tornado spell once or twice right before you reveal the gold. Don't know how you'd go about clearing this without exploiting that.
Stage 1 - 0:06
Nothing complicated here. The hidden heart at the end is enough to top off my health so I get a 10,000 point bonus at the end of the stage. It's important to raise your score even in survival play, since it increases your life meter.
Stage 2 - 1:19
First thing I buy is the light shield and I have just enough gold left to buy out the magic shop's tornado spells. There's a hidden door in the cave which starts the game's major side quest. There's a boss fight against a vampire lord who drops the broad sword. The game is nearly impossible if you miss any sword upgrades. At the end of the stage I have enough gold to buy the leather shoes.
Stage 3 - 4:41
A hidden door leads to the first armor shop. I buy the light armor for 60 gold instead of the overpriced knight armor for 150 gold. The red knight is pretty easy, just stay on the offensive.
Stage 4 - 6:25
The crab enemies tend to have good drops. In the town we buy the heavy armor for 100 gold. It's both better and cheaper than the knight armor. I also pick up the knight shield since I've got extra money. In the hidden door you can exchange the letter for the flute. The kraken doesn't do much contact damage, but his shots are very painful. After beating the kraken, you can go to the underwater area, return to the surface, and challenge him again. I do so for the extra gold and a life refill.
Stage 5 - 9:56
The yetis tend to drop nice items too. The mudmen take a long time to deal with and I prefer to skip them. There's a hidden door that leads to a giant kong who drops the great sword, but before fighting him I buy the legendary armor. Giant kong is the most dangerous boss so far. He's got a lot of health and if you don't keep him stunlocked he'll throw a boulder. If he does throw one, jump to avoid it. After giant kong the stage is pretty simple.
Stage 6 - 13:01
The platforming at the beginning can be tricky, especially if you haven't been upgrading your shoes. Note that the blocks without shadows will fall when you land on them. I pick up the legendary boots. The sphinx at the end asks you a question and you have to fight him if you get it wrong. The bartender in the pyramid will give you a hint if you buy a cocktail, but it seems the rightmost options is always correct.
Stage 7 - 15:10
The beginning of this stage can be rough. To move on to the next area, talk to the elephant in the rightmost house, who will activate some floating platforms to the left. Don't forget to fight the gold collector for excalibur before you leave. This stage can be finished pretty quickly, but you don't want to do that. Go to the rightmost island and play the flute to reveal a hidden castle. Inside you can trade your flute for a charm. The ghosts have a ton of health but killing one is worth 30,000 points. I rematch the blue knight just like I did against the kraken.
Stage 8 - 19:26
Since I've got gold to spare, I buy the legendary shield. There's a hidden door in the cave where you can fight a demon for the legendary sword. Make sure not to miss it. The hob goblin is quite dangerous but doesn't have much health. The legendary sword helps a lot, as does thunder magic.
Stage 9 - 22:05
This game's controls were already slippery to begin with. The ice makes it even worse. Fortunately I've got leftover winged boots from the previous stage, and the shoe shop will sell more since I already have the legendary boots. Snow kong is a nightmare if you aren't using top shelf equipment. Avoiding damage is unrealistic, just try to kill him as fast as possible with spells and the legendary sword.
Stage 10 - 23:48
Hug the left edge as you fall into the undersea area so you can visit the magic shop. After the shop closes, try to reenter it anyway and you can trade the charm for the crest. There's a final town just before the end of the stage. Make sure you're well equipped. If you've followed all the steps of the side quest up until now, you can trade the crest for either the bell or the ruby. The bell will guide you through the Labyrinth of No End, and the ruby will massively weaken the final boss. I take the ruby.
Stage 11 - 27:10
In the Labyrinth of No End, you'll keep getting sent backwards unless you follow the correct path. I recommend taking the bell until you have it memorized. After landing the first hit on the dragon, the ruby activates and drains most of his first form's health. The second form is just a second life bar, nothing about his behavior changes.