1.) There are 2 more easter eggs in level 7-1.
2.)Is there a remix of Fear Factory? I didn't knew that.
3.)There are some hard parts but the in general the game is not hard, is challenging as any game should be (but I find it harder than NSMBW), however the difficult is quite different depending on how you play the game, you want just pass the level, is challenging, try to get KONG letters / Puzzle pieces and it gets more challenging, go for gold medals and*****(spoilers) then it gets difficult.
4.) Level design is top level, in Retro Studios tradition, even better than the originals imo.
5.)I agree, I think they concentrated their efforts into a few key gameplay mechanics trying to take the best out of em' but there is indeed less content and variety compared to old Rare games, that's why I would like a sequel in some time.
6.)I don't know but for sure there are many cues from mario, for example the bullet-bill like cuttlefishes, and in general bouncing on enemies got much more important in comparison to old games.
I'm really enjoying the game, I think it's the first present 2D platformer to be considered in the same league as the ones of the 16-bit era. NSMBW is good but not as much imo.
