Letting the Subway demo play at the start initializes a RNG wheel of fun. There is a 1 in 16 chance the game will start on the easiest settings.

The hidden Option Mode can accomplish the same thing without the uncertainty.

So my question is why can't we just start in easy mode and cut the RNG?

I would have no problem with this, if it were in a different category.

Also, I'm not sure what the difficulty settings even DO. They seem to be a carry-over from the arcade version, where the first Difficulty setting might determine how much damage you do to enemies, as well as their health, while the second setting determines how many enemies can spawn at one time. I haven't tested this at all to see if it's the same on the SNES version or not.

ref: http://tasvideos.org/5276S.html specifically these two paragraphs: "The Difficulty Level DIP Switches determine the number of enemies that spawn at a Transition Point, but they do not determine the number of Trigger Enemies that must be destroyed at a Transition Point. The Difficulty Level DIP Switches also determine the number of enemies that are allowed to simultaneously occupy the screen, and the amount of damage that a Hero inflicts against Minibosses and Bosses. The Difficulty Level DIP Switches also determine the Hit Points of enemies. The Difficulty Level DIP Switches do not modify enemy AI or speed.

Enemies have various levels of defense. An enemy's defense depends on the type of enemy and the Difficulty Level settings. An enemy's defense modifies the amount of damage that a Hero inflicts. Significantly, an attack made from Grab or with a Weapon is not modified by an enemy's defense. Likewise, damage from a hazard (e.g. Flame) is not modified by an enemy's defense. "

Again, this is for the ARCADE verson, no one seems to know what the SNES version does based on my quick google searching.

I don't really have a problem with adding an easy mode if we're gonna get some runs using that set up. Is that what we should call it or is there a more appropriate name?