Lucumo: Welp, made it past the bat with relative ease this time (had 6 lives at that point anyway) but the elevator whittled me down and those three Dudleys obliterated me.
Spectrum_Legacy: You can make that 3 Doberman fight easier if you wait a bit and beat up those ratmen that rush on you, one or two of them will drop a knife. After you are done with them, pick the knife and throw it at one of the dobermans, effectively aggroing/singling it out. Finish him off and then you have an easier fight ahead. Also there is a turkey or two in those barrels to fill you up.
Hope it helps. This is at least how I ran 1cc on hardest difficulty for the first time, because fighting 3 of them at the same time is a bit hectic.
Looks like it works, managed to dispose of one taking no damage. The other two still whopped my ass and I lost two lives. Died immediately afterwards to those two guards right before the (final?) boss though. Those invincibility/armor frames are pretty insane (same as the Dudleys when they punch). It's also funny how I started stage 6 with six (or was it seven?) lives and easily lost them along the way. No health didn't help either (I think there is only one drop per stage and in 6 and 7 they came right after I died). Those barrels might have drops but they usually roll in while fighting, so I'm happy when I can get one which is usually just a weapon.
BlueOctavo: Ah, thanks for the warning about out of bounds pickups and the small stages. Like you, I'll be going for a 1CC, probably trying out F.Norris first (I tend to prefer the agile/ fragile character).
Looks like weapon drop from enemies right when they die and health drops might be just really rare later on. Still, they can die on the edge and you can't pick it up (happened to me already).
