Death Valley:

The ninja oddly enough are not the hardest challenge of this level; the bigger problem is actually the annoying green gunmen which have seemed to learned some sneakiness from the ninja as they now enter on-screen from the bottom.

Make sure your guy remains about mid-screen from now on to avoid the fire. Never underestimate the ancient art of ninja, though. If you turn your back to them, even if they have already passed, they can still inflict a star into yer yella belly. Riflemen have taken up post in the mountains too, and falling boulders are common. I recommend picking up a smart bomb if you don't already have one in possession.

DO NOT REPEAT THIS STAGE OVER AGAIN. IT IS HARD ENOUGH THE FIRST TIME THROUGH TO HAVE TO DO IT ALL OVER.

You can do two things to prevent this from happening: (A) Make sure you have at least 40,000 on you so you can purchase that warrant from the second shopkeeper, or (B) stock up on weapons from the first shopkeeper and hope you can make it through alive to shoot at the barrels at the end of the "hard wide mnt. part" that hide a hidden wanted poster. Whichever you decide, I suggest you purchase a horse from the second shopkeeper, too, if you have that extra 20,000. You'll soon earn most of your spent money back in kills. Things get ridiculous when you get to a wide mountain reaching out from the right screen. It just gets nuts. All I can say is to equip those smart bombs, stick to the side of the mountain like playing cards in a deck, and pray to John Wayne to look after Billy Bob's behind.