yea this game's a bit hard at the beginning, but i think its easier after u beat like 2 stages in Gold and u have enough points to put into extra lives, then keep that up with Life Steal mushrooms!!!
on the scanner boss, while its scanning, if you are caught on the bottom of the scanner.....you are stuck, you cant move = to move means you get shot to death, to NOT move, you might get missiled to death......