I've tried two different areas, and in both of them i get through about five or six screens before getting to some area with bottomless pits/spikes with annoyingly exact jumping required, and then i die. I should dig up Megaman 2 for comparison, to see if Megaman 9 is actually harder or if i've just gotten out of practice at exacting platformers :)
The game is totally old school and awesome though, especially the intro :)