Eh, can't really compete with some of these other entries, but I made it anyways.

Manual:
The game revolves around our trusty hero Eggnog, an egg with a gun as he fights his way through hords of enemies in a gameplay combination of CaveStory, Contra and Mario.

The story goes:
After the death of his girlfriend by the hands of his brother Bertrand (who assisted him in the previous game), Eggnog seeks vengance. Game start.

Controls are:
A- Jump
B- Fire
Up- Aim diagonally up
Down- Aim diagonally down/Crouch
Left and Right- Move
Start- Pause
Select- Stats/Inventory
This game features game data saving and a scoreboard.

Menu trees:
Main menu
|-Press start
   |-Select file
   |   |-File 1 (Register>Start/Erase)
   |   |-File 2 (Register>Start/Erase)
   |   |-File 3 (Register>Start/Erase)
   |-Options
       |-Difficulty (Easy/Hard)
       |-Control    (A/B switch)
       |-Scoreboard
In-game menu
|-Save game
|   |-File 1 (No/Yes)
|   |-File 2 (No/Yes)
|   |-File 3 (No/Yes)
|-Options
    |-Difficulty (Easy/Hard)
    |-Control    (A/B switch)
    |-Scoreboard

Your main weapon starts as a single shot pistol and levels up as you gain points.
The levels are:
1- Pistol (single shot)
2- Machine gun  (3 shot burst)
3- Shotgun (3-way shot)
4- Rocket launcher (single shot, explodes on contact)
Each level requires 100 points. If you get hit, you level down.

The stuff on the bottom of the screen are as follows:
Heart- Represents 2 hit points; Take one hit and it cracks, take another and you lose a life.
Shield- Item pickup; Represents another 2 hit points; Take one hit and it cracks, take another hit and your back to just the heart.
Score- Kill enemies and pick up items to gain points.
Next- How many points needed till the next level up.
Level- Your current weapon level.
Lives- How many extra lives you have.

Enemies:
Munchie- A hopping box with teeth; Deals one hit point on contact; Gives 10 points.
Flying Munchie- Same as Munchie, but with wings.
Bounder- A combonation spring/fork; Deals one hit point on contact; Gives 20 points.
Batty- A flying baseball bat; Hangs from ceilings till Eggnog gets close; Deals 1 hit point; Gives 10 points.
Hammerhead- A hammer with legs; Deals 1 hit point on contact, 2 on attack; Gives 30 points.

Stages:
Stage 1- Highway (Boss: Tank)
Stage 2- Mountian (Boss: Harrier)
Stage 3- Forest (Boss: Robot dinosaur)
Stage 4- Beach (Boss: Ship)
Stage 5- Cave (Boss: Drill machine)
Stage 6- Fortress (Boss: Bertrand)

Powerups:
Heart- Puts your heart back together, dropped by most enemies.
Shield- Gives you 2 extra hit points, picked up at certian locations.
Coin- 1 point
Gem- 10 points
Money sack- 100 points, instant level up as a result.
Egg- Extra life

Note: I chose to go with minor anti-aliasing on the sprites as all the backgrounds consist of the two lightest shades of the pallete, The sprites will be spending most of their time on these backgrounds.