Just got the Strider plat. My speedrun time was just under 3 hours, and I went out of my way to get all upgrades but one, so there's tons of time for you to work with. Pretty fun game, definitely worth a play for anyone with PS+.
And Yanks - you'll die on a few bosses toward the middle/end until you figure out their patterns, but once you do they're all pretty easy, even on Hard. And they're all a joke on Normal - you don't even really have to dodge. I can't even imagine playing on Easy - guess snakey will have to let us know how it is.