Devil May Cry 1 and 2

I'm now realizing that Hard wouldn't be so damn hard if the prices for Devil Stars and Vital Stars didn't go up to 2700 and 4300 Red Orbs, respectively. I'm trying to get all the Blue and Purple Orbs first, then all the Alastor and Ifrit Upgrades, so I have not been able to buy 1 of either Devil or Vital Stars this entire Hard Mode, which as you can guess makes it very difficult...

Right now, I have all Alastor done, and only need Kick13 Level 2 and Inferno for Ifrit. I can also only buy one more Blue and Purple Orb. I'm on Mission 16 or 17 I think now (The first encounter of Nightmare) and it is giving me a hell of a time since I have no Devil or Vital Stars left.. I get so damn close, but I just need a little more life.

Raz, you should take out the game again, put on Alastor, Devil Trigger, and literally just run up to Neo Angelo and hack away. You will not lose, trust me.The only difference on the second encounter is that he can occassionally break up your attack and hit you with his glowing sword, so when it does glow, just Air Hike backwards to avoid it, then start the cycle again. Also, there are two green orbs randomly around the board to help out.