On the suggestion of someone from SomethingAwful, I've started a new game recently and turned off the music. It's insane how much you pay attention to when you can actually hear the environmental cues. For example, I actually never noticed the "power-up alert" sound that plays when you get close to ANY powerup (not just the major ones like the

Ice Beam or Boost Ball

but missile upgrades as well. Helped me remember a few that I'd forgotten about. Obviously, it's nice to hear things like "missiles screaming towards you" and other things like that as well.