No save state run complete through Bayou Billy. Whee! It was as I thought. Enough continues beyond the driving stages and I was golden.
That last level was rough, you're right. I'd underestimated how tricky it could be to take out the gun-toters effectively without just getting shot to pieces. I lost about four lives there. I finally had to play more defensively by exploiting their up and down movement, kicking the mess out of single ones as they came to the bottom or top of the screen while watching my back for the others. It's all threat management. Once you get a gun away from one, it gets easier. If you can manage to keep about four blocks of health, it helps with the next set of three goons. Similar strategy with these guys, except it's all about getting those bulletproof vests off of them so you can shoot them to end it. The rest is pretty easy as long as you're careful, and the final bosses were a cinch with the whip and vest.