Don't judge your skills on the first 5 levels. I can beat them on Ace. After level 6, you can judge your performance from there. I suggset going through the game on trainee (don't worrym it gets plenty hard even on trainee.) just so you can learn the levels and what to do when you meet certain enemies.
And don't worry about the superhulk on trainee. He's still hard, but not near as hard compared to Hotshot. *shivers*