The animation for moving is neat, but feels a bit sluggish. I think I would personally prefer that it be a bit snappier. I understand that's probably the job of sprinting, though.
I thought I had practice mode on but still found the game to be pretty challenging.
The control instructions for using the abilities (< > ?) were a bit confusing to me. I assumed the arrows were for selecting different abilities and the question mark was for activating the selected one. I figured it out, but maybe showing the corresponding button next to each ability would be a good idea.
I found shift to be a somewhat awkward key to press for dashing. Being able to assign my own keys for actions would be nice, but I understand it would also be challenging to implement.
It was quite satisfying when I figured out how to tackle the piranha plant-esque boss (but I still died haha).
Having a toggleable auto-fire would be nice. It's a bit awkward to have to perpetually hold it down.
The art is cool. It's a bit nostalgic to me in a way that I can't quite place.