This was a short and fun experience. The theme was met, but honestly felt unbalanced. I found the best strategy was to keep all your health and run in circles shooting everything. Giving up health for more power usually felt underwhelming and didn't truly feel balanced, which made that mechanic almost meaningless. I had fun though. Pretty polished experience. 

More thoughts of mine here on my stream of it:

i love the idea and art awesome job :)

I enjoyed this!  I liked the art, sound, and especially the music and its transitions.  I also liked how frantic things got when I was only using the smaller shot.  Great work!

It took me a second to understand the connection to the theme, but once I got it it was hilarious.

This was good! The hit-stop is just beautiful. Good job with this.

Although i have to admit the game is fun, I personally haven't liked the concept of the game of "give life to gain more power" (actually i dont like the concept of "give X to receive Y", but that if it's well executed it can still work out). And talking about power: when you upgrade your power, the actual damage doesn't really seem to go up, it just increases the ball size that, yes it increase the range of the attack, but it also increases the time you have to wait for the ball to charge. So you're really trading life for less precision, which imo isn't a good trade, because it's the equivalent of saying "Hey, you are having a bad time with the game?? If you trade me 1 life point I'll make the game easier for you, giving your attack more range", and this wouldn't have really been a problem if there was a way to regain health (and you was trading on Max Health instead, otherwise your concept idea will break), but nope if you get hit is one less powerup for you, better luck (well, skill really) on next run. And on the late waves (5+, idk if there are more then, i didn't played for that long) the power up they almost feel like a requirement for how many enemies there are on the screen, but at that point you probably won't have enough life point to buy one so it becomes a game of "Hit & Dodge, or Die trying"

Although i can seems annoyed and like i didn't liked the game, i'm not: The game was great for the 5 minutes that i played, and the music that get more frenetic/calmer when there are enemies or not on the screen was a nice touch. It's just that i wanted to share with the developer how i feel about the idea, since in the comment i didn't see mention of this whatsoever (At least, in the front pace, this game has SOO MANY comments i couldn't possibly have looked at them all)...

LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT! This is probably one of the most fitted to the jam theme I've played so far, plus it's so addictive! I couldn't get enough of the 8-bit aesthetic and audio, fingers crossed you get super high in the ratings, as you guys deserve it!

Nice and simple game fit the theme quit nicely

Very nice and working idea. Its not something very original but it works. Game is nice and simple. Its ssadly very easy and i think it would be more fun if gun and enemies were faster becouse game is now much of waiting to gun reload and to balance faster gun i would have done faster enemies also.

A lot of good things I can say about the game. First, the theme was spot on and I think trading off HP was essential to finish the game, which I did. My first run was just trying to survive without sacrificing any health, and that led to my demise. 😂 It was a bit challenging, and not in an annoying way. Graphics are crisp and easy to the eyes. BTW, nice use of contrast for player and background. Perhaps you could do the same for the enemies, like they share a same color (like in a team)  for that extra appeal! 👍

Another thing I liked was the music, a little bit sci-fi-ish combined with some rock tunes! Works well!
I also liked the growing energy ball (dragon ball z style!) but sometimes it kinda obscures the player, not a big prob though. Also I wasn't sure if those dudes with projectiles have a SFX when they shoot, maybe it's kinda muted. If there isn't, then it would be nice to have. Just to add danger cues for the player. Because the Zenyatta dudes caught me off-guard on my first run, sniping me off screen.

The controls were smooth, had no problem with it whatsoever. And lastly, I always enjoy finishing games, so thanks for keeping it short. Overall, great job for making it!😄

I really liked the game ! It's short & sweet and I really loved being able to trade life for damage.

I just wished there was a way to recover health or more levels !

Cheers and congrats on the game :)

I like the concept and it's really awesome you made all the sfx and music yourself!

I would have liked to be able to hold the mouse button to fire. I didn't like that the projectiles didn't get more powerful, but only bigger, which doesn't really feel like more power if you're able to hit enemies anyway. At that point you're just trading HP for a bit of convenience. I did encounter one issue where big projectiles would instantly collide with a wall if you were standing next to it.

Neat concept, very well executed. Theme very well integrated into the gameplay, with a clear message. Smooth and fluid, really enjoyable.

Nice!! I have no clue how u made the graphics but damn, good job

Great game design! Loved the consistent timing on the enemy attacks (made aiming a breeze even using a trackpad!!) and the fact that your spells went through multiple enemies. The only time it felt unfair was when they were hidden behind a wall.

That was fun, perhaps more powers could be great :D

I really liked the art style and the music, really well done!
Thought the gameplay was missing a little extra bit of punch... Another form of interaction, or more enemy types would have been nice as here the waves felt pretty similar quickly and I didn't feel at risk at any point.
Other than that, really cool little game! 

Very nice and good game, I would like to be able to hold my mouse down to shoot for the next shot (as soon as it is available). But otherwise great!

Fun game! I liked the theme a lot. (Obviously I choose to power up every chance I got). Great job!

Fun stuff! I really enjoyed it and it's a good twist on your standard overhead shooter! I traded a lot of health for power and it definitely was an advantage! It was fun to power up!