Hello! Welcome to Feedback Quest 7! My name's Hythrain and I'm one of the hosts and one of the streamers for this event! This feedback is being written live as I stream your game! If you're interested in seeing my live reaction, let me know and I can send you a link to the VOD once it's posted to YouTube!

So my normal approach for any game in these events is simple: I get the game, make sure it's not a virus, then play it with as little information on how to play as possible. This way, I can judge how intuitively someone can figure out the game. Only if it's obvious that I need to read more will I do so. I note this so you can get a sense where some of these feedback comes from. In addition, I want to note that feedback and rating are different; don't use this feedback to gauge what I'll rate, nor should you view my rating as entirely indicative of my feedback.

Conceptually, this game is immediately interesting. A speedy platformer like Sonic (which makes Mario being their hero weird) with a grapple mechanic and a physics engine. Operationally, though, it has some short comings.

For starters, getting initial movement is very slow. If you're stuck on a small platform and a big jump, it can be hard to get enough momentum. I know the dash exists, but I've found trying to time that with jumping off said small platforms can be rough. Meanwhile, the top speed is crazy fast. I'd say drop the top speed down a smidge but improve the acceleration from a stopping position. Doing this would also allow for a more zoomed in default, leading to small scale level design.

Second, when swinging on the hook, the controls will switch up. This can make swinging in circles to build momentum hard. Adding in the fact that the line will draw in over time on its own, and it can get next to impossible to get the right swinging going. Instead of an automatic draw in, how about letting the player control it?

Lastly, while you have a lot of obstacles that are supposed to help with keeping momentum going, I find the placement of some just kills it. This was a problem early Sonic had as well, not using the level design to promote going fast. An example is when you have the curved ramp intended to guide the player to the left but there's no wall to stop them. So they drop, hit the lower platform with the curved ramp and instead lose that momentum but will still keep going right. What I'd say you should do is put a wall in that spot and design the area so the obstacles ease you into it more. Or you could do a fun physics breaking mechanic in this spot: if running fast enough on certain types of ground, you can stick to it and when it curves around to be upside down but in an outward direction. I made an image in MS Paint to explain what I mean, but I don't think it's letting me post it.

Think of it like magnets that only activate when you're going fast enough. Making the tech for this would also make it so you can do all sorts of things.

Can you put a bit more info on your itch.io page, link to a steam page, or upload some screenshots for us to know your game is legit and get more people to try your game?