thank you for the detailed feedback! The projectile did indeed pierce up to 3 enemies. I had an upgrade system planned that would have increase the amount between runs, but I didn't get it working in time.. I plan to keep developing it when the jam is over and re-publish with all the tweaks everyone has mentioned! The UI for health, and a ton of animations I left out will help to make what is happening on screen more visually readable.
oh yeah, I did the graphics myself, and I'm not sure any one game inspired it, but I do enjoy pixel art and have been working to get better at animating it.
glad you enjoyed playing:)