I was thinking to myself that the tongue must have eaten up a lot of time. Totally worth it.
For level 8, it was the beginning. Those two bats were hard to get by. I'm a pro at it now, but I must have died 20-30 times before crossing them once. After crossing them, any death forced me to cross them again. And I died in each segment at least a few times. I hit that second heart a bunch of times.. so close to finishing the level.
I think the bats are a solid addition, but that segment was much harder for me than anything else in the game. Starting with one bat might have made it smoother, but still challenging.