Ok so I got a chance to play it a bit more.
Everything is so much faster and smoother! I didn't even notice at first. I booted up an older release and found it kinda jarring compared to this release. Wow.
I love the second level colors with the blueish ground.
The third level(?) colors are a little confusing as I thought there was hazardous lava and the gray enemies blend in with the mostly gray walls (hard fricking level). It reminded me of The Nether in Minecraft so... cool theme but difficult to navigate.
I had an idea for turning... maybe double-tap left/right for quick 90 degree turn or back for a 180? I've been playing GunValkyrie lately which gave me the idea while I was playing around with strafing.
Also I had thought strafing moved at the same speed as the forward run but it's just normal walking speed. I don't know if speeding it up would make it too difficult to control and I'm used to it now but it might make some of the more hectic fights easier(?). *EDIT* Regular speed strafing makes a lot more sense.
Multiplayer went well and definitely benefited from everything rendering faster. Now it runs at about the same speed as single player used to. I kinda liked no friendly fire to make more of a co-op game but then there would be no deathmatch. Maybe make it a separate game mode or a toggle in the menu.
I had some issues on flash cart. Strafing makes a curve and turns at the same time. The gun graphics get a little jittery when running which I think has been present in flashcart for every version. I didn't check if the strafing weirdness was in older versions.
I still haven't 'beat' it but thought I'd sunk enough time so far to give some more thoughts.
MIND BLOWN yet again :)