Really nice game, I can imagine myself playing this on my MSX when I was young. Really great retro feeling.
As the retro feeling brings enjoyment, it brings me the same stress for not be able to play this type of games. I find it very nice, but I am sure I will enjoy more seeing a friend playing it and panicking rather than me be in the panic, but hey, that's great for the idea you wanted to deliver and you did it greatly.
Nice art, music and gameplay, you guys did a really great job. I would just improve the timer, with all the things to keep an eye in the scene, I totally missed it and the first games I didn't understand why I was dying all the time. I thought it was for the windows that are red coloured. Maybe the heat burned me? No, it was the timer. Make it blink or something and add a ticketing in the last 5 seconds to give the urge even more to move on without having to be leave the focus of the action to check the time.
And yes, it's normal that you can't jump while on the ladder and it's one of the reasons I'm so bad at this type of games, but hey, I would have probably developed the game with the same exact mechanic because it's part of the whole retro experience!
Well done guys! :-)