I finally got to play this and really enjoyed it! It was reminiscent of some SNES games I used to play esp, the cut scenes with humorous dialog. the core mechanic was a great idea, and well executed. Critiques I'd have are mostly listed already and seem like the could affect your design choices anyway, because having everything freeze when you fire seems core to the experience, but I still found it challenging to fire quickly enough, navigate the projectile and evade enemies. I haven't played Cave Story but this makes me want to if it is so inspired.