I didn't like the fact that you couldn't control the character well while jumping. Since the level you made had some precise platforming and made you restart the level upon failure it was frustrating to have to figure out exactly how far the jump + right input made the character go for every jump. Jumping straight up feels really bad when its difficult to move left or right because there is no jump in between fully going to the left or right, and just going straight up. I hope that makes sense.
I don't think leaning into the theme is a bad idea and I thought it was charming.