Seems like having my Logitech controller plugged in somehow conflicted with the keyboard input. Unplugged it and the keyboard works fine now. (Strange though because I usually leave it plugged in and don't have issues with it with any other programs).
I like the menu design and the ability to change key mappings was very convenient (I prefer space bar to fire and B for bombs).
Definitely gives the core shmup experience and I liked how there were 2 ships to try out from the start.
I found the side bars with the zoomed-in images more distracting than helpful.