Aesthetic and style was consistent so the nightmare-ish theme you were going for sold me. The shooting mechanics can be better implemented.
- I think utilizing the mouse to aim would definitely be a quality of life improvement rather than a handicap - especially once more elements like other enemies appear during the run. Having to physically stop moving and turn around to shoot the boss while trying to dodge enemies hurt the flow for me - my issue with the bosses in games like metal slug that have this format, although, there is typically less elements to deal with on screen (think of metal slug 3's first boss).
- having quicker accessibility to shooting towards any part of the screen would definitely be a good thing, imo
- With how far I got, I saw no point on shooting downwards - maybe there are specific ground enemies that appear later that you have to shoot.
- jump animation is a little wonky , but I'm not going to rate quality of animation with how little time we had to complete our entry - it works - that is all that matters right now. Animations are overall serviceable for what you were trying to accomplish.
-I like the implementation of an upgrade system. It's cool to see game jam games incorporate them with how little time there is to complete anything.
overall, a cool little run and gun keep it up!