Thanks a bunch! And glad to hear the comments on the art and everything!
So that block-won't-break bug is something I've not seen before, but its cause is something I'm aware of. Basically, I accidentally enabled common objects like blocks to retain some of their variables through multiple plays, if the game hasn't been restarted. So a lot of funky things happen if you interact with a block, then return to the level. Even some stuff like a star block that's been hit in one level counting as still hit in a separate level. It'll be an easy fix, and something I should have caught, except I rarely played more than one level at a time when making/testing it. Ah well, at least I can fix that afterwards. The bounce-off-a-hill at top speed, though, I've run into that one, too, and I have no idea what's causing it.
I suspect the SA Everest thread got the quote from the same place I got it. I always knew it just as the stereotypical justification to mountain climbing in general, but it looks like it came from an interview with George Mallory about climbing Everest.
For the controls, I dunno, sometimes some control schemes will just stick with you subconsciously, and it's hard to fight 'em. I went with what seemed good to me, but it's not gonna work for everyone. At very least, you can re-map the controls with the config EXE.
And yeah, I definitely need a new way of scoring the bouncing stage. I know "lose everything" was harsh, but I couldn't come up with any good way to do it on short notice.
Thanks again for the feedback!