Thanks for playing, and for taking the time to master the controls !
The maze at the start was intended to force the player to learn the main movement mechanic. You're right that it is slow to do, and annoying when replaying. We were crunching to get something which showed all the ideas, and didn't have time to really think about the level design.
I think a better version of the game would maybe have a (skippable or separate) tutorial showing the principles, and then an arcade mode where it just throws everything at you.