I think the game mechanics are solid (although sometimes it seems that death is completely unavoidable due to random spawns since you cannot control your horizontal movement).
I do think for such a fast paced game that you are expected to die many times, it is important to be able to get back into the action quickly. And while I was impressed by the opening credits cutscene, needing to rewatch it each time you died before you could play again felt frustrating. I would make it so you respawn after the credits has finished.