A main menu definitely adds polish to a game but being sent back to one on death isn't so nice.
The art style is nice the enemies look visually interesting, I think SFX would make the enemies have even more personality. The game's name is cool too.
Being able to drop below platforms I feel shouldn't be an unlock as while not having it does block off an area till you get it, it's not a very exciting move to have as it's not very fun to use.
The whip was a cool animation for a melee attack and an interesting way to make such a long ranged melee attack feel right. The fireball hitboxes felt like they were hitting me more than they should (though that might just be me).
Nice game, I enjoyed it.