Very much in the spirit of Super Metroid! Immediately, the high level of polish and smooth controls stuck out to me. The ship movement is tricky to master, but in a good way — it adds to the challenge.
As far as feedback goes, a few things stuck out:
- The tiny ball things were damage sponges early on. Granted, the point is the unlock more power-ups to move on, but they did initially slow down the pace for me.
- When using a pad, I wasn't able to tab between menu panels. I had to switch to a mouse to click the control panel.
- The puzzle before the damage boost power-up with the red laser and the sandworm thing was cool, but after passing it, I was blocked by a wall that I seemingly could damage but not destroy. I assume I needed the missile power-up still, but it did feel anticlimactic to get through the puzzle, get a new power-up and then... just backtrack — through the blue laser which was one of the more difficult areas no less.
What was especially cool was how the game was both clear in what to do while providing freedom of exploration. Areas progressively got harder, but there was always something new to unlock too.