I absolutely LOVED this. The visuals are charming, the game play is unique and adds a lot of depth and challenge. ahh I had so much fun from start to finish. I will certainly come back to play a longer version if you make one.
The two forms open a lot of doors to different challenges. The water and lava points were aways well placed and it never felt like I had to go too out of my way to find out for the puzzle at hand. The little mermaid character - adorable. The big ol' snake - adorable. The little lava ball - adorable. The grumpy stone lava ball - grumpadorable!!
These crits are really minor - especially since I think they come from a place of time constraints. The game could really use some sound effects. The lack of them is pretty noticeable. They'd do a lot to communicate things to the player. Or maybe it's just me, but things like wall bouncing or smashing through floors were hard to gauge without sound.
I didn't find the 'Q' button to smash platforms around telegraphed very well. I found out I could do it by accident in a fit of frustration. I understand the coins are mostly a guide for the player - but I'd still love a x/y coin counter haha
There's one wall jump puzzle that involved sliding down the wall a bit before jumping again and that slowed things down in a weird way. As I said, this is all pretty minor stuff.
Seriously tho, I gave this game 5 stars because it really blew me away. Favourite game I've played so far.
Best of luck in the contest!