It’s incredible to imagine two people got all this done, especially with all the music, in just two weeks. I handled just music on this jam and barely managed to get a soundtrack of two tracks and two fanfares done, so I can’t help but praise your work ethic.
The balance meter is an interesting idea - it comes across to me that you intended it to be a fair, forgiving way of handling failure in rhythm games, but I’ve seen other people perceiving it as an overwhelming additional element to simultaneously juggle alongside the rhythm gameplay.
Unlike some other games I’ve seen this jam, I am a little skeptical about whether this game concept could be increased in scope and scale. The concept of “keep getting good at the gameplay loop to add additional game time!” as seen with things like endless modes in puzzle games or E-102 Gamma’s gameplay in Sonic Adventure is solid in theory, but I think it’s hampered in this case by the fact that the songs are of fixed length - no amount of increased skill will make them take up less of your finite time, even if the reward money compensates for that. In my personal experience, it makes me feel like how much time I have left is out of my control, regardless of the ability to buy extra time.
I’m definitely glad to see this game exists in the state it’s in, though. It’s an excellent exploration of a bunch of ideas that feels really authentically PS1 in spirit. I admire the soundtrack’s bolder approach to messing with sound compared to what I’m normally used to. I’d love to see a download of it!