Sadly no you cannot choose which direction they come from. However there is a top down attack which is like a laser beam
This was just more a test working within a group to see our strengths and weaknesses
The idea however one day I'll consider coming back to, maybe not in Christmas form but your ideas of more attacks is a good idea, I was even thinking of like a phase 2/3 where the stage changes as you go along but we didn't have time
I really enjoyed the game jam though! It pushed me to get something done over the holidays which is great