I've never played the Cdi version, so I can't comment on a comparison to that, only as a game in it's own right.
The sprite work overall looks pretty great and the music is very nice. I feel like the wand should appear to be part of the character sprite.
Combat is problematic. Items seem to spawn at the finish of the monster movement cycle, rather than where they were vanquished. This leads to items being dropped in inaccessible places, and in walls. It would be nice if monsters reacted to being hit somehow, like flashing, or being knocked back. Pushing a button to pick up items is a little strange to me.
I also had an error when trying to load a saved game. Was in temple, just a few screens after collecting the boots. I saved on a screen that had the lightning blocking the doorway.
I can tell this is still in development, but I think this will turn out great with some polish. Good luck, and I hope Nintendo lawyers stay away!
