Thanks for linking me here! I should preface by saying that I didn't quite yet beat the third (final?) boss, but I wanted to make sure I rated and commented before the jam ends.
First things, the game ran fine for me under WINE, and performance was great throughout. It's a very clean feeling game, with the flashier effects understated enough not to clash with the pixel art. The patterns I encountered in wave one and two were good fun, and the enemies satisfying to beat: nothing oppressive, and I didn't find myself using the slow feature, but I'm sure the hard version of the game (and later waves) would dial this up. The third wave was a touch harder, and I took a hit or two. Ultimately it was the last boss that stopped me dead. They seemed to phase so many times that I became reckless and impatient, and tanked multiple hits assuming I was on the verge of winning. Maybe I was - who knows! - but when they reappeared yet again after another black screen fakeout, freshly-twinned and freshly-bubbled, I finally caved. At this point, I should have probably started using the slow-down feature, but I'd already forgotten what key I'd bound it to... I'm getting old. ;)
That said, I can see the appeal of the endurance-style gameplay, and the patterns never seemed unfair, just unfamiliar on first run. If I'd had more time to spare, I'm sure I could have beaten the boss if I'd done another restart. In that regard I wish it was quicker to blaze through the first waves, but I do respect that the gameplay loop requires a slower pace to make the player sweat while the walls close in. (As far as those walls go, though, I only hit them once early on - otherwise I stayed low and central and that seemed to work well for almost every pattern, although it did turn the triple-shot into a downgrade, as two of the three projectiles then reliably missed. For that reason I didn't take the triple-shot on my third and most successful attempt.)
It was good fun overall, and I'm grateful you shared this with us. I'll be sure to take another shot at that boss when I get a spare moment!
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Thank you so, so much for playing and for even sharing a little story, haha, your comment was a very fun read! And the fact that it runs with wine is actually very valuable feedback - I think you're the first person who managed to launch a SHMUP Creator engine game on Linux!
Curiously, almost everyone seems to avoid using the triple shot, I thought it'd be a viable choice since it really melts normal enemies - and it can be point-blanked into bosses (at least the second boss) at times for 150% damage compared to default shot, but it really ended up too technical, and much less tested than the other 2 weapons. A new weapon system I'm thinking of for the post-jam might give it a niche.
Staying near the center is a good strategy - I wanted to make sure that the game is beatable even if the player falls behind on speedkilling normal enemies, so the bosses don't really move around too much. They *do* sometimes make staying in the center pretty challenging though, hehe... I'm sure you'll enjoy the third boss' later patterns :P
Again, thank you for playing and for your comment! And when you decide to revisit the game - good luck! The third boss is definitely a trickster, but there can only be so many aces up one's sleeve. I'm sure you'll beat her next time ^^