I liked the gameplay and retro style! I did feel that the vertical traversal was a bit too slow. From what I can tell, the boost can only be used horizontally, which leaves the vertical movement feeling sluggish by comparison.
I made it past the first set of laser barriers before I died. I'm planning on going back to finish it, but the slow vertical movement did discourage me from retrying immediately after death.
It's still a really impressive entry though and the core ideas are handled well!