so what you mentioned about 2 of the abilities being glorified keys, it is something i'm painfully aware of and do not like in metroidvania's, essentially items that have no other function but to let you progress. this was one of the only places i think i under scoped, i just didn't feel like i had the programming chops to get a nice movement mechanic in there that was polished in time, but i'll let you in on a secret. originally i had the player being able to run, slide, and then jump out of a slide for a really high jump and that was all a lot of fun and the power ups were going to consist of the slide and then the big jump out of the slide instead of the double jump and the super beam. what i realized though was that i wanted the character to be slower and feel bulkier. i had even built a jump that was totally rigid from when you left the ground but decided that was a little too punishing (i've since changed my mind on that, i think i should've kept that rigid jump). so i had built this stuff that took forever and then essentially pulled it out because even though it felt good it was outside of my intended feel and the atmosphere i was going for (because i made it before i had solidified that stuff, a mistake i won't make again). so after that, i said okay i still need to have 4 power ups or there's just not enough game and so i took the super metroid approach: varia suit and (essentially) wave beam. reduce the players taken damage, add a flag for the suit, increase the beam damage and add a flag for that. they were the two easiest and most practical to add with the lowest amount of time spent. that said, i do believe now i could have added a dash and designing the levels around it would have made the platforming so much more fun. and then with the rigid jump the dash would be even more useful, as would the double jump. anyway, a lot of words to say i totally agree and will not make that mistake again. hopefully now that i've got a much better understanding of how to make an enemy those can be better next time too. glad to know it runs on linux! next time i can add controller support and get it running on the steam deck lol. thank you so much for playing and for the great feedback! you already know but i really enjoyed your entry!