That was so much fun. Making decisions in real-time can be very exciting and this game certainly was. Figuring out how the items combo'd while being under threat of attack was a fun amount of stress.
The items being simple on their own is great. So combining two at once is just complex enough, without being overwhelming. I like the inclusion of the sunglasses. It is not obvious what they do mechanically, if anything at all, but there is this space for the player to wonder where they could be used and what they might do. Or at the very least the player gets to equip them, knowing they may do nothing, but feel extra cool as they slaughter another poor banana. Or get the final hit on a big tough enemy.
There is some cheese strategy with how the action timer works. If you have the boots equipped and either nothing in the second slot or something that does not affect spd, then you can let the bar fill up really fast and at the last second throw on the heal ring. Then remove it to go fast again, repeat. I think this let me face tank any of the enemies I encountered. It is interesting to think about if that is truly unbalanced or if tweaked with intent it could be a fun thing to discover and exploit. If there were any tougher enemies, faster or stronger, then that measly five healing would no longer work.
Well, I had fun during and after the game here, haha. Keep up the great work!