I love idea of the game. It's quite simple but interesting and engaging. I loved the trap variety and placement for the most part. The art style is cute and the sound effects are nice. The timer itself is a nice extra challenge, pushing the player to go fast. The tick at when half the time is remaining is a very nice touch. But to be honest, I may be just bad but I found the first level way too difficult. I died so many times but I still couldn't beat it. It's up to you how difficult you want the game to be, but I have a couple points of feedback:
- A game like this desperately needs coyote timer (time window after leaving ground where jump input is still accepted). Forcing the player to be fast and also meticulous is understandable for a game like this, but with so much platforming that requires very precise jumping, it gets tedious quite fast. A short coyote timer would give a lot of breathing room without compromising difficulty much.
- You need to motivate the player to keep playing the same level over and over until they win. An easy way to do this is to add an indicator of how much of the level is left (think of the indicator in PS1 game Pepsi Man).
- It seems like running into the frog kills the player instantly, regardless of health left. Not sure if this is intentional, but it makes little sense considering the spikes and saw take 2 hits to kill you.
- You need to balance the length of the level and the available HP the player has, including any possible health refills. I think the first level is a bit too long (and I didnt even finish it) for 2 HP. Maybe consider adding more HP, or adding points where you can refill your HP halfway through the level.
- This is not a metroidvania at all, at least not the level I played.
All in all this is still a fun game for people who enjoy a challenge. Especially for your first game, this is very well done! Keep up the good work!