Very good, It definitely is a good run and gun game, although their are a few  issues, The invincibility frames after you revive don't allow you to move or shoot which is an issue because if you happen to accidentally walk into an enemy that shoots projectiles then you game over, no matter what. As well the first level boss just seems like slow projectile spam which i guess can work as a boss, but it feels kind of weird, also the physics kind of for the main character seem kind of clunky, like the character seems like he/she/they weigh a ton unless that's the idea, other than that the art is pleasing, and the music is well composed, although I think the instruments could take more advantage of the sound chip since they mainly use the basic sounds mainly with the noise channel,  but yeah, its fun and im exited to see more

Getting some odd slowdown on FEXUS latest stable build. Loaded Contra to compare and smooth as butter. It's not frame drops as it maintains 60 FPS but everything runs at about 75% effective speed if there's at least 4 sprites onscreen it seems the returns to normal for a few seconds.

Also seeing sprites wraparound the playfield and then leave ghosts after they're culled.

Nice work! I think there are a few issues that a hindering it (in priority order):

1. Not being able to shot UP while moving/jumping. This is my biggest gripe by far.
2. Lack of diagonal shooting. Just copy Contra!
3. Lack of verticality. Almost everything interesting happens on a flat plane. I would say go back an look at 1-1 in Contra for a great example of how to mix it up. (2nd level was better for this)
   
4. Boss did not have clear feedback of when I was doing damage. I felt really confused about whether or not I was even hitting it.
   
5. Way too much going on screen at once. Lacks pacing, especially during boss fight. I think a big part of this is how a lot of enemies and projectiles do not move in fixed 8 directions. It all feels a lot less predictable. I would simplify enemy movement and bullets to just move straight, in 8 directions.
   
6. Some slowdown during level, and massive slowdown during boss fight.
7. Exploding barrels that don't do damage!?! :D