Hello! I'm enjoying the game immensely. I love the retro style and gameplay elements. It's legitimately engaging to play this and I wanted to improve at it. I think eventually I might get good enough to beat the first level, but in the process, I can't help but feel like the difficulty is just a little bit overtuned. Not unplayably, but just a bit frustrating in a way that builds up and eventually reaches a point where it outweighs the fun factor. My impression is overall very positive, there's just a couple areas I think could use a bit of tuning to really help the game flow :)
Frustration #1: The lives system, while a staple of old-school retro games, was retired for a good reason in my opinion. And I felt a lot of my frustration I experienced was tied to the lives, but I could be wrong.
Possible Fix: That said, I'd be on the side of keeping them in this game, but maybe sprinkling in extra lives items around the place. Frequently I would lose at least 1, sometimes 2 lives before even reaching the first checkpoint, and once that happens it feels like the checkpoint may as well not even be there since it doesn't refresh my lives and I won't get many chances to use it. Maybe each time the player unlocks a checkpoint, they get an extra life added too?
Frustration #2: 3 health states until a death works visually, but it's also a little punishing.
Possible fix: Perhaps a health bar would be better? If that's not ideal, then sprinkling a couple more health packs around the levels could go a long way.
Bug maybe?: I noticed on keyboard when aiming upwards and shooting after walking a short distance, sometimes the aim would be locked in a diagonal direction for a few seconds, even when using the single fire gun. Dunno if this is intended or not.