Interesting, thanks for the feedback! I originally had ideas for dying as soon as it became impossible to clear a screen, but the logic for dying at screen end seemed easier for both coding and player understanding. The no-obstacle first screen was... well, it would still be nice to have it on a first-time playthrough for a given speed, but I suppose there could have been ways to skip directly to the more interesting stages after dying.
Post-voting, I'm planning to upload changes to address issues like these, just so the game can stand at its full potential. That's two things to start off that list!