Excellent work on the game! You say this was your first game jam, and I say you absolutely nailed it. I had a ton of fun! Here are some notes:
- The title screen is really nice and well put together! The background is satisfying to look at, the buttons are well placed, it's all really solid. Really, all the menus are really nice! Sliding between menus is awesome, the ability to easily return to previous menus is helpful, and the sound effects just make the menus feel nice to traverse.
- The controls are super simple but very well-explained - I'm not entirely sure why there are two punch buttons, though.
- The UI assets are all well-positioned, the teacher's countdown timer is a bit hard to see but it's not super necessary with the clock anyways so it's fine.
- "Do not FIGHT!" as a countdown was GENIUS.
- It's a small touch, but the selection of different tracks for different parts of the game (main menu, loading, main gameplay, game over) was an excellent touch, and each song fit well.
- Obviously the star of the show is the character designs, the characters are ridiculously well-drawn, the designs are exquisite, and of course the facial expressions are the absolute best part! The "busted" screen and Mr. Z's glare really feel tense, too -incredible work on the art, your art style is incredible and I want to siphon your powers.
- The sound effects that are here are nice, but I do think the game loses a lot from not having combat sound effects, win/loss jingles, or any sounds associated with Mr. Z (a tea kettle sound effect that rises in intensity as the timer counts down? Some sort of a droning sound when he's staring?). Even just a few more stock sound effects would REALLY elevate the combat. More sound effects regarding the timer in particular would let the player focus more on the combat itself, which would be massively appreciated, if only because I want to look at the facial expressions more.
- I'm not sure I really have a solid handle on the combat. In the end, I just sort of mashed buttons - having the ability to put more thought into it might be nice. Also, I can't tell whether each character has different stats (it doesn't seem like it?). I think a small bio for each character could really elevate the flavor, if you felt like it.
- The K.O. screen is a bit underwhelming, but I assume that's just down to a lack of time. I'd love to see more to it, even if it's just a single-panel graphic of the knockout blow!
All in all, while there isn't much to the game, it's still REALLY fun -the visuals do a LOT, and the game is just funny. You're ridiculously good at visual comedy and facial expressions. You mentioned wanting to work on things more if people were interested, and yes! Yes, I'm absolutely interested! Please keep working on this game, it reminds me of old Flash games in the BEST way and I'd love to play it again sometime!