[Long Comment Warning]
I downloaded this game only yesterday, but I'm already liking it a lot! The level design is nice, the puzzles aren't too ridiculous (so far), and the game is challenging, but FAIR, which I really appreciate. It shares some similarities to Shovel Knight, but I suppose it's inevitable that the two will be compared. This isn't a bad thing, however! I do have some suggestions though, most of which have already been touched on by a few commenters below:
- As retsmuga said, the Living Fireballs are a bit of a pain to deal with, especially in tight hallways. As he also said, an indicator for being underwater would be a nice touch. Something as simple as a little air bubble around the player would probably suffice.
- A better method for executing the Dash attack would be very much appreciated. I think that the double tap thing just leaves too much room for error which could potentially REALLY screw someone over just because they didn't get the command perfect. I would suggest maybe just having it so that you hold in the direction that you want to dash, then perhaps double tap the attack button? Or maybe as tboctavan suggested, have a button dedicated only to the Dash. I feel as if that would be a bit more intuitive to use.
- Similarly, I think that the Mole Attack could use some tweaking as well. Again, comparing it to Shovel Knight, it would "feel" better if instead of having to re-execute the attack every time you land a hit on a monster or destructible piece of environment, it would only reset when you hit the ground.
Other than those few things, I didn't have any real issues with this game. It's well put together, it's challenging but fair, the graphics look very nice and definitely have the NES vibe, and is just a nice game overall. Great work to all the folks involved in putting this game together, and I can't wait to see the full version!