Hey pharland, thanks a bunch for saying all of that. I learned a lot about visual art doing this as I'm not a very practiced visual artist, but can produce a unique vision in my mind. With some more practice I'll be able to emulate what I see in my head a little better and hopefully can line things up better in future projects.
I kinda figured some people would hate it and some people would really dig it, so I'm glad it brought some nostalgia to you and it seems like I managed to get the point across to the types of players who would appreciate it, which makes me really really happy :).
I definitely come from an artist/music background first so tackling some of the UX and game design elements aren't always front and center in my mind so thanks for the comments and I'll try and iron my next experience out with it all in mind. :)
happy game development!