I have updated the description due to this comment to specify the "1+2" thing with regards to skipping levels. Thanks for pointing out the potential ambiguity!
I think Celeste style assist mode options would be great if this game were to be expanded into a full release. I was hopeful that skipping levels would act as a nice compromise in the meantime.
It was a conscious decision to add the little cooldown for the fire shot in theory and in practice I did get used to it. I think experimenting with the removal of the cooldown if I were to continue working on this game would be a great way to both lower the skill floor while also increasing the skill ceiling.
I do agree now it might actually be better to allow spamming it as a skilled player would be able to balance shooting fast and frequently (since ur speed resets upon each fire) while still allowing a more fair skill ceiling. It may also help to have a different graphic for the character to indicate when the bullet shooting is available (similar to Madeline's hair in Celeste, since we brought up that example).
I do agree that the teleporter is pretty janky. I did design all levels to be complete-able without the use of it as I considered it an 'optional ability for greater speed' to compensate due to not being able to do proper playtesting for this jam T_T
Thanks so much for the constructive feedback! I am glad that you enjoyed the game but am also glad you are able to point out ways it could be better.