I’m really glad you liked it.
That first level was a tricky one. It’s a maze, so the issue becomes how do you keep it fresh on multiple play thrus, especially since randomly generated levels are out of the question on a Game Boy. My solution was to have it disorient you when you run into a moving barrier. The alternative would have been to make multiple mazes and have you cycle through them, but that’s very time consuming, and you’d eventually have to repeat them. So I think my solution worked rather well while also providing a bit of a challenge.
Level 2 I actually based on my least favorite game from my childhood, Ghostbusters for the NES. That game is horrible, but for some reason also very addictive. But if I tried to copy Mario 3, it would never be as good and would be a disappointment. So I copied an awful game knowing that I could only do a better job! But I tried to make it as unlike Ghostbusters as possible, while still keeping the inspiration. So it isn’t too long, and the ghosts can’t kill you. They simply slow you down and take away points at the end. But unlike Ghostbusters which I’ve never beat, and never care to beat, I wanted a game that you could easily beat every time. The fun is in its silliness and trying to get a better high score.