First of all, Allo is clearly the best protagonist I've seen in the gamejam so far (and I'm 100% not biased saying that)! The pixel art for the characters and biomes is gorgeous, with Allo’s crouching and crawling animations being my personal favorite - he's just so adorable! I also liked the music and the sound effects, especially the feeling of impact from shooting and hitting enemies.
The idea of using multiple smaller missions is clever for a minimalist Metroidvania and does a great job creating a sense of exploration while preventing you from getting too lost. The levels, enemies and powerups are certainly very much inspired by the classics, and overall I feel like there weren’t many big surprises there. However, the controls are nice and snappy and everything feels like it’s implemented very well.
My one and biggest issue with the game is the timer. I was able to barely beat most of the levels on time, but ended up giving up right at the end of the third mission due to running out during the final boss. I just feel like it creates unnecessary stress, and considering the high health and tight placement of some enemies, the timer kinda encourages just running or damage boosting through some sections.
That said, I actually went back and played Super Mini Jumper after this, and while both games are fun in their own right, I can definitely see the improvement in the player attacks and enemy design in this one. Looking forward to more dinosaur adventures in the future!