Also here to report I died with the first tiny item and then got softlocked and had to restart.
I think the art is fantastic, the areas feel distinct and very well crafted, great color choices and really lovely tilework!
The music isn't really in the NES spirit, lots of FM / Mega Drive sounding bass and big siney pads... love that crazy bassline in the jungle area tho.
I thought some of the mechanics were very neat, the flame was cleverly done (and the puzzles were tense), the big/tiny portion with the launching was cool! (I might have turned the gravity down a bit just for that portion, landing without taking poison damage was difficult in some parts, I died a very frustrating number of times to hitting poison because of the spring mushroom)
I think some feedback on the spring mushroom would have helped a bit too, at least in terms of knowing when it was going to launch. Maybe some longer buildup so it feels like it's charging a spring up? The window in which it shakes before springing up is very very short. I thought it was a switch at first.
Really nice entry all around! Good luck in MVM!