Test Fire Feedback:
Very solid start! It has got a fun vibe, bright and energetic. Strong Metroid nostalgia. It is quite visually striking.
Some stuff I felt while playing that could be improved:
- THE MAP: please make it so you can pan, zoom, etc. As is, there is no way to look around outside of the surrounding rooms, its stuck in a medium-zoom field and you can't see anything outside of it
- Level design: I would make sure to design it a bit more interconnected. Any long passages without a shortcut you can unlock are pain points in the genre. For example, the path to the toaster spin attack is essentially one-way down and one-way back up. Would be nice to use the attack to instantly open up a quick way back up.
- Room Design: I would say to make sure every room is unique and purposeful. Many here are, but I remember a couple rooms that were literally just a floor and ceiling. No secrets, items, platforming challenges, etc.
- Collectibles/Secrets: I didn't feel rewarded for bumping up against walls, attacking walls, exploring nooks and crannies... I don't recall a single optional upgrade or item (though maybe I just ended up taking the critical path and running into the ending before seeing any). So just populate the entire map with these things that make curiosity rewarding
- Crouch: The game just feels like it needs a crouch... everytime the little bug enemies showed up, I would instinctively try to crouch down to line up the shot. I realize you don't have to, but it would just feel more dynamic. I also realize the toaster upgrade uses crouch, but just like in Metroid it could be triggered by a quick double crouch.
With these things addressed, I think you would have a really incredible project! Of course, like 30x the size of the current map would be amazing too haha... But I know that's maybe too ambitious. A really tight and rewarding ~3 hour metroidvania would be great too. Also curious to see what other abilities you're planning outside of the toaster morph/attack