Yeah I read more comments after I posted mine and I suppose I was a bit hasty to judge, it seems like this game was made with a very specific audience in mind. I did used to play Melee a lot as a kid and I remember being fairly comfortable with the controls, but it's been a long time so I suppose I don't have that familiarity anymore.
Is everything the same as Melee? Air mobility and all that stuff? Dash and walk speeds? I might have to go back and play Melee to compare because I don't remember Melee ever feeling like this, then again Melee wasn't really requiring precision platforming in the same way as this (although I do remember the smashing targets activity that you're paying homage to quite well).
I did try it a few more times with the mindset that this is meant to be like Melee and I was enjoying it more, I guess it's just a game that takes practice to get good at. Honestly man cool game, I do think I'll keep playing the demo and trying to improve, the mechanics and aesthetics are pretty cool. Combat feels a touch shallow right now but it's an early build so I'm sure that will improve with time.