What I often notice about us developers is that we worry the games we make will be too easy.
However I feel like making it easier -> with respawnpoints in this case is a better choice in the sense that people who want a challenge will try to complete it deathless ->if there weren't jam time constraints I'd implement an ironman mode that allows for challenge runners.
Same thing with the bomb count -> I always think its better to reward player for playing optimaly rather than punishing him if he doesn't.
In this case if a person finished a game he'd get bombs used counter. If a person was serious in being challenged he'd try to limit himself.
You could even have like a system that bombs used would correspond to how many stars will the player get on victory screens.
In this way you open the game to people who just want to mess around ->like me after reviewing 15th game in a row XD.
I really enjoy how the game plays I really do think that within the scope of the time you had you made an incredibely well put together one.
Most popular games are the ones that reward freedom rather than pose restrictions. An example that comes to mind is Portal -> you aren't limited by ammo of the portal gun. The level resets quickly if you fail and you don't need to play the entire game over if you do.
I don't want to sound like a jerk who thinks he knows better than you. Of course not. My game barely compares. But I feel like a lot of people worry that making a game easier is bad while often its the opposite.