Agreed, something or other needs to be done here. I like the idea of testing the player's reaction time, but a Katana Zero-like time mechanic does have appealing properties. I'll need to experiment with some things, for sure. I have a track record of tuning games too hard because I get good at them as I make them and don't have enough time to playtest. Alas.
Ideally, there'd be more levels to get the player used to some of the maneuvers too - flatten the difficulty curve a little.
Thanks for the feedback!