@ydobemos - Thanks for the gobs of feedback, much appreciated! I will comment on some of it below but please know I read it all and will carefully consider all the points you made. This is exactly what I was hoping for when asking for testers...
1) It may be latency, but I had the feeling that jumping only works when your character is well within the platform he's jumping from... so several times when attempting to do a well-timed jump I would just run forward with no jump taking place. I think it may help if you made it possible to jump even when your last pixel (or even 2-3 extra ones) are still on the platform - so you actually do nice jump every time, which would feel much better for the player.
I have added phantom jumping in previous games, it sounds like this is what you're asking for here. I hadn't don't it because this game is fairly light on the platforming but it sounds like if you're having latency issues (I haven't experienced these myself), adding in a little leeway on jumps would be a good solution.
2) Speaking of jumps - the game seems to not care if it spawns you over a bottomless pit... worth trying to determine the nearest platform and spawning you there.
It should always drop you over a platform. If you're running forward though as you die, it's pretty easy to continue that momentum as soon as you spawn and put yourself past the ledge. I'm gonna replay Contra some and see if there is something else they do differently to avoid this. I've thought about spawning differently too, like having a helicopter or something fly down that you can jump off instead.
3) Visibility - it could be better I think. Backgrounds could use a little less contrast or fewer overlaps between player/enemy colors and some of the objects there. Snow level with the snow particles also becomes a little visually cluttered.
4) Continuing on with that - nearly every enemy so far has different colored flashing projectiles... coupled with the particles it contributes to visual clutter. I feel like you may achieve more clarity if you had a single color for their projectiles, but changed the size and look. Like, say, a pure white core with a pink outline that pulses. Player bullets could also be a pixel larger and brighter.
I agree... both these things need work and will be addressed eventually.
Side note: Weapons are really neat, though, fire rate and the different types are fun. Perhaps add a shotgun/flamer type weapon that's super strong, but has low range?
Happy to hear you like the weapon selection. More different weapons have been on the TODO list for a while but always seem like something that doesn't happen. Shotgun and flame thrower are both ones I've been kicking around too
5) Even NES contra has some boss attack signaling - like the hatches opening before opening fire. I think the first boss could use some of that, like the eyes glowing a split second before firing or such.
You are right... there is nothing on those early forms to indicate an attack is about to happen. This could even extend to some of the regular enemies too.
6) Continuing with bosses - how about more variety to their attacks (well, the first boss so far) - the smiley face could change expressions and, for example, drop down and roll on the ground, etc.
Ha ha... that could be fun. I'll make note of it.
7) After trying the game I'm even less a fan of the particles - mostly because they aren't pixel perfect to the rest of the art, they fade out and they are mostly that same orange color. I feel you could do better with solid particles that, for example, sort-of dripped down on platforms for blood, were red hot for explosions and then just changed to black before disappearing etc. Larger opponents exploding into these huge single-color squares also looks rather strange.
Hmm... I can play with some stuff and see how it goes. I do like the big colorful explosions but I have grown to not like their fading out as much as times goes on.
8. Speaking of orange - that fading orange overlay on enemy hits also seems a little strange, how about just a quick flash like all the arcade games? Would better emphasize that you are doing damage with each hit. The orange fade completely hides the art on stronger enemies (like level 4 green blob) as well.
I'll try make it fade quicker and see how that goes. You're right on the stronger enemies (especially when you have a rapid fire powerup), they are pretty much just solid orange all the time.
9) With keyboard controls, it is strange that menus switch between Space and Enter to select things. Also - if your keyboard has no Esc key (it can happen) there is no way to leave the options menu, it seems.
They make keyboards without ESC? What would one use instead, backspace? I'll review enter/space consistency throughout the menus. I thought it was pretty standard besides on the Join screen, where I used a different button press intentionally to ensure you didn't accidentally start the game before you were ready.
Again thanks for all the feedback... I have a TODO list that I jotted down a number of new items to review / address out of this. If you have any more, don't hesitate!