I was very surprised and delighted by how much I loved this game. 5/5, fantastic job Arvi "Hempuli" Teikari, you earned yourself a fan.

The biggest criticism I see here is that the game is hard. Yes, it's a challenge, and though I haven't tried it myself there is an easy mode. It hardly needs it though, because though it is difficult it is never unfair. Every obstacle is learnable, every boss can be beaten without taking a hit, and each time you try again you make progress. This contrasts metroid, where you can power-through bosses if you've found enough health upgrades, that option doesn't exist here, you have to adapt. I love this in a game, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Level design is fantastic, I was never lost but always felt like I was exploring on my own. Powerups are all novel and feel great, always changing up the gameplay subtly to keep it interesting. Gameplay is sharp and accurate, perfectly designed for the platforming and enemies.

With all love I give the game, I do offer some criticism though. At the beginning of the game, the aethetics sometimes interfere with the mechanics, I didn't know what I had to kill, or what to stand on at times, by the end of the game this is a non-issue though. The post-game content is... confused. The post-game feels vastly different from the main game, not an extension of it as it should be, and it isn't nearly as polished, though it IS deep (post-game took up 16 hours of my 24 hour play time, for the lazy that means it took me 8 hours to get to the end). I'd only reccomend flying blind to the dedicated players, but don't feel ashamed of following a guide, the extra bosses are absolutely worth it. It's also a bit weird that there are a ton of secrets in this game, but very few are truly discoverable until the post game. I was begining to think there were no secrets at all, and then I found a bunch all at once. Shoutouts to the bike.

TL;DR: If you like pattern-based or precision side-scrollers, this game is a diamond in the rough. I went in with zero expectations, and now it's one of my favorites, and it could be yours too.