Note: I only got to level 9 before stopping. The enemies have too much health, especially since you're a one-hit wonder (The bears in particular seem to just be a delaying tactic more than anything.) Level 9's pistons are really annoying, though, especially since touching them will kill you, rather than only if you get crushed. The BGM stops if you try to switch items where a 3D block is, and the character had the same expression as I did: Bored. And when the main character looks like he doesn't want to be there, that's a good sign to stop. 2/5.
Issues: Sprites blend in with ground. This makes it harder to tell what the heck you're doing. You fall back at an exponential rate, and after a second or so you're moving backwards at a faster rate than the enemies, causing an annoying problem. Dashes can help, but sometimes you're in a position where even that won't do anything. On that note, the word "unlimited" for dashes is misleading. In actuality, you can only use it once per monster slash. Oh, and before anyone brings this up: There's a reason games like these aren't the norm anymore. You want hard? Go play IWBTG. At least there, you won't feel like you've been cheated out of a win. This is a good concept though. 3/5
The majority is right. Something about the white, with the random-looking grey patterns, is just TERRIBLE on the eyes, and I don't know why. Also, make the camera zoom out if you get far enough ahead.
Numerous complaints. First, the shield section should be more obvious. Second, Diamond items? Third, the camera needs to be zoomed out, BADLY. Leaps of faith aren't fun, especially when you land into a bazillion enemies because you couldn't see where a safe spot was. Fourth, money needs to be gotten easier. Running through the final stage to grind several times IS NOT fun. Still reasonably fun, though, despite the problems, so 4/5. Fix the camera at least, and it'd be 5/5
Personally, I'd like a way to disable the headphones flying off after you've managed to do it at least once. I like the music more than the wind. Similarly, there should be an option to start with the headphones off, with the same unlock condition.
I know I'm basically repeating everyone, here, but there really should be an ending. It's nice, and it gives some closure. Aside from that, having the tanks PERMANENTLY disappear isn't very good, and there REALLY should be some tangible benefit to the rare fish. Part of the 100% complete requirement for the theoretical ending, maybe, or a nice aquarium, or getting money for them (by selling them). The game is fun and all, but the lack of an ending, the oddness of the O2 tanks, and the redundancy of the fish make this a 4/5, rather than a 5/5.
All in all, this is pretty good. There are exactly three things I have complaints about. The first is that there needs to be a non-timed mode, or at the very least, a mode with infinite continues. The second is that "Every Car Is A Pinto", and it's annoying. And the third is that occasionally, the game won't recognize my key pushes. When I'm trying to jump from car to car, sometimes I'll press a button, and it won't jump/return into the car, which leads to a death as I press the next key in the chain, and dying. Also, while not a complaint, since the game is fun by itself, a grand version of this game wouldn't hurt.
I really only have two complaints. The first is that quests shouldn't take a few seconds before a new one shows up. I had one in the fourth level that said "Kill 4 imps." I completed it, and on my way down, I hit two of the shadow fae enemies on the way down. The next quest said "Kill 8 shadow fae", but since I had hit two on the way down before the quest showed up, they didn't count, and I had to stick around for a third batch of them before I could get a new one.
The other complaint is that some of the targets are too hard to hit, the third stage in particular. The quest I got there was "Hit the ball lock 3 times", but over the course of the entire play through, I only managed to hit it twice. Also, the four little things that increase the chest size don't always register when you go through them. I suspect it's by being too far to the left or the right of the target.
This game, while a short, fun distraction, has almost nothing in terms of replay value, and is ultimately not that challenging. Both a pause button, and a countdown to the next break would be nice. As is, 3/5
Fourth, it mentioned "Criminals Killed", but I didn't see any anywhere. Fourth, are "Quests" those searching for letters/supplies things? Fifth, I've been ambushed a few times by zombies JUST outside the left and right areas, and lost some health because of it. The kill-zone if a zombie goes past is just a bit too far. Sixth, when entering a room, sometimes zombies would spawn right on top, or extremely close to, a survivor, and kill them before I or the AI has a chance to react.
Ok, I beat the game, so let me give some suggestions. First, when I found Anna, why was she being hung? It makes no sense. Also, some sort of epilogue would have been nice. Second, I found myself with a large surplus of time after I found Anna, and I wanted to look for other survivors/story notes (Which I think there should be more of), but since the area I checked was the very last neighborhood that wasn't already checked off via clues or manual checking, I had no idea which ones I hadn't visited already. If at all possible, could you make it so that the map differentiates between areas I've checked and areas that the clues have checked off? Third, when I found Anna, why was she being hung? ((Continued))
Still playing, although I do have one complaint: I can't think of a single reason NOT to have WASD controls. I don't like using the mouse to move AND attack, and I'm right handed, so using the mouse and arrow keys is awkward. Also, things have gotten fairly easy since I got the bow. Fire, step back, fire, step back, repeat. Even if it misfires, it sometimes hits another enemy. A 10th of the price of the boomerang as well, which I have yet to get.
Final word: This is NOT good game design. I somehow get the feeling that the creator was going for the old-school hardness of games, but that should be accomplished through a rising difficulty curve and new mechanics that challenge the player, not this fake difficulty that only serves to aggravate the player. The evolution was nice, but as it is, it only serves to highlight what could otherwise have been a broken game. This gets a 2/5, and that feels a bit generous to me.
On finding pixels and leaps of faith: Some pixels are hidden in corners, where you have to go all out to be able to get. The thing is, your view is remarkably small in the "brief flying" stage, and you can't really tell where you're going to land until after you've fallen a few more times, which can really set you back. Even then, a couple are so far out of the way you wouldn't even think to look there. Also, as an example of the leaps of faith, when you climb up to the top in the "Brief Flying" stage, upon the long, thin vertical rods, you have to jump down, and hope you either manage to grab all the pixels, or climb all the way back to the top of the list.
On flying and falling: You fall faster than you fly down, and forcing the player into "flying" mode when a regular jump would suffice is aggravating. For the flying beast, either include a key to turn off flying, or let the player fall when they're not pressing a key. For the brief flying stage, maybe only activate it when you hold down the up button, rather than whenever you jump.
On evolution: Fine, but having some surplus pixels would have been nice, for the various reasons mentioned above, and the one below.
On jumping: As a note for everyone saying the jumping is hard: I agree. What I've found is that when you think you have to jump, or fall, you actually have several more pixels of clearance, but the way the game shows the movement, it doesn't look that way. Once you realize that, though, you might run into the other problem of falling off, thinking you have enough space. It's fairly aggravating.
On figuring out which which pixels you need to collect: At every point before the "brief flying" stage, it's VERY hard to tell what is a pixel that is just within reach, and what is a pixel that you're not supposed to be able to get, and the above jumping issue doesn't help.
I don't mind playing through the re-releases (The upgraded skill system is nice), but something's odd with Strike. It seems that if I hit the reaction command, I miss almost every single time. Roughly once every 10 attempts. I don't have this problem if I don't hit the command, though.
One of the nicest touches I saw in the game was "Stone + Stone = Fire + Stone + Stone". You're guaranteed to have all the parts already, but it works, and I think that's some great attention to detail.
One last thing: It's very important to remember, for the most part, that the people who rate and comment are usually the people who's played it through. This usually means that the people liked it enough to rate it high, and comment favorably. Some people try to criticize, but most of the time, the critics get lumped in with the people who expect to be spoon-fed, and chased away. So the game never gets improved, because no-one's willing to give suggestions. Also, if there's 100 people saying the game is too hard for every 1 saying "no, it's not" and/or "suck it up", then you might have a difficulty problem. While games are easier than they were in the older days, people are at various skill levels. I appreciate games trying to give people a challenge, but this can end up going too far without the player even realizing it.
 "Envipulation")
 "Samurai Run")
 "Pacmad")
 "GunBot")
 "Solipskier")
 "Deep Diver")
 "Freeway Fury")
 "The Pinball Adventure")
 "Toe Nail Wheel")
 "Zombies Took My Daughter!")
 "TinyRPG")
 "MARDEK RPG: Chapter 3")
 "PixEvo - The Fountain")
 "MARDEK RPG: Chapter 1")
 "Doodle God")
 "Great Game 1/5")