Project - Illuminate (Alpha Demo) Still looking for feedback

[Theforeshadower]

Feels pretty good on my end. Jumping and movement are fluent, controls responsive, laser is nicely visible, and I can see most everything clearly. Except the HUD is a little dark. I actually got tricked into thinking the door led to another map haha. I like it, it has potential!

The red hue kinda reminds me of a Virtual Boy game. Which never had a Metroidvania.

The HUD feeling dark is my fault. I forgot that the HUD cuts off 24 pixels and didn't tile accordingly. If there were bright red tiles under the HUD, I think it would help. The only other thing to try is to use the darkest red I have on the palette and replace the black with that or add an outline to it to help it stick out.

Thanks for the kind words though about the project itself. I am also taking suggestions on weapon types. Not looking for too many but some that have progression requirements similar to missiles needed in Metroid. I am probably going to add a slide ability for progression's sake.

Double jump obviously fulfills a requirement for story progression. Missiles or something similar for blockage removal adds another. I have really entertained the idea of a flame thrower with similar physics to Contra 3's flame thrower for burning away vines/organic material.

Other ideass I thought of were melee weapons(hard for me to animate the small sprite), spread fire gun, jet pack,and reverse gravity rooms. Of course, the project will have some nasties to put down as well.