Well I spent quite a bit of time tonight playing Shubibinman, an action platformer.
It's a pretty rough game. It takes time build up momentum when you move, and if you let go of the pad, you slow to a stop at about the same pace. It wouldn't be so weird though if it didn't feel like you're being dragged back. But you can quickly stop yourself by slashing your sword or ducking. Takes some getting used to.
Platforming itself isn't so bad once you do though, especially because you can step quite a ways off a ledge without actually falling off of it.
More frustrating are some obnoxious design decisions, such as platforms that slide you along conveyor belt style (quite fast and directly in to pits) without any visual indication that they do so. They look like like any other floor you can stand on. So you land and oh shit. There are also a couple of levels with Mega Man style shifting blocks, but the transitions are instant, and in one case don't activate until you step on the first block, which immediately disappears and dumps your ass in lava (or whatever it is, some hazard). There are also these missile hazards, sometimes thrown by enemies, other times just appearing off screen. If you know one is coming and try to anticipate it by ducking for example, it comes in at your ducking height instead. Some are incredibly fast, so it often seems like there just isn't time to dodge.
There's more, but the point is there are a lot of "fuck you player" moments in this game.
Anyway, the game has a map and you can choose your route, but you'll end up playing the other levels anyway because completing them gets you upgrades like tougher armor, a stronger sword, and upgrading a beam attack you can do by holding the attacking button. There's also some shop options where you can spend gold, but as the game is in japanese I don't know what they really do. I definitely had some bonuses happen, like my life suddenly refilling when I'd lost it all, but I could never get this sort of thing to happen consistently.
Anyway, I ultimately beat all of the levels and made it to the final boss, whom I fought 6 or 7 times before getting a game over. He's too fast to dodge, and watching videos it appears the strategy is "eat shit while you pray". No seriously, look here:
https://youtu.be/UYz4mJNl5O8?t=287 The player in the video has a larger health bar than I did, and while I did get 2 extensions (there are 4 possible) I don't know how. My attacks weren't any different, so it appears you must simply outlast the boss.
I'm a little peeved I didn't beat it, but I also don't particularly want to revisit the game to try again. It's just not very fun.
Apparently the sequels are a huge improvement.