Very Near Perfect
This game is wonderfully whimsical, irrepressibly irksome and boundlessly bloody! I love it! The music somehow doesn't bore after quite a bit of repetition. Lovely useless touches like suicide and grinning add a bit of spice to the game. It is quite difficult and I'm having trouble staying alive long enough to pass the hook section.
I actually found a specific bug on that stage: If you walk off (toward the right) the ledge raised ledge two the left of the hook chamber, and then immediately turn move your character left - you can avoid the falling death scene and fall forever. I was trying many things before I read the comments that you simply have to survive a long time without getting "hooked". Well simply isn't exactly accurate...
Anyway - this game is a lot of fun and I'd love to see more complex traps that have to be correctly manipulated by the character - maybe so they would backfire on the bad guys. Anyway - fun game, reminds me a little bit of the frantic nature of Abe's Oddworld. Maybe you could add a bizarre steed for the character to ride like in that game? lol - I dunno - I know you said you hate Sequels but I wouldn't mind seeing a small franchise built out of this game.