Almost fun. There's a few nagging problems that keep it from being. Since everybody loves lists, that's I'm doing it that way, counting down.

(5) For some reason, doesn't quite work right on my main browser. Ik, not everybody uses mine, but plenty do, and don't install others (i.e. Chrome [blargh]) for whatever reason, just like me. Game works fine in at least one. I didn't know this until a good ways in, and it's only the jump that's bugged. That means having to restart after you hit the platform section in the far east. It looks like you should make it, yeah, but you just can't. I don't know why. It must be just a pixel off or something. Weird. This is what happens, though, when you make a game pixel perfect. Don't do it.

(4) A little clue might be nice. Okay, so it SHOULDN'T be too hard to figure out that the dagger can cut the vines, but I only figured early on since the levers weren't taking care of them. "It might help you in other ways too." Good enough. We don't have to baby people.

(3) Just a little explanation. Even just a few words would be nice. Something like "This is a checkpoint. Use the action button to save." It helps wonders. Technically this probably covers as well.

(2) Better placement on checkpoints. They always seem too close, or too far away. Can't really elaborate more on this one. It's a level design issue. Actually, I almost think there are too many overall, but we're obviously trying to make a not-too-difficult game here. I get that.

(1) The music. I get this too. Just like the "monochromistic" colour scheme, we're going for minimal here, except that it's somewhere strange between VCS and 8-bit era. It wouldn't be bad, except the loop is horribly short, and the melody itself average at best, if even. That means that unless you're lucky enough to have a browser with a Mute Tab function--I didn't see the mute option explained until after the game, btw, you need to do this in game, perhaps at the title screen--you're stuck with whatever is playing unless you turn your system sound down or off completely, and that's unacceptable. I'm sure you can either put some small effort into making something--or requesting something of somebody else--that's bearable for the 10-15 minutes or so it takes to play the game. If not, try to stick to the era you're trying to represent.

That said, I have no problem with the graphics. I've seen a few comments berating that, I dunno why. Maybe it's because when I was a kid, I had an original GameBoy stuck in my hands, not a Nintendo DS, eating through four AA's a pop until the late 90's. Then again, maybe I just appreciate these things more, and that's why you're getting 2.5 stars, and not one or 1.5. It's an interesting game, but there needs to be a little more effort to make it something enjoyable.

[edit] Blast. Sry for the text wall. Guess I went a bit overboard.

Fun little game. Action adventure platformer. The graphics are crude but cute. A little more instruction might be better, or maybe that was just the fun of discovering it.

*** WARNING SPOILERS ***
It wants me to press action button on the sign, and the screen fuzzes out. Ok, what happened? Was that me switching to a parallel world or something? I have no idea. Until I find another one and die and realize, oh, that's a save point. Maybe you could have said that.
And the dagger description says it can kill other enemies but says nothing about being able to cut through thorny vines.
Another point of frustration is that I can't look up and down to know where I am about to go. In other games, the levels are designed to be intuitive around that. But for example that water area that I fall down into and have to jump out of but don't know where I can jump up because there are blocks on the next screen up so I just keep jumping random spots hoping to find a hole. That was unnecessary. Or that part where I have to fall down a narrow chimney and just hope not to land on the fish below, because if I do the nearest save spot was like 3 screens away and I have to try again and again until I got lucky. That was sum bullshit. You lose a star for that.
The hit box on the dagger was kinda wonky. It would hit maybe 1/3 of the times I expected it to.

But, enough ranting. This game was a lot of fun, thank you for writing it and sharing it here. I enjoyed it and hope to see what else you make.

Pretty fun game, controls well and feels challenging without getting too frustrating. The dagger mechanic was a little irritating to deal with enemies that are almost always above chest-height, and the screens could use a little more color to help distinguish between them, but overall I liked the game quite a bit.

Looks great! I just cannot figure out what to do after getting the extra jump. You can't reach the platforms above the water and I can't find anything else to hit or open. Stumped.

While the game is cute, I wish there were a bit more color to it, if only to help distinguish between background and foreground details, as well as hazards. But aside from that, it's a pretty cool game. Not terribly challenging or mind-blowingly frustrating. I do appreciate that enemies that are killed stay dead (so long as you've saved after killing them).