Quite Nostalgic.
While I grew up more on a C64 rather than a zxspectrum, it did remind me of some games I played when I was younger. You captured the very essence aside from some music. A small loop could have added a little to it. Overall though, nice, simple, and fun for such a small game.
I've always been a Commodore guy as well, but the Speccy's style suits me better since I suck at drawing and I find working with just a handful of colors easier. =)
The same applies to music: I can't write a single line of it. Maybe next time I'll try with Autotracker, since I agree on the damage done by absolute silence.
In the end, though, I'm really glad you liked the game. =D
Not bad for a 4 kilobyte , 1 week of work entry. The controls(keyboardy, lol) were a little on the sensitive side, and the lack of a definitive story progression kinda got me, though. Also, There was s definitive need for audio(music, pref. retroish or steppy, methinks, just based on the semi-arcadeish gameplay) and there certainly needs to be more levels. Btw, the character who sells you the shovel looks a lot like Link. Anyways, not a bad job, 3/5 5/10
I tried everything I could to rid the controls of all their inertia, but I couldn't totally eliminate it and that's why they are a bit touchy. Regarding everything else you said, notes taken! =)
And, of course, thanks for playing!