Wow, this game made me feel stupid - C++ has seriously spoiled me!
I'll bet my father would eat this up, though - hailing as he does from the days of punchcard-driven computers :)
Really fun, would love to see a sequel! (where perhaps what you do in one scene influences your starting state in the next?) Giving it 3 stars instead of 4 because it does commit the #1 deadliest cardinal sin of platform games: failing to register the jump key right as you walk off a ledge!!! Seriously, c'mon... Miyamoto figured this one out decades ago.
This is a truly fantastic concept (and great work with the music, creating something that sounds melancholy forward and optimistic backward!). I just hate that many players are going to be put off by the bad player movement. The momentum and collision feel horrible...