Thanks. The enemies in the game feels too simple, lacking 'range'. Most of them are just a lump body with eyes and some kind of appendage. I tried to nudge the enemy designs a bit to make them more interesting, but there's not much I can do. They might be cybernetic, so there's an idea to play with. I'm thinking of using the existing enemies as a base and extrapolate new heavier designs from them. Right now I'm pretty much just drawing the stuff from the game to gain a feel for things. A first iteration.
You defeat the enemies by: Punching them. Gradually stomping them into the ground. Throwing the fuzzy bird at them. Using the voodoo doll. Using the super potion (invulnerable).
Yeah, I forgot to mention the guns. I'm not really into the Shinto thing, so I played with the idea of a 'darker' (but happy-looking) sci-fi setting, because it feels so disjointed from the original concept. Fantasy Zone is pretty dark, a tragedy even, if you look at the story line. It's also one of the cutest games around, and I like that contrast. Dai Mahou Touge is another example.
Also, the cybernetic/robotic enemies would belong to a sci-fi setting. I'm a big Megaman fan, and I liked what Sonic did too. It was fun to watch the cute animals appear from the destroyed enemies. Maybe in this game, cute small animals are piloting the robotic enemies. I like games with small figures piloting stuff. In Megaman Legends the Servebots would emerge from the wreckage of destroyed vehicles. Such things add life and dimension to the enemies.
I think the characters become more interesting if they can carry stuff. Otherwise they're limited to standing there with their arms at their sides.