I mentioned this on IRC, but I'll expand on what I meant here.
I find this version of SHMUP entirely unplayable due to one simple change. One hit death. No, thank you. I enjoy SHMUP, but I'm not insanely good at them. In fact, I'm mediocre at best. But yes, I do enjoy playing them. I really loved the idea of an FS themed SHMUP and the first version was quite a bit of fun! I played it several times. But this version? I get 3/4 into the level and... for a moment... don't play exactly perfectly... boom. Game over. Dead. The end. Start over. No thank you.
One hit death is a good insane mode setting, but for those of us who like SHMUP but suck at it, it just asks us to go play something else.