most certainly it's meant as a compliment! i'm very fond of that game's aesthetic and thematic style, which has a strange dreamy quality it shares with this piece, along with the vertical-climbing orientation of half of the stages, including the opening stage (which basically defines my impression of the game since i don't think i ever passed it when i was little...game was tough).

i'd like to critique your piece rather than just compare it to an old game you've never heard of but i don't really know what to say beyond what i like about it ='/ but two of the things i really like about this piece are the combination of organic and artificial, the grass and plants arranged in cubes and squared-off columns and platforms, and the fact that it works as well rightside up and upside down (i know that's called an ambigram when it describes a written word but i'm not sure it's applicable to a picture...?). also i like the bubbly quality of the plant's foliage/flowers.

anyway, i dig it =')