UPDATE: I've added a MINIMAP that you can access in-game by pressing X, which allows you to quickly view where you are and which items you still need to collect.
I retired from (game)programming about 18 years ago, but a few weeks ago I stumbled upon the wonderful PICO-8 and I could not resist giving it a try. This game is the result of that. It's a tribute to one of my favorite games when I was young, H.E.R.O., created by John van Ryzin. I expanded the original concept a bit, added a few new gameplay elements like keys and collectibles to give it a tiny bit of a Metroid vibe as well. I managed to cram in about 120 different screens but I think the game is still relatively easy to complete. It also features checkpoints, which allows you to continue playing from the last checkpoint when you die, even when you close and reopen the game. If it's still too difficult or you just wanna explore the map, you might want to look into the main Pico menu and look for an additional option I added :)
Enjoy!