Cool game. I enjoyed it. Some of the graphics could've been a bit more interesting, though. The background effect wasn't too cool for instance.

This is good, but I fail to see the point in taking away power ups when you die. Punishment for punishment's sake, I've already lost a life, isn't that enough?

Haowan:
Because it's a challenge of survival, at its core. Once the Promethian rock begins its descent, it's much harder to stop. The extra lives often serve more to let one recover from early screw-ups in this sort of arena rather than extend playtime. Especially in a game like this, where everyone plays by the same rules (and mostly against their own personal best), it's not so big a deal.

Also I should note the psychological effect of the lives aspect: You lost your powerups, but you can still fight. At the later stages, the extra life can serve as a motivator to survive longer, to push yourself that much harder for the high score (only 1000 more points!). The palpable sense of impending doom? Arcade games have thrived on it from the very beginning. Have you ever played Sinistar, Pac Man, or Defender? Granted this doesn't work for everyone, and it's less expected now that the video arcade seems all but dead, but I think you'll find it's a common sentiment among those who play games like this regularly.

These are outmoded game design trappings that need to die. Just putting htem in because people wanted to make their games harder in the past and get more money from the people playing the arcade machines, doesn' tmean they're valid now.

Yeah man, I hate losing at video games too ^_^