Thanks so much for taking a look, and for the feedback! I'm glad that the nostalgia factor seemed to hit home :)
And yes, the squares in the emulator are much brighter than they are on the actual handheld, and I can certainly see how they could be distracting. I'm not sure I'm going to keep working on this post-jam, but if I do, I might add in some options for disabling or turning down some of the more distracting visual elements.