Battle Lines (working title) 2d sideshooter

Battle Lines is a project I started some time last week. It's a retro style shooter with simplistic graphics all made by me  .
 I hoping to launch it for android/ios with multiple ships/ upgrades and shared screen battle mode.

Check it let me know what you think, still bugs and much to do obviously.
http://www.stencyl.com/game/play/24584

Its pretty slow-paced, which can definitely be a big no-no for arcade/space-shooter style games. I didn't notice much of a difference between enemies other than appearances. But mainly, it moves way too slow and as such makes it feel pretty boring.

OK thanks for the advice Photon. I'll try turning up the ship and bullet speeds. I feel like when I look at the same project for too long I can't tell if it's "good" or "fun" I just see the work. But I'll give faster game play a go, thanks.

This was pretty cool. I liked your aesthetic quite a bit and there's a little of an old-timey asteroids feel to the effects, which is great.

I didn't play much because my keyboard, for some reason, wouldn't let me move around at all, just let me fire. But it's not just your game; I can't seem to move around on most games hosted on the site. I'm probably doing something wrong, but not sure what.

I increased the movement speed and rate fire by 1/3, hopefully that make things a little less slow paced. Next I think I'll make some different levels and more unique looking/acting ships (maybe more power ups?).
 
I'm still not 100% where I'm heading with this "game" so any suggestions/comments/opinions are greatly appreciated, thank you.

If there's one thing I've noted about arcade-styled games like this, the speed is imperative to its success. By arcade-style, I mean games that rely on simple, repetitive gameplay as their bread and butter. They tend to rely on strong speed and the "thrill of the experience" since they are normally weaker, relative to other games, in terms of deep varied gameplay and goal-oriented progression.

Basically, you crank up the speed and then supplement with a simple system of levels and power-ups, to name one example. When things get moving, even simple tasks can become more harrowing, but that's the beauty of it. A simple premise subjected to a fast-pace can balance each other out but still captivate the player with its strong points (again, the speed!)

Here are some mockup menus I made today. One is of the upgrade screen, the other is of the 2-player ship select screen.
Besides the font being hard to read (which is intended and being tweeked.) what do you guys think? too simple? Not clear enough? Too red? not enough circles?