Actually I was more reminded of the
Sonic The Hedgehog 2 Special Stages than anything else 'cause it actually has you dodging stuff, albeit on a much smaller scale. I loved playing those stages to bits and pieces, so this looks very interesting to me as well
Also, while I do agree that it's essentially the same as a two dimensional game, one difference between this and a regular 2D shooter is that it loops around. I'm aware that you could loop pacman style in a 2D styled game too, although this cylinder could better take advantage of such a mechanic, since it can be designed assuming the full loop as opposed to being forced to work within the confines of a rather a rigidly formed box. It doesn't actually look like they're using this concept to its fullest potential though, which actually seems like a bit of a shameful waste.
One other thing of note: I think the gaps between the bullets seem much larger than they do in the actual games, while the hitbox still appears to be about the same size. This could be a bit easier for reasons completely unrelated to the game's perceived dimensionality.
