Mhh, I can agree to this a bit. I mean creativity is good, but if you want more 80s retro games then it should stick to that and not be like hippie turtles retro or go too freely into others. Although I understand you reasons not being too strict on it since for one it's not an easy theme unless you are really into it.
No offence though, I liked doing stuff a bit too much non-80s retro maybe, I don't know but it was still fun