revised statement of intent

I'd like to ideally work alongside the jayisgames.com competition, in which the aim is to create a flash game roughly themed around the word 'upgrade'. Of course if it's preferable to keep the imagine cup theme of a sustainable environment, that can be incorporated into my idea as well.
The idea for my game is a comedy one: evil cats are dumping wase in the rivers and therefore polluting the environment (linking to the idea of a sustainable environment). Enter the protagonist Benio, champion cat-fighter, to save the day. he must set out to punish the evil cats and find the source of their malice in a side scrolling 2d beat em up. Bonus points are also awarded for picking up hoodies on the way through levels, as Benio must gain some extra profit for his efforts.
Tying to the theme of upgrades, the cats become progressively harder, until on the last level you're expected to take down a lion. However they are not the only enemies to receive upgrades: Benio also receives upgrades in his arsenal of hand to hand techniques, starting with a powerful uppercut with a small shockwave effect. Eventually he acquires a motorcycle to use in his techniques in order to fight the rising threat. I'm also thinking of incorporating a bonus level with the motorbike where you must hit cats in first person as you drive, but this may not be possible with time constraints.
I've based the protagonist Benio quite clearly around Nintendo's Wario, whose 2d platformers are quite similar to what I'm aiming for in this project; therefore, Benio's similar design is a homage to Wario. they are also similar in that they could be called anti-heroes. However if the design is deigned too similar, changes can be made in colour scheme etc.
I think this could make for a popular viral online flash game with its sense of humour and references to Nintendo platformers. it should especially appeal to males aged 13-20 who see the funny side in pummeling often-defenseless cats. I'd also have some blood in scraps to increase the appeal to that audience. Although some may complain about abuse to cats, the fact is it is a comedy game, and similarly there has been cat juggling in films in the past for comedy (for example 'The Jerk').

My action plan:
1. Research 2d side scrolling or 2d beat em up games (Viewtiful Joe/VJ2, Super Smash bros Melee, Streetfighter Alpha Anthology, Warioland 2)
2. Finish sketching rough outlines of the levels
3. Design characters and backgrounds to work with
4. Research actionscript necessary to complete the game (may overlap with further work)
5. Make character animations, put backgrounds together for the first level
6. Make the first level interactive using actionscript
7. If all the above have been covered, design more levels into the game