There is a great Retronauts interview with the WayForward team about Sigma Star Saga. They go into the history of it before it became an original game and talk about the differences between the original and the rerelease. For instance, they tuned down the random encounters in the new version. I have never played it but my younger brother did and those frequent encounters were his biggest complaint.
That second to last Zack & Wiki level wasn't too bad with the fail conditions (it was sure long though!), but any level that let you die could be pretty frustrating. I don't want to just try stuff when I might have to restart the level if it doesn't work. By the end I was ready for the game to be done. I'm glad I played it though.
I think all these games you have linked were put out by the same publisher in the west, so it makes sense you got to review them all. I'll take a look at your reviews! And I do hope you get to review the GBA Shantae game. It doesn't dethrone Pirate's Curse for me but it's pretty good. Did you get to review the Sigma Star Saga remaster?
And congrats on getting a Switch 2! We will get one eventually.
That SNES game sounds like the tech was just not up to supporting the game idea but I love the sound of that game.
I have not played Genshin Impact but I've heard good things and, ya know, there are some...nice looking characters in that game...ahem...
World War I doesn't get enough attention in general, I think, so it's cool that there are multiple airplane games about it. Come to think of it, I feel like there was a WWI Snoopy Red Baron game at some point...? [Edit: Apparently there have been three Snoopy flying games!]
I have ordered from Thriftbooks before. It's a good site! I have so many books now, though, that either I am buying something I want to read right now or it's the impulse buy of "Hey, what are the odds I'd find this book I know is good at Local Thrift Store!"
A mid-year plan refresh! Your new plan sounds like an interesting idea.
Ooh! That's awesome that you'll get a Switch 2! We did not even try to preorder one. We'll get it eventually.
I've always been interested in those Becky Chambers books but I have never once seen them used anywhere, which I guess speaks well to their quality.
It's always funny hearing people talk about game mechanics and not know what the mean (I know I do this on here too). Congrats on transcending all the bears! 
I thought of you when the big government job cuts started happening. I hope your job stays safe.
I have a hard time trusting games that are reliant on RNG, since they can so easily cheat against you. But if they are not trying to get you to pay additional money, then it ought to be balanced for fun but it doesn't always work out that way. Sounds like you're having a good time with this game, so that's cool.
I'm finally back to playing things. I just finished Shadow of the Ninja Reborn, which is cool because I played the orignal NES game back in the day.
Skies Above sounded really interesting at first but, yeah, sounds like the gameplay loop is too short and samey to keep you invested that long. I listened to a Dr. Who audiodrama once about space whales that was really cool.
