PixlBit

This one definitely has the nicest presentation in the series to date but if you are totally new, I have to recommend the original trilogy. Those stories are so good!

I'll definitely have to get that! My main complaint with the Picross S games is that the pictures are so mundane but not so with this one! Very cool.

I didn't know there was a Sega Picross game! I'd like to play the one where you solve a murder mystery with the power of Picross. I think it's called Murder by Numbers. What's the Sega one called?

Well, it things get desperate, you can always head down to your local courthouse and take care of that Snee problem! Then you won't have to play a Monster Hunter game 

I'm not very familiar with the game beyond its cool soundtrack but I'm always happy when a little-known game does well enough for a sequel.

Stage Select

To the Future (Trails of Cold Steel 4)

I love the mixture of orchestra with rock or techno percussion and this song is a great example of that. Bonus points for prominent piano!

Overdose (Blue Reflection)

Sticking with JRPGs but going further down the techno spectrum, I love this energetic battle theme.

Cage Match

Nothing against Final Fantasy VIII but I watched my older brother play it back in the day and have never felt the urge to play it myself (unless I ever actually get around to every Final Fantasty at some point). I have, however, played Chrono Cross all the way through twice. I love the convoluted plot and the quirky characters (even if there are too many of them). It has one of the best soundtracks ever, which I still regularly listen to, and perhaps the best graphics on the PS1. Chrono Cross is a solid win in my book.

After looking through your two blogs, the Neo Geo mini looks really neat! A few too many fighting games for my taste but that's SNK for you. I do love the Metal Slug games, though, and some of these other ones sound cool too. I think I might have downloaded Blazing Star on the Wii virtual console back in the day but I'm not sure. (EDIT: No wait, maybe that was Blazing Lasers.)

Sakura Wars is definitely not for everyone, which is a caveat for every visual novel, but I'd encourage you to give it a try if you see it on sale.

Haven't you been playing long RPGs exclusively? No wonder you haven't beaten anything!

There's no one quite as, uh, flamboyant as that particular Texan in the new Sakura Wars but there is a girl—maybe 10 years old?—who is a legit ninja, which is pretty cool.

I never played Blaster Master on NES and I have thoroughly enjoyed the Zero games, so I say give them a try!