Regarding the last game,
The interesting thing about the game was the energy system. Even though you regenerated health, it was shared among your jetpack, ammo, and your health. Collecting E bubbles increased your maximum energy capacity, but you had to balance between using your pack and taking damage. During the shmup portion, the game offers you E bubbles in hard-to-maneuver places, which aren't used until the latter part (the shmup part is one hit death). It gets brutal pretty quickly (and if you manage to beat the 8 fortresses, you have to do another 8 to really beat the game!). The jetpack portions always made me think of Metroid. At the end of each stage, you destroy a core, which looks similar to Mother Brain's setup, and have to escape the fortress before it explodes. Another interesting aspect: Iwata was producer on this game, so it is very strange that it's not on VC yet. I don't know how widespread the game was when it came out; it was one of the random games that my dad bought for me because he thought it looked interesting.