Yeah, I saw more of the game's faults, like glitches, weird ideas on how to implement minigames, the Balan Bouts, the third acts being annoying, and how annoying it can be to keep running back to get replacement costumes with the keys and one hit to remove your costumes...

But honestly? Despite all this, I still ended up still have a smile on my face, even laughing at some of the glitches that happened, while still enjoying the game for being a collect-a-thon platformer that is pretty open in how you collect the trophies, the boss fights to be legit fun get challenging to try and find all the unique ways to harm it, and even how the costumes, worlds, and boss designs play into the character's and what events led them to where they are now; or at the least, the costumes just looking cool. I know I should be hating this game to the high heavens right now, seeing how it's my third time playing it and I should at LEAST think it's a 5 at best, but I can't help it, the game is just charming and all the negatives I did see weren't that major to me and didn't deter me from liking it. Just avoid the Switch version of the game.

I think I may not have a big enough brain to fully enjoy this. It's definitely unique and definitely one of a kind, but it was just getting to be an eyesore after a while and it felt like the game was going "Oh you probably already know who this is" which I didn't and felt stupid for feeling like I had to just try and guess at certain parts. I heard through the grapevine of YouTubers and reviewers that if you know more about ships and how they work and who works on them, you'll be able to fill the pieces in far easier. Another problem is I never really got into Lucas Pope's other main hit game, Papers Please, so it could be that I never really could vibe with his style. I don't need constant high-octane action 24/7 to stay invested, but something about this game just wasn't doing it for me. It's definitely someone's cup of tea, but just not mine. Still a nicely prepared cup, but one I may try drinking later if I learn more about sailor stuff.

I can't in good faith call it completely worthless as it has some good ideas of using Atari's past in minigames a la 9-Volt in the WarioWare series, but it still feels too short to reach the heights of being a WarioWare competitor, or even a NES Remix competitor. There's no multiplayer option to play with others or even a Freeplay option to practice these microgames, and when so many different games in the pack have so many different physics you have to adjust to, that's a huge problem.

Also, fun fact, according to the PlayStation Trophies statistics, more people have played through the first 6 chapters of Balan Wonderworld than they did beating Atari Mania. It takes barely 2 hours and more people rather play around 4 hours of peak gaming.