The surprising part is not that some of the mini-games were better than the real game. The real game is a poor 10th sequel in a line of poor games and is therefore a pretty low target to beat. The surprising part is that a few of the mini-games manage to be even worse.
Oh wow. I was struggling for a while on the ghost ship until I read a comment on the stars. Not at all obvious that you can click on the star in the port and get upgrades.
Dang, looking into it!