I somehow didn’t realize there were 3 of them lol.
But yeah, these are definitely games you need to stick with and unlock stuff for progression. I didn’t make it past like stage 2 or 3 until I had unlocked a couple other characters.
And with the way the items stack, you lose versatility but gain power if you use the 3d printer to convert all of your powerups into a single one (though not every powerup is worth it, at least I think). I still haven’t beaten the game for the 2nd one, but I’m making it to the last level more consistently now.