Thanks, I'm glad you're enjoying them! The water in Brix does seem a strange addition, because it completely changes the object of a level from matching bricks up to a trivial "get this brick here" - there's no way for it to accept one non-matching brick but not all the others, so there's no opportunity to set up a clever maze where you need to thread a single block out without matching it, because you could just throw them all in the pond at any time.

You make an interesting point about Jill, because I'd never even thought of that - in terms of most games of this time, her running animation is fairly realistic and she does look very much like a human. However, she doesn't really move like one, being able to leap at least twice her height, has total air control and is able to take a lot of damage from enemies without flinching. The feel, more than the appearance of the sprite, seems to be the defining difference here.