Yes, you sound like my irish friend talking to me, an italian about pasta
Flavor comes out the same, but texture can be different.
Personally I put rigatoni in the A tier because I like how you can get like a bolegnese sauce to fill up the larger hole than say a penne. But Penne is better for a sauce that isn't meaty, like vodka sauce.
I also love like the stupid shapes for mac and cheese, anything to get the cheese in the little crevices created. We recently found beer mug pasta and made a mac and cheese with it that worked real well.
I actually don't really like spaghetti too much, I find it can be too thick. Spaghettini is better for my tastes as I also find angel hair to be a bit too thin.