Okay, so A Nightmare on Elm Street for NES is... an experience. You start off running down this weirdly empty Elm Street, jumping over potholes and dodging random enemies that pop up out of nowhere. The music is unsettling in that classic 8-bit horror way—like someone made a carnival tune but then ran it through a nightmare filter.

Freddy’s lurking somewhere, but first you’ve gotta survive his minions and these bizarre environmental hazards (why is there a giant hand coming out of the sewer?). The controls take a second to get used to—Z for attack, X for jump—but once it clicks, you’ll be swinging that dream knife like a pro. Or at least trying to. The difficulty spikes hard if you’re not careful.

Honestly, it’s janky in that old-school NES way, but there’s something weirdly charming about it. Just don’t expect it to play like the modern horror games you’re used to. This is pure late-’80s “what were they thinking?” energy.