Adventure Island 2 is one of those NES sequels that actually improves on the original—still classic side-scrolling action, but now with dinosaurs. Yeah, you heard that right. Higgins is back on his skateboard, chucking axes like before, but this time he can hop on four different dinos, each with their own quirks. The fire-breathing red one’s my favorite, but the flying Pteranodon comes in clutch when you need to cheese past some annoying platforming.

The levels sprawl across multiple islands, and some of them get surprisingly tough—especially when you’re trying not to lose your current dino ride. The swimming sections with the Elasmosaurus feel way smoother than they have any right to be for an NES game. Just don’t get too attached to your mounts; one hit and they’re gone.

It’s got that classic "one more try" energy, even when the difficulty spikes make you want to chuck your controller. The witch doctor won’t know what hit him.