Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever on the GBA is one of those weird little handheld FPS experiments that somehow works. You’re dropped into these tight, maze-like levels with a pistol that feels way too slow at first—until you realize half the game is about ducking behind cover and picking your shots. The controls take a second to click (no dual sticks here, obviously), but once they do, it’s surprisingly tense sneaking around corners and catching enemies off-guard.

It’s got that early 2000s vibe where everything’s either gray or neon orange, and the AI isn’t exactly genius, but they’ll flank you if you camp in one spot too long. The whole thing feels like someone tried to cram a console shooter into a GBA cartridge and mostly pulled it off. Not perfect, but weirdly satisfying when you pull off a clean headshot with those chunky pixels.

If you’ve got nostalgia for janky portable shooters, this one’s a fun time capsule.