Beast Shooter: Mezase Beast King! is one of those GBA games that somehow flew under the radar but absolutely shouldn’t have. You start off picking your first beast—I went with the fire-breathing lizard thing because, well, fire—and immediately get thrown into these fast-paced arena battles where timing and positioning actually matter.

The sprites are chunky and full of personality, and the way your creatures evolve after a few wins makes grinding weirdly satisfying. At first, I thought it was just another monster battler, but there’s a real rhythm to the fights—dodging attacks, charging up your beast’s special move, then unleashing it at just the right moment. The AI isn’t a pushover either; some of the later fights had me resetting my GBA more than I’d like to admit.

If you’ve got a soft spot for early 2000s handheld games with a bit of depth, this one’s a blast. Just don’t blame me when you lose track of time trying to max out your team.