Brian Lara Cricket 96 is one of those old-school cricket games that just feels right. You boot it up on the Genesis, and within seconds you're picking teams—Australia with their terrifying fast bowlers, West Indies with Lara himself—and suddenly you're sweating over whether to play defensively or just swing for the fences. The controls are simple (no fancy analog sticks here), but timing a perfect cover drive still takes practice.

What I love is how it nails the little things—the way the ball skids off a damp pitch, or how spinners actually drift if you’re patient. The AI isn’t stupid either; leave a gap in your field, and the computer will exploit it mercilessly. And yeah, the graphics are pixelated by today’s standards, but there’s charm in those blocky stadiums and exaggerated animations when someone smashes a six.

It’s not perfect—the commentary repeats like crazy, and good luck figuring out the tournament mode without a manual—but for a mid-90s cricket sim, it holds up way better than it should. If you’ve got nostalgia for this era of sports games, it’s still a blast to fire up for a quick match.