Burai Fighter is one of those NES shooters that doesn’t get enough love. You start off blasting through side-scrolling levels, then suddenly the perspective shifts to top-down—kinda throws you off at first, but in a good way. The eight-directional shooting feels way ahead of its time, letting you aim diagonally while dodging enemy fire.

What really hooked me was the weapon upgrades. You collect these power-ups that change your shot patterns, and some of them are just brutal against bosses. The Burai bases get tougher as you go, but figuring out which weapon works best against each one is half the fun. Just don’t get too attached to your upgrades—dying resets you back to pea-shooter mode, and that’s when things get stressful.

It’s got that classic “one more try” energy, even when the difficulty spikes out of nowhere. The Game Boy version’s decent too, but the NES original’s where it really shines.