Man, Castlevania: Circle of the Moon still holds up. You start off with just a whip and a prayer, stumbling through Dracula’s castle in that moody GBA pixel art—torches flickering, skeletons lunging at you from off-screen. Then you find your first DSS card, and suddenly you’re mixing magic with your attacks, freezing enemies or summoning flames mid-combo. Feels so good when it clicks.

The castle’s a maze of locked doors and hidden passages, and half the fun is backtracking once you get double-jump or the ability to walk underwater. That one hallway with the armored knights? Yeah, you’ll die there a few times. But the music—that gothic organ and synth combo—somehow makes grinding for XP less painful.

It’s tougher than later Metroidvanias, but that’s part of the charm. You’ll curse at the screen, then immediately boot it up again the next day.