Chessmaster on SNES is basically the granddaddy of digital chess—it's an upgraded port of Chessmaster 2000, but with smoother visuals and a cleaner interface. The opening screen throws you straight into a match against the AI, and man, that default difficulty doesn’t mess around. I lost my first game in like eight moves.

What’s cool is the tutorial mode—it actually explains why certain moves are bad instead of just saying “nope, try again.” There’s also this weirdly satisfying chunky sound effect when you take a piece. Graphics are simple but clean, and the music? Surprisingly chill for a ‘90s chess sim. Not gonna lie, I still boot this up when I want a no-nonsense chess fix without modern apps bombarding me with ads.