Contra: Hard Corps on the Genesis is one of those games that makes you question your reflexes—in the best way possible. You pick your soldier (I always go for the cyborg dude with the spread shot), and suddenly you're sprinting through levels where everything explodes. Like, everything. Robots, helicopters, weird alien mutants—it's chaos, but the kind where you're grinning the whole time.

The hit points mod here is a lifesaver if you're not a masochist. Original Contra was brutal, but this tweak gives you a tiny bit of breathing room between getting shredded by bullets. Still, don't get cocky—those bosses don't mess around. One minute you're dodging a tank's missiles, the next you're jumping over lava pits while some biomechanical horror fills the screen. And that soundtrack? Pure 16-bit adrenaline.

If you've ever yelled at your TV because a game felt unfair, maybe skip this. But if you miss that old-school rush where every level feels like a victory lap, Hard Corps still holds up stupidly well. Just remember: hold down the fire button and pray.