Okay, so Cutthroat Island on SNES is basically what happens when someone took a pirate movie and turned it into a side-scrolling beat 'em up. You start off swinging your sword at random deckhands, which feels great until you realize half of them throw knives—rude.

The first level throws you right into a ship battle, and the controls are simple enough: slash, jump, and occasionally pick up a pistol to blast someone (ammo’s scarce, so make it count). The music’s got that classic SNES pirate vibe—lots of jaunty accordion and drum rolls that somehow make stabbing people feel festive.

Graphics are decent for the era, with some nice parallax waves in the background, though the character sprites are a little chunky. Pro tip: watch out for the guys with rapiers—they’re faster than you’d expect. And yeah, there’s treasure hunting, but mostly you’re just trying not to get cornered by five enemies at once.

It’s not the deepest game, but if you’re into pirates or just want something straightforward to hack through, it’s a solid way to kill an afternoon.