Darius II on the Genesis is one of those shooters that just feels like an arcade cabinet—in the best way possible. You start off in this sleek silver spaceship, weaving through asteroid fields while these weird, robotic fish enemies come at you from all angles. Yeah, fish. It’s bizarre, but somehow it works.

The first level throws you right into the chaos—dodging bullet patterns, grabbing power-ups that actually change how your shots behave (the laser upgrade is my go-to), and then bam—you hit the first boss. And these things are huge, taking up half the screen with their mechanical fins and glowing weak points. The music’s all synthy and tense, and if you’re not careful, you’ll burn through your lives fast.

It’s tougher than the first Darius, but the branching paths give it some replay value. Do you take the underwater route with the eerie neon corals, or the asteroid belt where everything’s trying to ram you? Either way, it’s pure ’90s shooter bliss. Just don’t expect to beat it on your first try.