Defender of the Crown on NES is this weird mix of strategy and action that somehow works. You start off picking a knight—I always go for the one with the coolest helmet—and then it's basically medieval Risk with swords. You move armies around a map of England, but the fun part is when you actually get into the action bits.

Jousting is clunky but satisfying once you get the timing down, and the castle sieges feel like you're actually hurling rocks at some poor guy's fortress. The sword fights? Kinda janky, but in that old-school way where you just mash buttons and hope for the best. It's got that classic NES charm where everything's a little rough around the edges, but you keep playing anyway.

Honestly, half the appeal is the vibe—the music, the pixelated castles, the fact that you can just decide to raid someone's land because you feel like it. It's not the deepest strategy game, but it's got personality.