Double Dragon 3 on the Genesis is one of those games that feels like a Saturday afternoon at the arcade—if your arcade had slightly janky controls and way too many enemies. You pick Billy or Jimmy (or one of the weird unlockable characters later) and just start wading through waves of thugs, throwing elbows and jump kicks like there’s no tomorrow.

The first level throws you right into it—some dude in a leather jacket sucker punches you, and suddenly you’re spinning kicks and suplexing guys into the pavement. The special moves are cool when they actually work, but half the time you’ll mash buttons and hope for the best. And yeah, it’s tough. Like, "why are there five guys with knives in this alley?" tough.

Playing co-op with a friend is where it shines, though. Nothing beats barely scraping through a level together, then arguing over who gets to play as the ninja. Just don’t expect it to play as smooth as the arcade version—this is pure, rough-around-the-edges Genesis action.