Dragon Fighter (Japan) is one of those NES games that slipped under the radar for a lot of people—probably because it never got an official US release. It’s basically a side-scrolling action game where you play as this armored knight slashing through waves of monsters, but with a weird mix of medieval and sci-fi enemies. Like, one minute you’re fighting skeletons, the next you’re dodging laser beams from robots.

The controls are stiff in that classic NES way, but once you get used to it, the combat has a satisfying weight to it. Your sword swings feel heavy, and landing hits on those floating eyeball enemies just *clunks* in a way that’s weirdly satisfying. The music’s got that crunchy FM synth sound too—definitely feels like a late-era NES game pushing the hardware.

Fun fact: This came out in Japan a full year before the US version, and honestly? The differences are pretty minor—mostly some palette swaps and slightly tweaked enemy placements. Still, if you’re into obscure NES action games, it’s a neat little time capsule.