Fleet Commander is this weird little NES gem from 1988 that never made it out of Japan. ASCII took a shot at naval strategy when nobody else was bothering with the genre on Nintendo’s console—so yeah, it’s clunky, but kind of fascinating if you’re into retro oddities.

You’re basically moving ships on a grid, trying to outmaneuver the enemy fleet with turn-based tactics. The controls take some getting used to (classic NES menu diving), but once it clicks, there’s something satisfying about flanking a battleship with your destroyers. Just don’t expect fancy graphics—it’s all symbols and grids, like a board game shoved onto a cartridge.

Honestly, half the appeal is how rough it feels compared to later strategy games. It’s the kind of thing you play to see where the genre started, not because it holds up perfectly. Still, if you dig historical quirks, it’s worth a look.