Man, Ghouls 'n' Ghosts on the Genesis is brutal in the best way. You play as Arthur, this knight in boxer shorts (yeah, seriously) who gets wrecked in two hits—one knocks your armor off, the next kills you. The first level throws zombies at you right away, and those red devils? They dive at you from off-screen like they’ve got a personal grudge.

The music’s all ominous harpsichord and dungeon vibes, which somehow makes getting murdered by a flying gargoyle feel even worse. And just when you think you’ve got a rhythm, the game flips everything—like that graveyard where the ground crumbles under you, or the swamp with those unkillable mermen. Boss fights are these huge, screen-filling monstrosities that take forever to whittle down.

Oh, and here’s the kicker: beat the game once, and it goes “lol no” and makes you replay the whole thing to get the real ending. Classic Capcom cruelty. If you love pain with your pixel art, this one’s a masterpiece.