Gomoku Narabe is one of those classic NES games that feels way deeper than it looks. At first glance, it's just placing black and white stones on a grid—simple, right? But then you realize the AI actually puts up a decent fight, blocking your moves and setting up sneaky traps.

The controls are dead simple (d-pad to move, button to place), but the strategy gets surprisingly tense. I kept losing my first few matches because I'd focus too much on offense and miss the opponent lining up four in a row. Pro tip: always watch the diagonals—the AI loves those.

It's pure two-player fun if you've got a friend around, but even solo, the CPU gives you a solid challenge once you bump up the difficulty. Just don't expect flashy graphics—this is straight-up, no-frills board game goodness.