Oh man, Hameln no Violin Hiki is one of those weird, obscure SNES gems that never made it out of Japan. It's based on that dark fantasy manga where a demon-summoning violinist leads an army of monsters—kinda like if Pied Piper went full villain.

You play as Hamel, whipping enemies with his violin bow in this side-scrolling action RPG. The sprites are surprisingly detailed for a 16-bit game, with these grotesque monster designs that really capture the manga's vibe. First time I played, I got wrecked by the second stage boss because I didn't realize you could upgrade your spells by collecting musical notes.

Definitely has that classic "Japanese-only" quirkiness—some translations are rough, but the gameplay's solid once you figure out the mechanics. The soundtrack slaps too, obviously.