Hector 87: Starship Hector is one of those weird, underrated NES shooters with a bonkers story. You're the last survivor of a war-torn Earth, coming back in time to find the planet overrun by these freaky biomechanical monsters. The whole thing feels like a fever dream—like someone mashed up Terminator and a 90s anime.

Gameplay’s straightforward but satisfying: twin lasers for air targets, bombs for anything crawling on the ground. No ammo limits, so you can just go wild blasting everything. The levels throw these organic-mechanical hybrids at you—half robot, half... flesh?—and some of the bosses are legit creepy for an 8-bit game. First time I played, I got wrecked by this giant floating head that splits into smaller heads. Classic NES nonsense.

It’s not the smoothest shooter out there, but the weird atmosphere and chunky pixel art give it charm. If you dig offbeat retro stuff, this one’s a trip.