Killer Instinct on Game Boy is one of those fighting games that somehow works way better than it has any right to. Yeah, the graphics are chunky and the sound is crunchy, but the core combat still feels surprisingly solid—like they squeezed just enough of the arcade version’s DNA into this tiny cartridge.

You’ve got all the usual suspects here: Jago with his tiger uppercuts, Fulgore’s laser nonsense, Sabrewulf just mauling people. The combos are simpler than the arcade, but pulling off a 10-hit with Glacius’s ice puddles still feels stupidly satisfying. First time I played, I button-mashed my way through a few matches before realizing there’s actual timing to the auto-doubles—turns out mashing gets you wrecked against the CPU after stage 3.

It’s not perfect (good luck pulling off Ultras consistently on that tiny D-pad), but for a portable fighter in the ‘90s? Way ahead of its time. Still fun to dust off when you want some quick, chaotic fights between bus rides.