Kingdom Hearts: Re-Coded on DS is one of those weird spin-offs that actually works. You start off in this glitchy digital version of Sora’s memories—basically a rehash of the first game’s worlds, but with a fresh twist. The combat’s snappy, mixing real-time action with these weird block-based stat upgrades that somehow don’t feel out of place.

What surprised me was how much the puzzle stuff clicks. There are these Matrix-style hacking minigames where you rearrange code blocks to unlock doors or tweak enemy spawns. And yeah, it’s still got that classic KH charm—running around Olympus Coliseum or Agrabah with Donald and Goofy never gets old, even on a tiny screen.

It’s not as deep as the mainline games, but for a DS title? Way more fun than it had any right to be. The story’s basically a side note until the last few hours, but the gameplay loop keeps you hooked.