Mahjong Hishouden Shin - Naki No Ryuu is one of those SNES mahjong games that actually makes the tiles feel alive—well, as alive as pixelated bamboo and dragons can get. The moment you boot it up, you're hit with that warm, slightly grainy 16-bit aesthetic, like someone digitized a smoky 90s mahjong parlor straight onto your screen.

It’s not just solitaire mahjong either—you’re playing against AI opponents who actually have personalities. Some play recklessly, others take forever to discard a tile, and one guy kept smugly humming every time he stole a piece I needed. The "Naki No Ryuu" (Crying Dragon) mode is where things get spicy, throwing in special rules that force you to rethink your usual strategy. I lost three rounds before realizing I couldn’t just hoard winds like usual.

If you’ve played other SNES mahjong games, this one stands out for its weird little flourishes—like the way the tiles clack when you match them, or how your opponent’s face slowly turns more horrified as you build a winning hand. It’s definitely aimed at players who already know their pongs from their chows, but there’s something satisfying about outsmarting a cartoonish old man in a digital tile war.