Megaman & Bass on the GBA is one of those games that looks simple until you actually play it. You pick between Megaman (classic, reliable) or Bass (faster, trickier), and immediately notice how different they feel—Bass can dash and aim diagonally, but his shots are weaker. I went with Megaman first and regretted it by stage 3.

The levels are brutal in that classic Megaman way—enemies come out of nowhere, platforms crumble under you, and the boss fights? Don’t even get me started. The robot masters here are some of the toughest in the series, especially Dynamo Man’s stage with those disappearing blocks. The music’s got that crunchy GBA sound, all high-energy beats that somehow make dying 20 times less frustrating.

It’s not just nostalgia bait, either. The level design forces you to actually learn patterns, not just spam shots. That ice stage with the sliding sections? Pure evil. But when you finally beat a boss and steal their weapon, it’s so satisfying. Just don’t throw your GBA.