Metroid II on Game Boy is one of those games that feels way bigger than the hardware it’s on. You land on SR388 with one job—wipe out every last Metroid—but the deeper you go, the weirder it gets. The planet’s all tunnels and lava, and at first, you’re just jumping and shooting like usual. Then you start finding upgrades—the Spider Ball that lets you cling to walls is a game-changer—and suddenly you’re backtracking through areas you thought you’d cleared, hunting for secrets.

The Metroids themselves evolve as you go, starting as little jelly blobs and turning into these freaky floating monsters. And that soundtrack? All eerie bleeps and bloops that somehow make the caves feel even more lonely. It’s not as polished as Super Metroid, but there’s something raw about it—like you’re really the first person poking around in these ruins. Just don’t expect a map; you’ll be drawing your own on graph paper like it’s 1991.