Morita Shougi 64 is basically chess, but with a Japanese twist—pieces can get promoted, drop back onto the board, and things get chaotic fast. The N64 version nails the feel of real Shogi with clean, simple visuals and an AI that doesn’t mess around. First match in, I got wrecked by the medium difficulty bot, so maybe start on easy if you’re new.

What’s cool is how it eases you in—there’s a tutorial that actually explains the weird piece movements (ever seen a "drunken elephant" in a strategy game?), and the controls are surprisingly smooth for an N64 board game port. The music’s low-key, just some traditional-ish tunes that don’t distract when you’re trying to plan three moves ahead.

If you’ve played Shogi before, the AI’s solid enough to give you a real fight. If not, well… good luck figuring out why your silver general just got sniped by a lance. It’s one of those games where losing feels like learning.