Ninja Boy was my first taste of a proper action RPG on the Game Boy—way before Pokémon hit the scene. You play as this little ninja dude running through villages, jumping over pits, and slashing enemies with a sword that feels just the right amount of clunky. The sprites are tiny but weirdly charming, and the music has that classic Game Boy bleep-bloop energy.

It’s basically a simplified Super Chinese game (you know, those old-school kung-fu RPGs), but for some reason, I kept coming back to it even when the controls made me want to chuck my Game Boy across the room. Maybe it’s the weirdly satisfying power-ups or the fact that you can actually level up your character—which felt like a big deal back then.

Definitely a hidden gem if you’re into retro handheld stuff.