Phantom Air Mission is one of those early Game Boy flight sims that somehow makes tiny black-and-white pixels feel like a high-speed dogfight. You're thrown right into the cockpit of an F-14 (though in Europe they called it Phantom Air Mission for some reason), banking through tight turns and trying to lock missiles onto enemy jets that look like angry little flies.

The controls take a minute to get used to—you’ve got throttle, pitch, rolls, the whole deal crammed onto a D-pad and two buttons. At first I kept overshooting targets or slamming into the ground, but once it clicks, weaving through canyons while dodging missiles feels weirdly satisfying for a Game Boy game. The missions get brutal fast, though. By mission three, you’ll be sweating over pixel-perfect maneuvers just to survive.

It’s definitely a product of its time—no fancy cutscenes, just a barebones briefing screen and straight into the action. But if you’re into retro flight games, this one’s got a surprising amount of depth under its chunky pixels.