Okay, so Pocket Monsters on the Genesis is basically the weird, chunky-pixel grandpa of the Pokémon games we know today. You start off picking between three monsters—mine was this little fire-breathing lizard thing that looked like it was drawn in MS Paint—and then you’re just kinda thrown into this world of blocky trees and trainers who really want to fight you.

The battles are simple but weirdly satisfying, with these crunchy sound effects when your monster lands a hit. And yeah, the sprites are janky as hell, but there’s something charming about how your little guy bounces when it wins. Catching new monsters feels like gambling—half the time they just break free and you’re left mashing buttons, hoping for the best.

It’s not as polished as the later games, but if you’ve ever wondered what Pokémon would’ve looked like on a Sega console in the ‘90s, this is it. Just don’t expect Pikachu to show up.