Pokémon Silver on the Game Boy Color is one of those games that just sticks with you. You start off in New Bark Town, pick your first Pokémon (Cyndaquil’s my go-to, but Totodile’s got that bite), and before long, you’re knee-deep in tall grass trying to catch everything that moves. The Johto region feels alive—day and night actually change, some Pokémon only show up at certain times, and there’s this weird radio tower plot that gets surprisingly intense.

What I love is how much there is to stumble into. You think you’re just grinding levels, then suddenly you’re in a cave fighting a wild Lapras or getting schooled by Whitney’s Miltank (seriously, that thing’s a nightmare). And after the Elite Four? The game casually drops Kanto on you like, "Oh yeah, here’s eight more gyms." It’s a monster of a game for a tiny cartridge.

Still holds up, even with the chunky pixels and that weird metallic color palette. If you’ve got a GBC lying around, dust it off for this one.