Power of the Hired is one of those SNES games that somehow flew under the radar back in the day, but man, it’s got this weird charm. You start off picking between these mercenary types—I always went with the ninja because throwing stars never get old, but the knight’s heavy armor comes in clutch against some of the later bosses.

The pixel art holds up surprisingly well, especially the way fire spells light up the screen. And don’t let the cutesy sprites fool you—some of these levels are brutal. There’s this one ice stage where the platforms crumble if you hesitate, and I may or may not have thrown my controller as a kid.

What really stuck with me though are the little secrets. Randomly slashing at bushes sometimes drops health potions, and there’s a hidden shopkeeper behind a waterfall in the second zone. It’s the kind of game where you’ll replay levels just to see what you missed the first time.

If you’re into that mid-90s action-strategy vibe, this one’s a time capsule worth dusting off.