Power of the Hired is one of those weird, obscure SNES titles that never made it outside Japan—which is a shame, because it’s got this odd charm to it. You play as a mercenary (or "hired," I guess) taking on missions in a medieval-fantasy world, but with a tactical RPG twist. The sprites are chunky, the menus are all in Japanese, and half the fun is figuring out what the heck you’re supposed to do next.

At first, I just mashed buttons to get through dialogue, but once you get the hang of it, there’s something satisfying about assembling a ragtag crew and sending them into grid-based battles. The music’s got that classic SNES synth vibe, too—kinda repetitive, but it grows on you. Definitely not for everyone, but if you’re into digging up forgotten 16-bit gems, this one’s a neat little time capsule.