Rekishi Masters 512 is one of those weirdly cool Game Boy games that somehow makes history feel like an action-packed RPG. You start off picking an era—I went with feudal Japan first, because samurai—and suddenly you're answering trivia questions to power up your attacks. Miss one, and your sword swing just kinda flops.

The battles are surprisingly tense for a pixelated handheld game. You'll face Roman gladiators, Renaissance scholars, even steampunk inventors, all while trying to remember which century the printing press was invented. (Hint: it matters.) The further you go, the more obscure the facts get—I may or may not have lost a duel because I blanked on 9th-century Byzantine trade routes.

What’s neat is how the game doesn’t just test you—it teaches. After getting wrecked by a Viking warlord, I definitely remembered their invasion dates for next time. If you like history with a side of button-mashing, this one’s a blast.