Man, SD Hiryuu No Ken Gaiden is one of those weird little Game Boy fighters that somehow sticks with you. At first glance, it's just another chibi martial arts brawler—tiny sprites throwing kicks and punches—but there's something oddly satisfying about the way the combat clicks. The moves aren't overly complicated, but timing matters way more than you'd expect.

I remember booting it up and thinking, "Okay, another basic fighter," but then I got wrecked by the second opponent because I kept button-mashing. Turns out, the game actually rewards you for learning the rhythm of each character. The dragon punch-style specials feel great when you land them, and the pixel art has this rough charm—like someone squeezed an arcade cabinet onto the Game Boy screen.

It's not perfect—some of the AI can be cheap, and good luck figuring out the story if you don't read Japanese—but there's a scrappy energy to it. If you dig obscure fighting games, this one's a fun time capsule.