Okay, so Sonic Gaiden is this weird but kinda awesome mashup where someone decided Sonic should play like a Ninja Gaiden game. You’re still blasting through levels at high speed, but now there’s way more sword-slashing and wall-jumping—like if Sonic found a katana and just went with it. The controls take a second to click (why is a hedgehog doing backflips?), but once they do, it’s surprisingly smooth.

First level throws you right into it: loops, spikes, and ninja stars flying everywhere. The music’s got that classic Genesis crunch, and the sprites are juiced-up just enough to feel fresh. Honestly, it shouldn’t work, but it does. You’ll be air-dashing past badniks like some kind of blue blur samurai by the third stage.

Definitely one of those "how did this not exist already?" ROM hacks.