Okay, so Soul Blade on SNES—this one’s a weird little gem. You pick a warrior, each with their own clunky-but-charming sword moves, and just go at it in these pixelated arenas. The controls take a second to click (seriously, why is the heavy attack mapped to that button?), but once they do, there’s something satisfying about landing a perfectly timed slash.

The sprites are surprisingly detailed for a 16-bit fighter—like, you can actually see the dents in armor when someone blocks. And the music? All dramatic synth strings that somehow make every match feel like a duel to the death. I kept picking the samurai guy because his iaido stance looked cool, even though I kept losing with him.

It’s janky in that old-school way where half the fun is figuring out what even works. Not exactly balanced, but who cares when you’re yelling at the screen because your friend spammed the same move three times in a row? Pure nostalgia, but the good kind.