Star Odyssey is one of those weird, ambitious Sega Genesis RPGs that feels like it’s trying to do everything at once—space battles, planet-hopping, and a story full of aliens who somehow all speak perfect English. You start off with a clunky little ship and a vague mission about saving the galaxy, but half the fun is just figuring out how anything works. The combat’s turn-based but weirdly frantic, and the planets range from "barren wasteland" to "why is everything neon pink here?"

It’s got that classic jank—dialogue is hilariously stiff, and some of the mechanics feel like they were designed by someone who’d only heard about RPGs secondhand. But there’s charm in the chaos. You’ll recruit a crew of misfits (my favorite’s the cyborg who complains about fuel costs), upgrade your ship with scrap you find floating in space, and occasionally stumble into a boss fight that’s way harder than it should be. The soundtrack’s full of those crunchy Genesis synths that either slap or give you a headache—no in-between.

If you’re into retro games that don’t hold your hand, this one’s a time capsule worth cracking open. Just don’t expect it to make sense all the time.