Stinger on NES is one of those classic shoot-'em-ups where you're basically a tiny spaceship against an entire alien armada—and somehow, that feels fair. You zip through these bright, chunky pixel skies dodging waves of weird flying... things (some look like angry jellyfish?), hammering the fire button until your thumb aches. The ship controls just right—snappy but not slippery—and those power-ups actually matter. First time I played, I grabbed the wrong upgrade and immediately regretted it when a swarm of those squid enemies cornered me.

It’s got that perfect balance where early levels feel manageable, then suddenly you’re sweating bullets in stage 3 because everything’s moving twice as fast. The music’s all bleep-bloop adrenaline, too. If you’ve ever lost an afternoon to Gradius or TwinBee, this one’s right up your alley.

Controls: Arrow keys to move, Z to fire, X for bombs (save these for the bosses). Trust me, you’ll need them.