Stormlord on the Sega Genesis is one of those platformers that looks gorgeous but will absolutely wreck you if you're not careful. You play as this armored fairy dude (yeah, fairies—stick with me) who has to rescue a bunch of captured fairy maidens from… honestly, I’m not sure what the bad guys are, but they’re definitely not friendly.

The first thing you’ll notice is how lush the backgrounds are—lots of deep blues and purples, like some kind of fantasy dreamscape. Then you’ll immediately get hit by an enemy you didn’t see coming because they love hiding just off-screen. Classic Genesis jank.

You’ve got a sword, but your real bread and butter is the magic. Hold down the button to charge up spells, which is cool until you realize everything moves just a little too fast for comfort. The level design’s got that old-school "trial and error" vibe—expect to die a lot before you memorize where the jumps and traps are.

It’s not the smoothest platformer out there, but there’s something weirdly charming about it. Maybe it’s the fairy rescues, or maybe it’s just the sheer audacity of making a game where you’re a magical knight who fights giant bees. Either way, it’s a trip.