Street Fighter II on Game Boy is a miracle of compression—somehow they crammed all the chaos of the arcade into that little gray brick. You’ve got Ryu’s fireballs looking like flickering pixels, Chun-Li’s lightning legs reduced to a blur, and Zangief’s spinning pile driver threatening to snap your D-pad in half. The sound? Pure 8-bit distortion, but in a way that makes Hadoukens feel even more satisfying when they land.

Matches play out faster than you’d expect—no frills, just two fighters and a sliver of health bar. I kept losing to Vega’s claw nonsense until I figured out the timing for counters. It’s janky in that classic Game Boy way, but once you adjust, there’s something weirdly perfect about practicing combos on a bus ride. Just don’t blame me when your thumbs are sore.