Super Cars on NES is one of those racers that looks simple at first—just a top-down, arcade-style sprint—but has some sneaky depth. You start with a basic car and four AI opponents, and the first few races feel manageable. Then you realize the tracks get meaner if you leave them for later, and suddenly you're scraping for cash just to afford better tires.

The shop system is weirdly fun. You haggle with this salesman who throws out random dialogue options, and if you guess the right responses, he knocks the price down. I remember wasting half my upgrades just experimenting with different combos. And yeah, you can buy missiles. Because why wouldn’t you want to blast the guy in front of you?

By the time you hit the higher difficulties, the screen’s packed with cars, and that default engine won’t cut it anymore. It’s the kind of game where you lose three races in a row, finally scrape together enough for a turbo, and suddenly you’re barely squeaking into third place. Feels good.