Super Metroid Life on SNES is one of those games that just sticks with you. You start off as Samus, landing on this creepy alien planet with nothing but your arm cannon and a vague sense of dread. The music alone sets the mood—haunting, atmospheric, like you’re really the only thing breathing in these caverns.

At first, you’ll feel lost (in a good way). The map’s huge, full of hidden paths and upgrades tucked behind fake walls. I remember wasting half an hour trying to bomb every block in sight, convinced there had to be a missile tank somewhere. And when you finally stumble on a new ability—like the Speed Booster or Grapple Beam—it clicks, and suddenly whole sections of the world open up.

Boss fights? Brutal but fair. That first encounter with Kraid had me sweating, and don’t even get me started on Ridley. The controls are tight, though—no clunkiness, just pure precision as you wall-jump and morph-ball your way through lava pits and underwater tunnels.

It’s aged ridiculously well. If you’ve never played it, you owe it to yourself to dive in blind—no guides, just you and the eerie glow of Zebes.