Super Star Wars - Teikoku No Gyakushuu (or "Empire Strikes Back" for us non-Japanese players) is the second SNES game in the trilogy, and man, it’s a step up from the first one. You’re still blasting through classic Star Wars scenes—snowspeeders on Hoth, Luke dodging AT-AT fire, that kind of thing—but everything feels tighter. The controls are less floaty, the sprites look sharper, and those Mode-7 flight sections? Way smoother.

It’s tough, though. Like, "throw-your-controller-into-the-couch" tough in some spots. The Wampa cave still gives me flashbacks. But nailing a perfect run as Han or Luke, especially when you finally take down Boba Fett’s ship, feels so good. The music’s all the classic John Williams stuff, too, which helps when you’re grinding through the same level for the tenth time.

If you’ve played the first Super Star Wars, this one’s more of that—just polished and with way more AT-ATs to trip up.