Top Fighter 2000 MK VIII is one of those Genesis fighters that somehow flew under the radar back in the day—probably because it came out right when everyone was switching to PlayStation. But if you dig pixelated uppercuts and characters with hilariously exaggerated special moves, this one’s a hidden gem.

You’ve got your usual roster of martial artists, cyborgs, and that one guy who fights with a boomerang for some reason. The controls feel a little stiff at first (this ain’t Street Fighter), but once you get the timing down for combos, it clicks. Pro tip: the ninja’s teleport move is borderline broken if you spam it right.

What really stands out is the soundtrack—those crunchy Genesis synths go harder than they needed to. And yeah, the AI cheats like crazy on higher difficulties, but that’s part of the charm. Just don’t expect a deep story mode or anything; this is pure arcade-style pummeling.

If you’ve got a buddy around, the versus mode turns into a button-mashing mess in the best way possible. It’s the kind of game where you’ll argue about who actually won for 10 minutes afterward.