Twinkle Tale is this weird little gem on the Genesis that flew under the radar back in the day—probably because it never got an official English release until now. You play as this wizard kid (or maybe a witch? The sprite’s kinda tiny) blasting through colorful, slightly surreal levels with magic spells instead of swords or guns.

The first thing you’ll notice is how bright everything is—like someone cranked the saturation up on a fairy tale. You’re dodging bouncing mushrooms one minute and fighting giant floating eyeballs the next. The magic system’s simple but satisfying: hold down the button to charge bigger shots, which feels great when you nail a boss with a fully powered blast.

It’s got that classic "tough but fair" vibe where you’ll die a few times figuring out enemy patterns, but never unfairly. And the music? Cheesy in the best way—like if a synth-pop band scored a Ghibli film. If you’re into obscure 16-bit action games with personality, this one’s worth dusting off your emulator for.