Yaiba on the Game Boy is one of those games that makes you wonder how they fit so much action into such a tiny cartridge. You start off with this little ninja dude—no fancy intros, just straight into slashing through enemies with a sword that feels way too big for him. The pixel art has that classic chunky charm, and the controls are tight once you get used to the Game Boy’s two-button setup.

What surprised me was how strategic it gets. You can’t just button-mash—some enemies block, others jump around like crazy, and the levels throw in traps that’ll wreck you if you rush in blindly. The music’s got that catchy, repetitive chip-tune vibe that somehow never gets old. It’s not the deepest story (you’re basically just hunting down some evil warlord), but the gameplay’s solid enough that you won’t care.

If you’ve got a soft spot for old-school action games that don’t hold your hand, Yaiba’s worth dusting off the Game Boy for.