Magician Lord (NEOGEO AES+)

The fiery magic effects and scaling sprites really show off what this cartridge can do, and the sheer difficulty makes every cleared stage feel like a genuine victory. It’s brutal but beautifully pixelated, and I’ve already lost an entire evening to it.

The pixel art on this cart is absolutely gorgeous and the action is brutally tough, just like I remember from the arcade days. It arrived quickly and boots straight up with that classic SNK loading screen, which got me grinning before I even hit start.

That first boss fight really tests your reflexes—took me a dozen tries to figure out his pattern. The sprite work on the magic spells is gorgeous for a Neo Geo game, and the difficulty feels fair once you learn the levels.