Play Black Thorne Online

Blackthorne on SNES is one of those games that makes you feel like an absolute badass from the first five minutes. You play as Kyle, this brooding, trenchcoat-wearing hero who finally gets to go home and wreck the mutants that took over his planet. And wreck them he does—with a shotgun that feels way more satisfying than it has any right to in a 16-bit game.

The first level throws you right into it: dark caves, weird alien creatures popping out of nowhere, and this slow-but-heavy gunplay where timing your shots actually matters. You can hug walls to peek around corners before blasting some mutant in the face, which never gets old. The atmosphere is thick—gritty pixel art, eerie music, and sound effects that make every shotgun pump feel like it has weight.

It’s not just mindless shooting, either. You’ll jump gaps, dodge attacks, and figure out when to rush in or hang back. Some enemies take more strategy than others, and the later levels get brutal. But that moment when you clear a room full of mutants without taking a hit? Pure satisfaction. If you like your action games with a side of moody sci-fi, this one’s still worth firing up.