Play Gegege no Kitarou - Youkai Souzoushu Arawaru! (Japan) Online

I picked up Gegege no Kitarou - Youkai Souzoushu Arawaru! back in 1996, a Bandai release for the Game Boy. It was one of those licensed titles that flew under the radar for a lot of people, but if you were into Japanese folklore or the Kitarou series, it had a certain charm. The Game Boy library was full of simple, straightforward adventures around that time, and this one fit right in without trying to reinvent the wheel.

You play as Kitarou, the one-eyed yokai boy, moving screen by screen through side-scrolling stages. Your main goal is to defeat yokai and rescue humans, using your detached hair dart and geta sandals as projectile weapons. The game involves a good amount of exploration, with hidden items and alternate routes to find, and the pacing is fairly methodical, not too rushed. Some sections can be tricky with enemy placements, but it never feels unfair. Playing it feels like flipping through an old storybook where every enemy encounter is a small, strange surprise.