Play Hong Kong 97 Online

Hong Kong 97 came out in 1995 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, developed by a small outfit called HappySoft. It was one of those strange, unofficial releases that floated around in the final years of the SNES, a time when the console was already being overshadowed by newer systems but still had a few odd surprises left in it.

You control a man in a yellow shirt who must shoot his way across a series of single-screen stages, fending off waves of pixelated enemies that shamelessly parody political figures. The main goal is simply to survive each screen and eventually reach the end, but the game is notoriously unforgiving, with cheap enemy placements and a relentless, grating soundtrack that never lets up. It feels less like a designed challenge and more like enduring a piece of abrasive, experimental art.