Play Kaitei Densetsu!! Treasure World (Japan) Online

Kaitei Densetsu!! Treasure World is one of those Game Boy Color games that makes you wonder how it flew under the radar. You play as this little diver guy scouring the ocean floor for treasure, but it’s not just mindless collecting—you’re constantly juggling air management, dodging jellyfish that seem to have a personal vendetta against you, and figuring out how to unlock deeper areas. The first time I played, I drowned in like 30 seconds because I got distracted by a shiny chest.

The pixel art is ridiculously charming, all bright blues and greens, and the music has that bouncy, slightly off-kilter vibe you’d expect from an early ‘90s arcade cabinet. It’s got this weird mix of tension and relaxation—one minute you’re calmly solving a block puzzle, the next you’re frantically racing to the surface before your oxygen runs out. If you’ve ever played Spelunker and thought “this, but with more fish,” you’ll feel right at home.

Honestly, my only gripe is that the controls take a second to click—your guy moves with this floaty momentum that makes precise platforming a bit of a gamble. But once it clicks, it’s weirdly satisfying to nail a tricky jump between coral reefs. The whole thing’s like a time capsule of that era when games could be both brutally unfair and weirdly endearing at the same time.