Play Little Master - Raikuban no Densetsu (Japan) Online

Little Master: Raikuban no Densetsu came out for the Game Boy in 1991, developed by A-Wave and published by Irem. It arrived during a time when handheld games were often simpler, shorter experiences, but this one offered a deeper, more involved adventure than many of its peers. It didn't get much attention outside Japan, which is a shame because it had a lot of personality packed into that grey cartridge.

You control a young boy who explores the world screen by screen, fighting monsters in turn-based battles. Your main goal is to collect the eight pieces of the Raikuban, a sacred treasure, by delving into dungeons and defeating bosses. The game's signature mechanics include capturing monsters to build your party and using items to evolve them in surprising ways, which directly affects their abilities in combat. The pacing is deliberate, with plenty of backtracking and level grinding expected, and the difficulty can feel uneven at times. It feels like a compact, quirky take on the monster-taming genre, full of small surprises and a real sense of discovery as your creatures change form.