Play Phantasy Star (Korea) Online

Phantasy Star on the Sega Master System was way ahead of its time—this isn’t your typical 8-bit RPG. Right from the start, you’re thrown into this weirdly futuristic world with spaceships and laser guns, but then there’s also magic and swords? Somehow it works.

The first-person dungeons are brutal in the best way—no hand-holding, just you and a grid map you’ll probably scribble on graph paper. And the story? For 1987, having a female protagonist (Alis) with actual personality and motives was kind of a big deal. The combat’s simple but satisfying, though good luck figuring out some of those cryptic item uses without a guide.

It’s janky in places (those random encounters…), but you can see why this spawned a whole series. Still holds up if you’ve got patience for old-school RPG quirks.