Play Stinger Online

Okay, so Stinger is this gloriously weird NES shooter where you pilot a little fighter jet with boxing gloves (yes, really) to rescue Professor Cinnamon from aliens who—get this—want to turn Earth into cotton candy. Only in the 80s, right?

The gameplay’s a mix of vertical and horizontal scrolling chaos. You’ll blast through waves of enemies that look like they escaped from a Saturday morning cartoon, and the bosses? Even stranger. The power-up system is clever: shoot floating bells until they change color—red gives you homing missiles, blue adds speed, and so on. Die, and your jet turns into a ghost you can grab to reclaim your upgrades. Took me a few tries to stop panicking and actually pull that off.

Two-player mode is where it shines, though. If you and a buddy line up your jets just right, your shots combine into a massive ripple laser. The Japanese version had a third player option, but hey, we got the boxing gloves—fair trade.