I grew up in the middle of full-fledged Pokémania collecting binders upon binders full of the trading cards, but I never actually played the Pokémon TCG - me and my friends just could never grasp the mechanics, really. So, it's wild to be falling in love with the 1996 Pokémon TCG in 2023.

As an RPG, it leaves a lot to be desired, but gameplay-wise, this is a straight up deck building roguelike card game. You go around playing your deck(s) against dozens and dozens of others to collect booster packs, which you can then use to re-tool your deck(s) to be even more busted than you previously thought possible. You challenge club masters (think: gym leaders) and collect medals (think: gym badges) in any order you choose and eventually earn the right to take on the grand masters (think: elite four). Not a single frill to be found here, just pure, unfiltered, jank-as-hell gen 1 TCG goodness. I'd go fuckin feral for a modern version of this, ngl.

Main deck drivers: Venusaur x3, Koffing x2, Kangaskhan x2