The Upside to Winning

The upside to winning is that it's contagious.  People like a winner.  And as Obama aggressively sells his new health care law, public support will grow.  Come back in six months, and we'll see some dramatic changes in the poll numbers.

It's evident to all that political fortunes rise and fall with the winds in America, so it's far too early for predictions about the November elections.  But I the Democrats are in a much stronger position than many realize.  If the economy shows improvement, if Obama can sell the benefits of his signature legislation, and if the Republicans continue to pursue its nihilist absolutism, then...well stay tuned, kids.  This football game is gettin' fun.

The Arc of the Moral Universe is Long, But it Bends Toward Justice

Here's what the new health care law provides American citizens in its first year:

*Insurance companies will be barred from dropping people from coverage when they get sick. Lifetime coverage limits will be eliminated and annual limits are to be restricted.

*Insurers will be barred from excluding children for coverage because of pre-existing conditions.

*Young adults will be able to stay on their parents' health plans until the age of 26. Many health plans currently drop dependents from coverage when they turn 19 or finish college.

*Uninsured adults with a pre-existing conditions will be able to obtain health coverage through a new program that will expire once new insurance exchanges begin operating in 2014.

*A temporary reinsurance program is created to help companies maintain health coverage for early retirees between the ages of 55 and 64. This also expires in 2014.

*Medicare drug beneficiaries who fall into the "doughnut hole" coverage gap will get a $250 rebate. The bill eventually closes that gap which currently begins after $2,700 is spent on drugs. Coverage starts again after $6,154 is spent.

*A tax credit becomes available for some small businesses to help provide coverage for workers.

*A 10 percent tax on indoor tanning services that use ultraviolet lamps goes into effect on July 1.

Communism!  The Soviet Union has taken over America!!  Who's that over there..?  Is that...it is!  It's Zombie Kruchev, rising from the grave!  Zombie Kruchev is attacking the countryside...oh noes!!1!

Now, to all our conservative friends...don't you feel silly?  Wasn't health care reform a big mess over nothing?  There is a very simple reason why Republicans are so vehemently opposed to President Obama's health care reform - the American people are going to love this.  It's going to take a while, and the Democrats have their work cut out for them, but once the details of health care reform become known, they will become very popular with the voters.

The Republican Party had a choice to work with Obama, to influence the direction of the health care bill, to contribute concrete and useful ideas for the better of the nation.  Instead, they threw it all away and bet everything on nihilism.  They followed the drugged rantings of Rush Limbaugh, and the comical paranoid theatre of Glenn Beck.  Death panels!  Communism!  Gov'mint takeover!  Freedom!  Wolverines!

Where did that get you?  Who does such a scorched-earth policy benefit?  How does this benefit the nation and its citizens?  Does such paranoia and fear make us a better people, a kinder people?  No.  It is a failure.  As Dr. King promised, the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.  Hope will always triumph over fear in the end.  Obama's great victory is a triumph for justice and equality for all Americans.

And as Andrew Sullivan loves to say...meep meep.

NASA Predicts Global Temperature Record in 2010

The latest draft paper from NASA's Goddard Institute, "Current GISS Global Surface Temperature Analysis," which asserts that 2010 almost certainly will be the hottest year on record.  As always, Climate Progress has the details from the preliminary report, so be sure to give them your thanks and support.

Despite the aggressive efforts to discredit modern science and confuse the public, the globe continues to burn, and the pollution continues to increase.  Sticking your fingers in your ears and fantasizing about vast liberal conspiracies, communist takeovers, and "death panels" are not helping.  A three-year-old child throwing a tantrum because he wants his cookie...this is not how a civilized society behaves.  Our grandchildren's future, their very survival, is at stake, and there's precious little time to act.

I Redesigned the Site Yet Again

Yeah, couldn't ya tell?  This is what I've been doing with my evening, redesigning and tweaking Daniel Thomas Vol 4.  I think it looks really damn cool, and better than ever.  It's a simpler design, and that's because of Blogger's new template feature, which enables more customization than ever.  I really like it and hope they can add more templates to the mix.

I prefer a darker screen that's easier on my eyes.  The standard black text on white background just gives me headaches.  It's like staring into a lamp all day long, and just hurts my head after a long period of time.  No, thanks.  This is standard in web design because it's easiest, and also because working with colors (and "web-safe" colors, at that) is so much more challenging.  You can so easily create a webpage that's overrun in garish and clashing colors - the bane of '90s web design.

I hope I'm more successful in 2010.  A blog really shouldn't focus on visual design, anyway.  Usability is the prime directive in this field - ease of navigation, finding what you need, yadda yadda.  But I'm an artist, and I need a site that looks attractive and colorful.  I think I've done a good job, although much of this is still subject to revision.  We'll see how it goes.

Enjoy Vol 4, kids!

Vol 4 Update - Reviews Archives Now Available

I've made a couple revisions to this blog.  All of the Videogame Classics and Virtual Console reviews are now accessable from a single post.  I've added in a couple link bubbles on the third column.  Hopefully this should make this site easier to navigate and easier on the eyes.  This should also help keep the content in balance between the three major topics - politics, music, and games.

Ideally, I'd like to add some photos like I do on The Ghibli Blog, so maybe I'll tinker around with that later.  My main concern is that this site is easy to read and easy to navigate.  Goodness knows I make things complicated enough by rambling on so many different themes.  Between Vol 4 and The Ghibli Blog, there's a lot to read, and I always seem to have a lot to say.  Hopefully, I've done a good job as a writer to keep you engaged and entertained.

As always, my deepest thanks to every one of you for visiting.  You are very kind and generous to share your time with me, and this community would not be possible without your support.

Videogame Classics - Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest

Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest - Konami for NES - 10/10

Hooray! Everybody has a number of classic games that they wait eagerly for. They buy themselves a couple Wii Classic Controllers just for the occasion. Well, folks, here's mine.

A little backstory for everyone first. As a teenager, Castlevania was my favorite videogame series. This was sometimes contested by Super Mario and Contra and Ninja Gaiden, but it always came back to this. It was also a favorite with many of my oldest friends from Duluth, Minnesota. If you were sick of the winter weather that day - and, kids, this was back in the day when we actually had winters...back when we had polar ice caps - just turn on the Nintendo, then turn it off, then turn it on and off again, then pull out the cartridge and blow on the ends, then pop it back in, turn it on....and start playing.

Um, yeah, by the way? If you ever find the person who actually designed the NES, please punch him in the stomach for me. Anyway, let's get back...

Castlevania! It's part gothic, part monster movie, part serious, part jokey, and all hardcore gamer fun. These were the tough games, the ones you blistered your fingers trying to beat. Just how are you supposed to get through all those armored knights? Slash, slash, jump, that's how. You have to be fast, too. This becomes something of a bonding experience for everyone involved. Many grownups assumed that one person is playing, and all the friends are merely watching, but that's not the case. We're all in this together. Castlevania's the prime example in my case.

Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest was my favorite NES game. It still is. Played it to death through high school, at least until we all got to that point where were were all hopelessly stuck. This is a fiendishly tough game. Like many Nintendo games of its day, it's more of an adventure quest than an arcade game. Blaster Master, Rygar, Zelda, Guardian Legend - just a few titles off the top of my head. The NES couldn't compete on the graphics front, so developers resorted to deep, lengthy adventures instead. It was the smarter choice, I think. This is why I often lament the poor choice in Virtual Console titles for the NES. Some of its best games have never been bettered, because technology enabled software makers to take a simpler route.

I've discovered over the years that Simon's Quest has a mixed reputation because of this. Many gamers prefer the straighforward action of the original Castlevania, and they felt Konami strayed from their roots. As it turns out, everyone has it completely backward. The long-running series began, not with Castlevania (or Demon Castle Dracula, as it's known in Japan), but as Vampire Killer on the MSX computer. The game was an adventure game, using single screens instead of a scrolling environment. The settings were identical to the first Castlevania, only with different arrangements and a more adventure-minded style.

There's actually a bit of dispute about this, since Vampire Killer and the Castlevania we all know both appeared within weeks of each other. You could say that this was the stripped-down version, created due to the MSX's scrolling limitations. However, Symphony of the Night challenges all that. Now, the Castlevania series follows in the mold of MSX Vampire Killer and NES Simon's Quest.

In any case, it's far easier to appreciate Simon's Quest today, after all the post-Symphony titles in the series. I can't imagine what any fan would find wanting. There's just as much to fight and just as many enemies to kill. Only now you're fighting through the forests and villages of Transylvania, and stuggling to figure out where all those other castles are hiding.

For me, this was the greatest thing about Simon's Quest - it's atmosphere. There's such a wonderful Bavarian style to these lands, to the designs of the towns, the way everything is build with those damn stone blocks. It was the most compelling and believable game world I had seen up to that point. People walking by are always eager to offer advice or hints; I was floored when I discovered that most of what these people have to say is, frankly, bullshit. Ahem.

This is a great sendup of all those adventure and role-playing games in which every civilian has some key piece of information that's useful only to you, and only at that moment. It's all so contrived. Konami clearly felt so, and they decided to mess with our heads. This is a great game for messing with heads. You can explore most of the countryside, find such things as flames for your morning star, or secret books, or crystal balls. But you'll be damned if you can ever get beyond that first castle. Dracula's first castle is a gimmie, it's right out on the main road. The others are deftly hidden away. It took me and my peer group years to finally figure it out.

Sure, you boast that you won't get stumped. Then again, you can just go online and look at the solutions at gamefaqs. Heck, most major games have cheat books that walk you by the hand all the way through. You have an easy out. Kind of defeats the whole point of playing an adventure game, I would argue. We didn't have those options in the late '80s. The solution to discovering Dracula's second castle relied upon a gameplay maneuver that wasn't even revealed in the instruction book. You were just expected to solve it yourself. You kids today are coddled.

If you can somehow withhold the temptation to reach for those easy cheats, you'll really see how challenging and mysterious Simon's Quest truly is. Like most adventure games, and most riddles, it loses a degree of mystique once the secret is revealed, so it's far more rewarding to struggle and sweat it out by yourselves. I don't even want you reading the Simon's Quest strategy guide I wrote for the first issue of V, my old zine. No! Bad toad! Bad toad!

Like all the classic Castlevanias (meaning, frankly, all the ones before Symphony), this game is deeply challenging without ever feeling unfair. You're never placed into an impossible situation, nor left underpowered against foes. It's a brilliant example of game design from the NES era, just as it's a perfect example of Konami's skill. This series may have long since lost its lustre, but back then, the NES days? Konami were the kings back then, baby. They were the kings.

Virtual Console - Review Archive

The Virtual Console Review Archive is an ongoing list of reviews for games available on the Nintendo Wii Virtual Console service. As more essays are written, they will be added to the master list.

Nintendo Entertainment System

Adventure Island
Adventures of Lolo
Balloon Fight
Baseball
Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest
Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong Jr
Donkey Kong Jr Math
Gradius
Ice Hockey
Lunar Pool
M.A.C.H. Rider
Mario Bros
Metroid
NES Play Action Football
Ninja Gaiden
Ninja JaJa Maru Kun
Pinball
Soccer
Solomon's Key
Super C
Super Mario Bros
Super Mario Bros 2
Tennis
The Legend of Kage
The Legend of Zelda
Urban Champion
Wario Woods
Xevious
Yoshi

Sega Master System

Everything on Sega Master System Sucks

PC Engine / Turbografx-16

Air Zonk
Alien Crush
Bomberman '93
Bonk 3: Bonk's Big Adventure
Bonk's Adventure
China Warrior
Cratermaze
Devil's Crush
Digital Champ
Double Dungeons
Dragon Spirit
Drop Off
Dungeon Explorer
Final Soldier
Galaga '90
Legend of Hero Tonma
Lords of Thunder (CD)
Military Madness
Moto Roader
Neutopia
Neutopia 2
Power Golf
R-Type
Samurai Ghost
Shockman
Soldier Blade
Street Figher 2: Champion Edition
Super Star Soldier
Victory Road
Vigilante
World Class Baseball

Sega Genesis

Alien Soldier
Altered Beast
Bonanza Bros
Columns
Comix Zone
Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine
Ecco 2: The Tides of Time
Ecco the Dolphin
Gain Ground
Ghouls "N Ghosts
Golden Axe
Golden Axe 3
Gunstar Heroes
Landstalker
Ristar
Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi
Shining in the Darkness
Shinobi 3: Return of the Ninja Master
Sonic 3 and Knuckles
Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Space Harrier 2
Street Fighter 2: Special Champion Edition
Streets of Rage 3
Super Thunder Blade
Toejam and Earl

Super Nintendo Entertainment System

Breath of Fire 2
Castlevania 4
Contra 3: The Alien Wars
F-Zero
Ghoul Patrol
Harvest Moon
Kirby's Avalanche
Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
R-Type 3
Sim City
Street Fighter 2 Turbo
Street Fighter 2: The World Warrior
Super Mario World
Super Metroid

Neo-Geo

Art of Fighting
Art of Fighting 2
Baseball Stars 2
Blue's Journey
Burning Fight
Fatal Fury
Fatal Fury 2
Fatal Fury Special
King of the Monsters
Magician Lord
Neo Turf Masters
Ninja Combat
Ninja Commando
Samurai Shodown
Samurai Shodown 2
The King of Fighters '94
Top Hunter
World Heroes

Nintendo 64

F-Zero X
Mario Kart 64
Super Mario 64
Wave Race 64
Yoshi's Story

Videogame Classics - Review Index

This is the official database for the Videogame Classics Reviews. All of the video game essays can be accessed here, and this list will be updated as new reviews are written.

Advance Wars 2 - Gameboy Advance
Anarchy in the Nippon - Sega Saturn
Ballblazer - Atari 800
Batsugun - Sega Saturn
Blue Lightning - Atari Lynx
California Games - Atari Lynx
Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest - NES
Chip's Challenge - Atari Lynx
Clubhouse Games - Nintendo DS
Devil's Crush - PC Engine / Turbografx-16
Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime - Nintendo DS
Electrocop - Atari Lynx
F-Zero X - Nintendo 64
Fire Shark - Sega Genesis
Ghouls 'N Ghosts - Sega Genesis
Grow - Online
Gunstar Heroes - Sega Genesis
Herzog Zwei - Sega Genesis
Hikaru no Go 2 - Gameboy Advance
Just Dance - Nintendo Wii
Kelly Slater's Pro Surfer - Gameboy Advance
Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - Super NES
Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap - Gameboy Advance
Motoracer Advance - Gameboy Advance
M.U.L.E. - Atari 800
Montezuma's Revenge - Atari 800
Mr. Robot and His Robot Factory - Atari 800
Ms. Pac-Man - Arcades
Neo Turf Masters - Neo-Geo
Neutopia 2 - PC Engine / Turbografx-16
NFL 2K1 - Sega Dreamcast
NiGHTS Into Dreams - Sega Saturn
Ninja Gaiden - NES
Panic! (Switch) - Sega CD
Robotron: 2084 - Arcades
Samurai Showdown 2 - Neo-Geo
Sega Rally Championship Sega Saturn
Seven Cities of Gold - Atari 800
Shanghai - Atari Lynx
Shinobi 3: Return of the Ninja Master - Sega Genesis
Sonic 3 & Knuckles Sega Genesis
Sonic CD - Sega CD
Sonic the Hedgehog - Sega Genesis
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 - Sega Genesis
Steep Slope Sliders - Sega Dreamcast
Street Fighter 3: Third Strike - Sega Dreamcast
Strider - Sega Genesis
Super Bomberman 2 - Super NES
Super Mario Galaxy - Nintendo Wii
Super Mario World - Super NES
Super Metroid - Super NES
Thunder Force 3 - Sega Genesis
Todd's Adventures in Slime World - Atari Lynx
Virtual Kasparov - Gameboy Advance
Wario Ware Twisted - Gameboy Advance
Warlords - Atari 2600
Wii Music - Nintendo Wii
World Series Baseball 98 - Sega Saturn
Worldwide Soccer 97 - Sega Saturn
Xevious - Atari 7800
Xevious - PC Engine

Virtual Console Review - Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi (Genesis)

Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi - Sega for Genesis - 7/10

What exactly is the "secret of Shinobi," anyway?  Does it involve his long lost childhood?  A pirate treasure chest in his attic?  He's really OJ Simpson under that mask  Hmm...actually, that would make for a really interesting surprise ending.

Shadow Dancer was a very solid and very well made action game for the Sega Genesis.  Its only mistake was arriving after a genuine masterpiece called The Revenge of Shinobi.  That's like your band taking to the stage after Jimi Hendrix.  It just ain't gonna happen, and everybody knows it.

It's the same situation today on Virtual Console.  You have the option of downloading not only Revenge of Shinobi, but its direct sequel, Shinobi 3: Revenge of the Ninja Master.  Hmm, maybe that was Shadow Dancer's mistake - they used "Secret" in the title instead of "Revenge."  The moral lesson, kids: "Revenge" and "Ninjas" always go together.

Anyway, I'm getting distracted.  And that's really the larger issue here.  Shadow Dancer is the short kid in the family, the one who's always picked last, the one who's always overlooked.  This isn't entirely unearned.  After all, the game is a fairly conventional and fairly short (only 5 levels) action game.  It's the one title in the series that plays like the original arcade Shinobi, but it feels safe, unambitious.  The designers took no risks or pushed no boundaries.  They just created a very playable, very solid Genesis game.

I think that's a very fair assessment.  Shadow Dancer is a very good game.  It has some really impressive moments, like that climb up the Statue of Liberty, and those rolling flames in the background at the start.  The dog is a fine companion, and he helps dispatch the bad guys.  I especially enjoyed the option to turn off the throwing stars, which makes the game more tactical, more stealthy.  Having unlimited throwing stars is like handing Shinobi a gun.  Take them away, and, well, he gets all ninja on your hide.  It's more fun to play that way.

I really wish this game was longer.   I really wish the ninja magic was more impressive.  I really wish it was more than 4 megabits.  Shadow Dancer was released in 1991, after the 8 meg barrier had been broken.  Moreover, I just wish there was more game.  Is that a praise or a critique?  Both, actually.  This is a solid example of the kind of action games Sega could churn out easily on the Genesis.  These were the system's bread and butter, like shooters on the Turbografx and RPGs on the Super NES.

Shadow Dancer is a very good game, so it wins my endorsement.  But be sure to get the other Shinobi titles first, okay?  Good.

Virtual Console Review - Final Soldier (Turbografx-16)

Final Soldier - Hudson for Turbografx - 8/10

Final Soldier is the second of three games of the Star Soldier series to appear on the PC Engine/Turbografx, fitting nicely between Super Star Soldier and Soldier Blade.  This is probably the signature series of scrolling shoot-em-ups on the system, much like the Thunder Force games on the Genesis.  It's a standard of quality.

All three games are excellent, and you'll be more than happy to waste an hour or two blasting spaceships and dodging bullets.  Very little of substance separates one from the others, and this will be a weakness for anyone who isn't already a dedicated fan.  You may have bought Super Star Soldier when it was released on Virtual Console, and you're not feeling the urge to play through another set of levels.  Fair enough.

For the fans, I think Final Soldier is an excellent game.  Perhaps it's easy to overlook, since it is the middle child, but the superb graphics, impressive weaponry, and challenging gameplay will keep you coming back.  I know, I know, that reads like the back of the game box.  It's an arcade shooter.  You shoot aliens with cool weapons and try not to get killed.  This is not rocket science.

Japanese arcade shooters were immensely popular in the late '80s to early '90s, and these were the defining "hardcore" games before Street Fighter 2 came along.  These were the games that tested your skills the hardest, and offered the loudest bragging rights.  And don't kid yourself, this is a tough game.  The Soldier series may not have R-Type's reputation for difficulty; it's more subtle, it slowly builds over the levels.  Just wait until the fifth mission, and you've just been shot down.  Then you'll enjoy some short bursts of terror.

I have no idea why the PC Engine had so many shooters.  It seems like those were the only games being made for the system, in between the CD RPGs and the lame platformers.  You can see that Hudson had their formula down cold.  Final Soldier gets my thumbs-up, and I heartily recommend adding all three Soldiers to your Virtual Console.

Virtual Console Review - Shockman (Turbografx-16)

Shockman - NCS for Turbografx-16 - 3/10

For reasons I've never understood, the PC Engine/Turbografx was home to a thousand excellent space shoot-em-ups, but hardly any good action-platformers.  When it comes to competing with Super Mario or Contra or Mega Man, the system's games just cannot compete.  Why is this so?  I really don't know.  Sometimes in life, these things just happen.

If you're feeling generous, then NCS' Shockman might pass as mediocre, but I say it's just terrible.  I don't see any reason to waste your time on a shallow Mega Man ripoff when you could just as easily play Mega Man.  And if you're paying to play on Nintendo's Virtual Console, there's really no excuse.  The controls on this game are so floaty, so slow, that Shockman feels unplayable.  It's broken.  Simple as that.  And any degree of play testing would have born this out.

This doesn't feel like a console game.  It feels like a C-list arcade game from the mid-'80s, the kind of sloppy game that would be tried once and then immediately forgotten.  Save yourself the quarter and move straight to the forgetting.  How did NCS drop the ball on this one?  Maybe they were only skilled at making space shooters (they designed Gley Lancer on the Mega Drive/Genesis).  Whatever.  This game stinks.

Photos - Soldier Blade (PC Engine/Turbografx)

Some screenshots of Soldier Blade, the third and final game of the Star Soldier series to appear on the PC Engine/Turbografx-16.  Of the three games on the system - Super Star Soldier, Final Soldier, and Soldier Blade - this easily has the sharpest and most colorful graphics.  Large robots and spaceships bound out of the screen, assaulting you from every angle, across space, land and air.  The large color palette is put to maximum use, and this is one of the best-looking games of the 16-bit era.

The gameplay is so similar across all three Soldiers, so if you've played one, you've played them all.  But they're such excellent games that you'll be happy to download all three to your Nintendo Virtual Console.  They're only six bucks a pop, so I say collect 'em all.  This is perfect for short bursts and longer soda-fueled nights of blasting aliens and cranking out the stereo.  At least, that's what we teenagers did in the early '90s.

One nice touch is the choice between standard and "arcade" view.  The arcade view makes the screen more vertical, like the arcade shoot-em-ups.  For whatever reason, overhead shooters used vertical monitors and that's always been a challenge to translate to the home.  Smart thinking on Hudson's part.  Excellent game.

President Obama Speaks on Eve of Historic Health Care Vote

President Obama spoke to the House Democratic caucus this afternoon, and delivered a terrific speech. He was speaking off the cuff, but you get the sense this is the same speech he has delivered to members of Congress behind the scenes. By now, he's got this down cold. I've not seen him this relaxed while delivering a major speech. He is displaying great confidence, and that optimism will catch on.

I still can't believe we're less than a day away from the final votes on health care reform. It feels like this has gone on forever, and, frankly, I still won't believe it until Obama signs it into law. This will be a tremendous victory for the young President. A tremendous victory.

I Me Mine

What is the greatest barrier to enacting health care reform in this country?  Americans are selfish:

And this has really been the uphill climb from the beginning. Progressives—ranging from single-payer advocates to centrist technocrats—all have a variety of visions of systematic change we’d like to impose on the system. But most people with private insurance are happy with the insurance they have until they get sick. And most people have insurance. And most non-elderly people are pretty healthy. And the elderly have a nice single-payer system all set up for them already. Under the circumstances, persuading people to be broad-minded and expand these benefits to everyone is a bit of a tough sell. But the polling on health reform, while not great, isn’t so bad anymore.

Photos - Twin Cobra (Kyuukyoku Tiger) (PC Engine)

A pair of photos from the excellent PC Engine translation of Toaplan's Twin Cobra, or Kyuukyoku Tiger as it's known in Japan.  Somebody out there needs to secure the rights to the Toaplan catalog - home to some of the greatest arcade shoot-em-ups ever made.  And Hudson, or whoever is in charge, needs to release this game on the Virtual Console.

Twin Cobra was my favorite arcade shooter back in the late '80s, and turned me into a diehard Toaplan fan.  They pretty much wrote the book on vertically-scrolling arcade shoot-em-ups.  These games were tough as nails but never cheap, and always addicting.  The PC Engine had the best home version of Twin Cobra (the NES and Genesis versions were disappointments), very detailed and fast and intense.  Fire up Magic Engine on your computer and see for yourself.

C'mon, Hudson.  Make some phone calls.  Bring this game to the Virtual Console.