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The Nintendo Game About Hitler, The KKK, And Jesus
Nintendo is so family friendly that they make Walt Disney look like Quentin Tarantino. But in 1991, they cut loose a little -- by which we mean they made a game wherein one level was the straight-up Holocaust. Allow us to present Time Twist: On The Outskirts Of History, which was thankfully never released outside of Japan.
It begins reasonably enough. Our hero takes a TV fortuneteller's advice and heads off to the Devil Museum (always a fun Sunday activity!), where he tries to use a magic spell to seduce a girl. Only he accidentally frees the Devil instead, because it turns out the fortuneteller was possessed. The lesson being: Don't trust the Devil. Apparently that needed teaching back in the '80s. Anyway, the Devil swaps bodies with you and travels back in time, forcing you to follow him and stop his evil schemes. You know, classic video game stuff.
First you go to 15th-century France. There, you learn that you can possess people, but can only leave their bodies when they're unconscious. So after hijacking a peasant named Pierre, you get him blackout drunk and go rescue Joan of Arc, casually altering human history forever.
Nintendo"His last words were, 'Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. San Dimas High School football rules!'"
Next you hop into the body of a prisoner trying to escape a Nazi concentration camp. This naturally leads to you battling Hitler (who is possessed by the Devil, mind you) in some sort of abstract hell dimension. Not only is Demon Hitler in a Nintendo game, but he's not even the final boss.
NintendoAlso, being possessed by a demon also implicitly relieves Hitler of personal responsibility which ... just ... no.
After a relatively normal trip to Ancient Greece, you head to the American Civil War and hop into the body of a slave boy named George ... who gets lynched by the KKK. Then you discover that George's master is plotting to kill Abraham Lincoln. But you're able to save the day by solving a variation on the old river-crossing puzzle that involves Lincoln, two slaves, and three coyotes. You're learning history!
NintendoMarty getting credited for Chuck Berry's hard work is no longer the most offensive thing to happen to black people involving time travel stories.
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