The Theme: Your pod has mysteriously disappeared and it's up to you, a young dolphin, to make everything right again. Ecco the Dolphin's story is light on details, but by the end of the game one thing is clear: The environment is something worth protecting! What started out as an underwater take on Prince of Persia has turned into Al Gore's wet dream. I'm not sure how Sega was able to take this innocent adventure from innocent adventure to soapbox political speech, but it's the one thing you'll come away from Ecco the Dolphin with.

Is It Still Relevant? Is using your story to put forth your political views relevant? Are you kidding me? These days it's expected. You would be crazy to think that many of today's hottest games don't have political messages that lean one way or the other. With games like Metal Gear Solid and Call of Duty it's clear that the developers like using their video game as a soapbox to explain where they are politically. But it's not always so obvious; sometimes you can find political leanings in games as innocent as BioShock, Resident Evil and Halo. It's not always as pronounced as Hideo Kojima's 40 minute long screeds, but there's no question that standing on your soapbox is still relevant.

And why shouldn't it be? After all, it's not just the games industry that likes to stand on their soapbox. You can't have a conversation like this without mentioning movies from Oliver Stone, Lars Von Trier and Spike Lee. And what about a TV show like Boston Legal, which gave David E. Kelley a chance to get up on his soapbox each and every week. And then there's music, we've certainly seen soapbox standing on both sides of the political fence. And don't even get me started on all of the books just waiting to be purchased at Barnes & Noble. So yes, video game designers still like to express their political views, and judging by the last 100 years of entertainment, they are in good company.

The Theme: Although you may not know it at first, Alex Kidd is the story of a heroic boy who sets off on an epic adventure to find his father. Oh sure, this adventure takes place on a completely different planet, is about a kid with big ears and is impossible to take seriously. But despite the fantastical flourishes found in the finished product, this trip to Enchanted Castle is perhaps the most personal for our hero Alex Kidd!

Is It Still Relevant? Who here hasn't seen an episode of Maury or Dr. Phil where some poor kid wants to reunite with his long estranged father or mother? We live in a world where single mother and fatherhood is normal ocurance, so it shouldn't surprise anybody that when these children grow up they yearn to know more about that other half. This isn't a new concept now and it certainly wasn't twenty years ago when Alex Kidd was dealing with his inner torment. As long as we have mothers and fathers refusing to step up and take responsibility this theme will always be relevant.

These days there's an extra wrinkle in this theme. Children conceived via in vitro fertilization back when this game came out are just now old enough to track down their biological parent. And they aren't the only ones, children of adoption are also curious about their biological parents. So, as far as I can tell, there are plenty of people in this country searching for a mother or a father (or both) that they don't know anything about. Just like Alex Kidd. Unfortunately Alex Kidd chose to take the hard road to his father; he should have just gone on Sally Jessy Raphael or some other daytime talk show. There's no faster way to find somebody than going on TV ... Slumdog Millionaire taught me that!

The Theme: A puppet with a detachable head goes out on a wild adventure to save his puppet town from an evil king who pushing fear and terror. In order to be successful, Dynamite Headdy will need to use a wide assortment of heads to break through walls, defeat enemies and ultimately bring justice to the evil king.

Is It Still Relevant? While it's true that Sesame Street is still on the air and Jim Henson's Muppets are popular as ever, the truth is that traditional puppetry is about as relevant as arguing over who killed Laura Palmer. Instead of furry creatures and wires, kids these days are entertained by computer-generated movies and 3D concerts of Miley Cyrus and The Jonas Brothers. The modern kid doesn't want puppets, he's too busy playing Guitar Hero and getting fat on soda pop. The youth of today doesn't even want hand-drawn animation, let alone silly puppets. Get a clue, man.

Of course, some would argue that the beautiful art of puppetry stopped being relevant more than a hundred years ago. Sure you will see it pop up from time to time, but it's more of a novelty, like when you hear an accordion or see somebody dance the jitterbug. But the modern kid isn't going to be entertained by a puppet, even if it's one that throws his head at people. Perhaps they would go for a smart-mouthed computer animated puppet, but you might as well put away your string and wood. And you can put away your ventriloquist dummy, too. Kids aren't stupid, you know!

The Theme: Sonic the Hedgehog has to play a game of pinball in order to save all of the furry animals from Dr. Robotnik's evil wrath! Wait ... WHAT? Pinball? That's right, you have to collect items and gems while simultaneously play a wicked game of pinball. With plenty of different levels and fast action, Sonic Spinball is perfect for pinball and Sonic fans alike.

Is It Still Relevant? Never mind the absurd storyline; pinball just isn't relevant in today's society. I hate to say it, but the era of pinball machines is over and gone. It's a sad thing; there was a real art to making a really good pinball machine. And it wasn't just the big guys making these machines, either. There were plenty of small companies and homemade units, some that rivaled the best titles from Williams. But when computers and video games hit the scene it was clear that pinball was on the way out. Some companies tried to hold on, releasing machines based on famous movies to attract attention. But eventually even that stopped working and pinball was officially dead.

Oddly enough, pinball wasn't exactly alive and well at the time of Sonic Spinball, so I'm not sure if it's a matter of whether or not it's "still" relevant. In many ways pinball is as alive today as it was a decade ago, we're still getting pinball video games and from time to time you see one referenced in a movie. So no, pinball is not still relevant ... but I'm not sure it was all that relevant when this game came out, either. But maybe that doesn't matter, because sometimes you don't need to be relevant. Sometimes it's fun to go back and see what was relevant before. Maybe we shouldn't review games based on how relevant they are to your everyday life. Perhaps the real question should be "is it still fun?" Nah. What fun would these reviews be if we judged the games on how fun they are. That's stupid. That's the kind of thing that GamePro would do, and I'm not going to be like GamePro. I would rather stop right here than be like GamePro!