The NES Series:

Popeye Eigo no Asobi

In a small port town on the coast of some undisclosed country, a sailing vessel pulled into harbor. Just before it reached the docks, a catapult was fired from its deck, propelling two of its passengers into the air several hundred feet before crashing into a random cabbage cart in the streets on shore.

"And stay off!" an irate sailor shouted from the deck of the ship.

From amidst the scattered wreckage of the cart and demolished cabbages, Olimar and Villager stuck their heads up.

"You had to do it, didn't you?" Villager said, picking leafy greens out of his hair.

"Yes, I did," Olimar said proudly, puffing out his chest. A large cabbage leaf slid down from the top of his helmet until it was obscuring his face.

"Oh, yeah," Villager said sarcastically, "Big, tough Olimar just had to go and have some fun with spinach. Now we have no money, no job, whoever owns this cart is going to be furious, and I'm sure you realize we now have to go tracking down Popeye again because the next game on our list stars him too."

"Really?" Olimar asked, removing the leaf. "Another one? Which one is that?"

"Popeye Eigo no Asobi."

"Gesundheit."

Villager sighed. "It roughly translates to 'Popeye's English Class.' It was an educational game, kind of like Donkey Kong Junior Math. It was only released in Japan."

Olimar raised an eyebrow. "Popeye's English Class," he said slowly, "only released in Japan?"

"Yeah. Olive would give Popeye the Japanese word and then Popeye would have to spell out the English translation."

"Oh, so it was more like a Foreign Language class than the typical American definition of 'English class.'"

"Yeah, exactly."

"Okay then, let's go find Popeye again and talk to him about it."

"I'm . . . not sure that's a good idea."

"Why not?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure Popeye hasn't forgotten your face yet, and he has the spinach now."

Olimar paused as he considered the implications. "Fair point," he said. "But Popeye's a good guy, right? He wouldn't hold a grudge, would he?"

"Whatever you say," Villager replied. "It's your neck on the line, not mine."

Picking their way out of the cabbages, Villager and Olimar made their way through the port town searching high and low for the famous sailor man. After about fifteen minutes, they found him sitting under some trees with a tall skinny woman by his side.

"Okay, Popeye," the woman said in a thick nasally voice, handing him a small chalkboard. "Translate this word: Neko."

"Okay, I got dis, I got dis," Popeye grunted in his signature gruff voice. "Um, C-A—"

"Um, Mister Popeye, sir," Villager said, approaching him cautiously.

"Yeah, what d'ya want?" the sailor said, looking up from his work. When he saw Olimar and Villager standing before him, his good left eye bulged. "Hey, I know youse guys! Youse the chumps what tried to beat up Bluto and me."

"Oh, um, yeah," Villager tried. "About that, we're really sorry and—"

"Olive, holds me chalkboard," Popeye said, handing the board to his girlfriend. "I gots to teach these chumps a lesson."

Villager backed away from the angry sailor as he got to his feet and pushed up his sleeves. "Run?" Olimar asked.

Villager nodded. "Yes. Run now."

Both Villager and Olimar took off running as fast as they could. Popeye followed closely behind them, shouting family-friendly expletives at them as they went.

"Well," Olimar said as they ran, "at least we know why he needs an English class."