Up-Up-Down-Down-Left-Right-Left-Right-B-A-Start.

A few of you might have just looked at that first line and wondered if there was some sort of a typo. But I am willing to bet that the majority of readers (especially male readers) saw that line and immediately one thing sprang into your minds: 30 lives in "Contra."

How is it that I (and many others Domers) can remember these fairly complicated codes to video games that they haven't played in years yet the names of my professors slip my mind on a regular basis?

Memories of the glory of 8-bit Nintendo came flooding back to me a few weeks ago when my friend brought his Nintendo back from home and hooked it up. Soon the flashier, more technologically advanced and more complicated Playstation and N-64 were discarded in favor of the simplicity, yet brilliance, of 8-bit Nintendo.

"Blades of Steel," "The Legend of Zelda" and "Mike Tyson's Punch Out" quickly replaced eating, sleeping and sometimes bathing on our list of priorities. Amazingly enough, all the secrets and codes and tricks that we had learned as children remained vivid in our minds.

Despite having not helped Little Mac win the title since before Buster Douglas knocked out Tyson in Japan, we could still remember how to stop Great Tigers' "Tiger Punch" and how to neutralize Bald Bull's "Bull Charge."

We still remembered where to bomb to find heart containers and the "Master Sword" in "Legend of Zelda." We still remembered how to kill those stupid dinosaurs in level two of "Zelda."

Why have the tactics of "Punch Out" and "Zelda" remained with me much longer than the answers to most school assignments? Why is 8-bit Nintendo so enduring?

Maybe it was the pure and simple game interface that was so appealing. There were only two buttons and the game pad was a simple rectangle — not the space mutant boomerang with God-knows how many buttons that is the N-64 controller.

The games were simple too. Usually you could only go one direction — right. You just kept walking right and shot, kicked or stomped all the bad guys until you reached the end.

Maybe it is this simplicity that led us to stop playing sports games on Playstation and N-64 with its professional players and complicated stats to instead focus on "Blades of Steel" where icing and penalties are disregarded.

Video games when my friends and I were young were simple. They weren't excessively violent or full of images unsuitable for young children. The "Today" show wasn't doing special reports on whether or not Mario's stomping of Koopa Troopas was leading to school yard violence. Eight-bit Nintendo was just simple and pure and wonderful.

So while my friend who claims that "The Legend of Zelda" is one of the top five things ever to happen to him is a little nuts, there still was something special about that old 8-bit system.

007-373-5963

Remember that one?

Time for Little Mac to face Tyson again.

• Move over,