Captain N: The Game Master

Last updated
Captain N: The Game Master
Captaintitle.jpg
Genre Action
Adventure
Comedy
Science fiction
Written by
  • Calvin Kelley
  • David Ehrman
  • Dennis O'Flaherty
  • Dorothy Middleton
  • Greg Klein
  • Jeffrey Scott
  • Matt Uitz
  • Michael Maurer
  • Paul Dell
  • Rick Merwin
  • Sean Roche
  • Steven Weiss
  • Ted Alben
Directed byMichael Maliani (Season 1)
Chuck Patton (Season 2)
John Grusd (Season 3)
Kit Hudson (live-action sequences)
Voices of Garry Chalk
Ian James Corlett
Michael Donovan
Matt Hill
Alessandro Juliani
Andrew Kavadas
Doug Parker
Levi Stubbs
Venus Terzo
Frank Welker
Tomm Wright
Composers Haim Saban (Season 1)
Shuki Levy (Season 1)
Michael Tavera (Season 2–3)
Country of originUnited States
Canada
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes34 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer Andy Heyward
ProducersMichael Maliani (Season 1; supervising producer, Season 2)
John Grusd (Season 3)
Jamie Edlin (live-action sequences)
EditorsLars Floden (Season 1)
William P. Magee (Season 1)
Warren Taylor (Season 2)
Mark A. McNally (Season 2–3)
Susan Odjakjian (Season 2–3)
Mel Ashkenas (Season 3)
Jill Goularte (Season 3)
Running time22 minutes (Season 1–2)
11 minutes (Season 3)
Production companies DIC Animation City
Saban Productions (Season 1 only)
Nintendo of America
Original release
Network NBC
ReleaseSeptember 9, 1989 (1989-09-09) 
October 26, 1991 (1991-10-26)

Captain N: The Game Master is an animated television series that aired on television from 1989 to 1991 as part of the Saturday morning cartoon lineup on NBC. [1] The show was produced by DIC Animation City and incorporated elements from many of the most popular video games of the time from the Japanese company Nintendo. There was also a comic book version by Valiant Comics, despite only featuring characters from games produced by Nintendo. The show is also part of an hour-long block in Season 2 with The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 and with Super Mario World in Season 3 in a half-hour block. [2]

Contents

Origins

The character Captain N first appeared in Nintendo Power magazine, created by Nintendo staff member and magazine editor Randy Studdard. The original concept involved Captain N (originally known as "Captain Nintendo") as a Nintendo employee and the Mother Brain as a piece of programming from a Nintendo game pack that went rogue. Captain N had the power to temporarily give life to characters and items from Nintendo games. [2]

The story left a door open for a sequel (Mother Brain is temporarily defeated but her return was said to be inevitable, and Captain N vows to stop her when the time comes). Nintendo of America, Inc. later decided to follow Studdard's ideas and create a cartoon series, opting neither to credit nor to compensate its creator. DIC Entertainment was shopped as the animation studio, and changed various aspects of the original idea while keeping the main premise of the Captain opposing Mother Brain as he interacted with a number of video game characters. [3]

Captain Nintendo also appeared in a prerecorded Nintendo Universe tip line series by Nintendo that was updated weekly. Captain Nintendo was joined by a computer companion named Emerald to offer tips on popular Nintendo Game Paks, as well as upcoming game announcements. [4]

Premise

At the outset of the first episode the hero of the series, Kevin Keene, a teenager from Northridge, Los Angeles, California, and his dog Duke are taken to another universe known as Videoland when they are sucked into a vortex called the Ultimate Warp Zone that formed in his television.

To fulfill an ancient prophecy, Kevin is destined to become the hero "Captain N: The Game Master" and save Videoland from evil forces led by Mother Brain from the floating world/fortress called Metroid. By the time Kevin arrives on the scene, Mother Brain has almost succeeded in capturing the Palace of Power and conquering all Videoland. Kevin (who in Videoland is armed with a Zapper and a belt buckle shaped like an NES controller) and Duke appear suddenly on the other side of the Ultimate Warp Zone before the N Team, which consists of Princess Lana (the acting ruler of Videoland as the first episode explains the absence of her father the King), Simon Belmont, Mega Man, and Kid Icarus, none of whom show any confidence in Kevin's ability in the beginning. However, after Lana is kidnapped by the enemy shortly after Kevin's arrival, the reluctant group puts their differences aside to go on a rescue mission where Kevin eventually gains the others' confidence. During season 2, Game Boy (a human-sized supercomputer shaped like the console) joins the N Team.

In most episodes, the N Team's enemy is a group of video game villains, usually led by the boisterous and loud Mother Brain who is accompanied by her minions, the Eggplant Wizard from Kid Icarus , the thuggish King Hippo from Punch-Out!! , and the scheming Dr. Wily from Mega Man . A "villain of the week" is featured in some episodes when a particular video game becomes the setting (such as Malkil of Wizards & Warriors ). Several other characters make recurring appearances, including Donkey Kong, The Count from Castlevania and Dr. Light from Mega Man. The cast of the Legend of Zelda cartoon reprise their respective roles for several guest appearances during the series.

The focus of the show is mostly action-adventure sourced from the video games they feature, with comic relief in the form of the character's interactions with one another and the environment and their quirks and catchphrases. Sometimes humor (intentionally, or unintentionally) also stems from the comparatively loose interpretations of the laws of reality that apply in Videoland.

Characters

The N Team

Main villains

Minor villains

Other characters

The following characters appear in at least 2 episodes:

Episodes

Because Captain N: The Game Master took place in a world where video games existed as reality, a multitude of video games were used in the thirty-four episodes of the series. In some cases only areas and elements from the game were used, but the protagonist was absent (some examples include Wizards & Warriors, Dragon Warrior, and Metroid). The following video games were portrayed at least once during the series' run with the ones that appeared having their own world in Videoland:

Although nearly every major Nintendo franchise at the time was represented at some point or another in the show, the Super Mario games were noticeably absent, although a line mentioning the game is included in the pilot episode comparing the Ultimate Warp Zone that brings Captain N to Videoland to the warp zones in Super Mario Bros. This is likely due to The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, which aired around the same time and featured the characters/world of the Mario games.

Cast

Additional voices

Crew

Writers:

Madeleine Bascom – Recording Director (season 3) Marsha Goodman – Recording Director (season 1) Greg Morton – Recording Director (seasons 1–2) Doug Parker – Talent Coordinator Stu Rosen – Recording Director (season 1), Casting (season 2) Alvin Sanders – Recording Assistant (season 2)

Comic series

The Captain N comic book was published by Valiant Comics as part of the Nintendo Comics System in 1990. Despite being based on the television cartoon of the same name, the comics differed heavily from the show. Along with a more serious tone, all third-party characters (Simon Belmont, Mega Man, Dr. Light, the Count, and Dr. Wily) were absent from the comic. Samus Aran, who never appeared in the cartoon, was a recurring character who falls in love with Kevin, and becomes Lana's rival for his affections. When asked by a fan why Samus did not appear in the television series, Jeffrey Scott said that he never heard about her. [12] An article at 1UP.COM describes Samus as "rambunctious, reckless, and gets into @#!*% contests with Lana over Kevin's affections, which makes for some of the most entertaining situations in the series". The reviewer added: "Not to say that the deadly quiet, contemplative Samus who fights for truth and justice in the more recent Metroid games isn't awesome, but there's something compelling about a Samus who's greedy and conniving – and is proud to admit it". [13]

Mother Brain's second-in-command became Uranos, the God of the Sky based on a regular enemy from Kid Icarus. Pit's toga was changed from white to yellow and, in most of the stories, Lana's dress was purple. However, in the comics Lana has a weapon – a scepter she had in concept art, but only had a very brief appearance on one episode of the show.

In the last printed issue of the comic book, a letter column promised that Mega Man would make an appearance, but the comic was aborted abruptly and this never came into existence. The first issue was to be included as a digital reprint on the DVD set, but could not since the rights to the comic are in limbo. [14]

Syndication and changes

Captain N & The Video Game Masters

Captain N entered broadcast syndication, and aired on local stations from 1992 to 1993 by Rysher Entertainment, [15] Captain N & The Video Game Masters, a 65-episode package which included Captain N: The Game Master, The Legend of Zelda , The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 , and Super Mario World .

Other airings

Family Channel

Family Channel played only the first 26 episodes from fall 1991 to summer 1992, while season 3 aired on NBC. Episodes were slightly time compressed to fit in more commercials, making episodes around 2 minutes shorter. Episodes were split into 4 acts instead of 2 or 3, adding an extra commercial fade. Family Channel airings also included the featured songs that played on the NBC airing, unlike later airings on WGN, Fox, and USA Network.

USA Network

Starting in the fall of 1993, USA Network briefly began showing reruns of the series on their Sunday lineup of their USA Cartoon Express animation block. Unlike other reruns, USA opted to edit scenes out of various episodes to cut the length down to their required limit in order to fit in more commercials. In 1994, it was taken off in most channels, and this was the last time the series has been shown on US TV.

Alternative versions of episodes

VHS releases

In the early 1990s, three season 2 Captain N episodes were released on VHS tapes distributed by Buena Vista Home Video in the US. ("Gameboy", "Quest for the Potion of Power", and "The Trouble with Tetris"). Each tape contained one episode.

DVD releases and changes

Captain N was released in Region 1 on February 27, 2007, by Shout! Factory and Sony BMG Music Entertainment. [16] However, although the set is called The Complete Series, there are some omissions:

  • Season 3 was considered to be part of a different series, due to sharing a half-hour block with the Super Mario World cartoon on NBC in the fall of 1991; copyright holders required that the Captain N and Super Mario World episodes be released together. Captain N & The New Super Mario World has since been released on DVD in a separate two-disc set, as originally broadcast in 1991.
  • Episode 27, "When Mother Brain Rules", which was a clip show episode, was not included on the master tapes that DiC sent to Shout! Factory, so this episode is not included on the DVD set.
  • The unfinished original version of "How's Bayou" is included in this set, rather than the revised version seen in reruns.
  • Shout! Factory received tapes containing Family Channel airings for season 2 episodes (the episodes were cut for time and split into 4 acts instead of 3). Seasons 1 and 3 use their original masters.
  • The opening "teasers" are not included on the DVD set, as these were not a part of Shout! Factory's deal with DiC. The only teaser on the disc is the one for "Kevin in Videoland", featured as a bonus feature on disc one. Some teasers for "Captain N & Super Mario World" are included on the menus of the "Captain N & Super Mario World" DVD.
  • A two-minute-long scene from the episode "Queen of the Apes" is absent from the earliest DVD releases, making the episode run two minutes shorter than the others. Missing from the DVD is the entire "underwater piranha battle" scene involving Kevin and Simon, and some of the "hoisting Mother Brain's body up a cliff" scene with Kid Icarus and Mega Man. Brian Ward of Shout! Factory has stated that this was an authoring error, and a replacement disc program was initiated. [17]
  • Covers of pop songs used in the original broadcasts are replaced with an instrumental version of the "Mega Move" song from "The Feud of Faxanadu" due to concerns over the songs' broadcast rights. The songs in Season 2 were performed exclusively for the series and were not removed.

The DVD set is packaged in two double-disc thin packs. The booklet planned for the set was omitted due to time constraints, as no further delays were wanted.[ citation needed ]

DVD nameEp #Release dateAdditional information
Captain N: The Game Master – The Complete Series26February 27, 2007
  • Map of Videoland-style menus
  • Character Video Bios, including narration taken directly from the text of the Captain N bible
  • Exploring Videoland: Concept art for the worlds and locations of Captain N: The Game Master
  • "Captain Nintendo" – the original Nintendo Power short story

A single-disc release titled "Adventures in Videoland", containing 4 episodes, was released by NCircle Entertainment on July 22, 2008.

Regional DVD releases

Every episode of Season 3 is available on Australian DVD alongside the entire series of the "Super Mario World" cartoon, just like in the US.

Pidax released the complete series along Super Mario World in Germany (with English audio included), in 3 boxsets, however still excluding "When Mother Brain Rules".

Music

Film

Actor and writer Noel Clarke revealed to Digital Spy in an interview that he was interested in developing a live action film adaptation of the series. [18] As of 2024, the film has not started production.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Platformer</span> Video game genre

A platformer is a sub-genre of action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are characterized by levels with uneven terrain and suspended platforms of varying height that require jumping and climbing to traverse. Other acrobatic maneuvers may factor into the gameplay, such as swinging from vines or grappling hooks, jumping off walls, gliding through the air, or bouncing from springboards or trampolines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shigeru Miyamoto</span> Japanese video game designer (born 1952)

Shigeru Miyamoto is a Japanese video game designer, producer and game director at Nintendo, where he serves as one of its representative directors as an executive since 2002. Widely regarded as one of the most accomplished and influential designers in video games, he is the creator of some of the most acclaimed and best-selling game franchises of all time, including Mario,The Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong, Star Fox and Pikmin. More than 1 billion copies of games featuring franchises created by Miyamoto have been sold.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mario</span> Video game character

Mario is a character created by the Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the Mario franchise and the mascot of the Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario is an Italian plumber who resides in the Mushroom Kingdom with his younger twin brother, Luigi. Their adventures generally center on rescuing Princess Peach from the villain Bowser while using power-ups that give them different abilities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donkey Kong (character)</span> Video game character

Donkey Kong, also shortened to DK, is a fictional gorilla in the Donkey Kong and Mario video game series, created by Shigeru Miyamoto. The original Donkey Kong first appeared as the title character and antagonist of the eponymous 1981 game, a platformer by Nintendo, which would lead to the Donkey Kong series. The Donkey Kong Country series was launched in 1994 with a new Donkey Kong as the protagonist. This version of the character persists as the main one up to today. While the 1980s games' Donkey Kong and the modern Donkey Kong share the same name, the manual for Donkey Kong Country and subsequent games portray the former as Cranky Kong, the latter's grandfather, with the exception of Donkey Kong 64 and The Super Mario Bros. Movie, in which Cranky is depicted as his father, alternatively portraying the modern Donkey Kong as the original Donkey Kong from the arcade games. Donkey Kong is considered one of the most popular and iconic characters in video game history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nintendo Selects</span> Marketing label by Nintendo

Nintendo Selects is a marketing label previously used by Nintendo to promote best-selling video games on Nintendo game consoles. Nintendo Selects titles were sold at a lower price point than new releases. The program paralleled other budget range software by Sega, Sony, and Microsoft to promote best-selling games on their consoles as well. In Japan, the discount label was introduced in 2015 for various Nintendo 3DS titles as the Happy Price Selection, although South Korea adopted the Nintendo Selects name at an earlier period. The most recent Nintendo Selects titles were released for the Wii U and 3DS and, as of January 2024, no Nintendo Switch games have been rebranded as Nintendo Selects.

In video game parlance, a multicart is a cartridge that contains more than one game. Typically, the separate games are available individually for purchase or were previously available individually. For this reason, collections, anthologies, and compilations are considered multicarts. The desirability of the multicart to consumers is that it provides better value, greater convenience, and more portability than the separate games would provide. The advantage to developers is that it allows two or more smaller games to be sold together for the price of one larger game, and provides an opportunity to repackage and sell older games one more time, often with little or no changes.

<i>Nintendo Comics System</i> Series of comic books

The Nintendo Comics System was a series of comic books published by Valiant Comics in 1990 and 1991. It was part of a licensing deal with Nintendo, featuring characters from their video games and the cartoons based on them.

Nintendo Fusion Tour was a touring rock music and video game festival sponsored by Nintendo, which began in 2003.

<i>The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!</i> 1989 American TV series

The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! is an American live-action/animated television series that aired from September 4 to December 1, 1989, in syndication. The series is based on the video games Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 2 by Nintendo, and is the first of three television series to be based upon the Mario video game series. The animation was provided by Sei Young Animation.

The Nintendo Player’s Guides are a series of video game strategy guides from Nintendo based on Nintendo Power magazine.

Daniel "Dan" Owsen is an American video game translator at Nintendo of America (NOA), best known for his role in the translation and localization of many Nintendo video games, playing a large role in the translation of The Legend of Zelda series. He is also known for his now-discontinued "Ask Dan" column on Nintendo's official website. As of 2015, Owsen lives in Seattle, Washington.

<i>Kid Icarus</i> (series) Video game series

Kid Icarus is a series of fantasy video games by Nintendo. The games are set in a Greco-Roman fantasy world called "Angel Land", which is a fictional setting that's loosely based on Greek mythology. The gameplay consists of a mixture of action, adventure and platform elements. The Kid Icarus franchise is known as a cult classic and a sibling series to the Metroid franchise.

<i>The Advantage</i> (album) 2004 studio album by The Advantage

The Advantage is the debut release by American rock band The Advantage. It is their first full-length studio album.

<i>Mario</i> (franchise) Video game franchise

Mario is a Japanese multimedia franchise created by Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto for video game company Nintendo which produces and publishes its installments. Starring the titular Italian plumber Mario, it is primarily a video game franchise, but has extended to other forms of media, including television series, comic books, a 1993 feature film, a 2023 animated film and theme park attractions. The series' first installment was 1983's Mario Bros., although Mario had made his first appearance in 1981's arcade game Donkey Kong, and had already been featured in several games of the Donkey Kong and Game & Watch series. The Mario games have been developed by a wide variety of developers including Nintendo, Hudson Soft, and AlphaDream. Mario games have been released almost exclusively for Nintendo's various video game consoles and handhelds, from the third generation onward.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mega Man (character)</span> Video game character

Mega Man, known as Rockman in Japan, is the title character and the protagonist of the Mega Man series by Capcom. He was created by Akira Kitamura for the first Mega Man game released in 1987, with artist Keiji Inafune providing detailed character artwork based on Kitamura's pixel art design.

"Nintendo hard" is extreme difficulty in video games with trial-and-error gameplay and limited or nonexistent saving of progress. The enduring term originated with Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) games from the mid-1980s to early 1990s, such as Ghosts 'n Goblins (1986), Contra (1988), Ninja Gaiden (1988), and Battletoads (1991).

References

  1. Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 109–110. ISBN   978-1538103739.
  2. 1 2 Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 178–179. ISBN   978-1476665993.
  3. The Man Behind Captain Nintendo, Nintendo Player, archived from the original on 2013-09-16
  4. "User Account". archive.org. Nintendo. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  5. Seanbaby, "Memorial to Captain N: Simon Belmont", Electronic Gaming Monthly 229 (June 2008): 91.
  6. Seanbaby, "Memorial to Captain N: Kid Icarus", Electronic Gaming Monthly 229 (June 2008): 91.
  7. Seanbaby, "Memorial to Captain N: Mega Man", Electronic Gaming Monthly 229 (June 2008): 91.
  8. Seanbaby, "Memorial to Captain N: Game Boy", Electronic Gaming Monthly 229 (June 2008): 91.
  9. Seanbaby, "Memorial to Captain N: Mother Brain", Electronic Gaming Monthly 229 (June 2008): 91.
  10. Seanbaby, "Memorial to Captain N: King Hippo", Electronic Gaming Monthly 229 (June 2008): 91.
  11. Seanbaby, "Memorial to Captain N: Eggplant Wizard", Electronic Gaming Monthly 229 (June 2008): 91.
  12. Interview with Jeffrey Scott, The Unofficial Captain N Homepage
  13. "Funny Pages". 1UP.COM . 1. Retrieved October 16, 2008.
  14. Crichton, John. "Brian Ward Shouts Up Captain N on DVD" Archived March 22, 2007, at the Wayback Machine . Toonzone. February 23, 2007.
  15. "A sampling of the programming wares at INTV" (PDF). Broadcasting . 1992-01-13. Retrieved 2021-11-12.
  16. "Captain N: The Game Master – The Complete Series". TV Shows on DVD. 27 February 2007. Archived from the original on 2010-05-11. Retrieved 2 March 2018.
  17. "Captain N replacement dvd". Shout! Factory Community. Archived from the original on 2008-12-03.
  18. May, Bex April (January 4, 2020). "Noel Clarke reveals Nintendo video game movie adaptation he plans to make next". Digital Spy. Retrieved April 14, 2020.

Informational sites