|
DVD boxart for Captain N.
Captain N: The Game Master is an American animated television series that aired on U.S., Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, Ireland, Austria, Australia (where it was called 'Captain Nintendo') and New Zealand television from 1989 to 1993.
In the U.S., the show aired as part of the Saturday morning cartoon lineup on NBC. The show incorporated elements from many of the most popular Nintendo games of the time. There was also a comic book version by Valiant Comics, albeit only featuring characters from Nintendo-produced games.
Premise
The hero of the series, Kevin Keene, a teenager from Northridge, California and his dog, Duke, are summoned to another universe known as Videoland by being sucked into a vortex that formed in his television, called the Ultimate Warp Zone. In order to fulfill an ancient prophecy, Kevin is to become the hero "Captain N: The Game Master" and save Videoland from the evil forces, led by Mother Brain (the chief enemy in Metroid), who has almost succeeded in capturing the Palace of Power and conquering all Videoland.
Kevin, armed with an NES 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 ruler of Videoland), Simon Belmont (the hero from Castlevania), Mega Man, Kid Icarus (from Kid Icarus, known in the actual games as "Pit"), none of whom show any confidence in Kevin's ability in the beginning. 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.
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 sheepish Eggplant Wizard (Kid Icarus), the thuggish King Hippo (Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!), and scheming Dr. Wily (Mega Man). Mega Man was known for using the word "mega" at the start of each sentence. A 'villain of the week' is featured in some episodes when a particular game becomes the setting (such as Malkil of Wizards and Warriors). The original Donkey Kong also makes an appearance as a territorial, belligerent, Godzilla-sized gorilla in some episodes, but usually serves as a dangerous neutral character posing a hazard to friend and foe alike.
Further recurring characters make an appearance as both friend and foe. The Count (Castlevania) makes multiple appearances, along with Dr. Light (Under his mistranslated name of Dr. Right), Link and Princess Zelda (Similar to their appearances from The Legend of Zelda cartoon were transplanted from The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, also produced by DiC Entertainment, together with the original voice actors Jonathan Potts, Cynthia Preston and the late Len Carlson reprising his role as Ganon.), and, from season two onward, Game Boy (a childish, person-sized supercomputer shaped like the Game Boy, which had the power to materialize objects from his monitor) joins the N Team.
The focus of the show is mostly action-adventure sourced from the video games they parody, with comedic relief forming in each characters' interactions with one another. Sometimes, humor also stemmed from the loose interpretations of the laws of reality that apply in Videoland.
The show would eventually debut the Super Mario World TV series.
Development
The idea for the animated series originated in a 2-part short story published in Nintendo Power magazine volumes 3 and 4.
The story was about "Captain Nintendo", an employee of Nintendo of America who had super powers. He was able to bring video game characters to life. He befriended many game characters, and toward the end of the story, would have to battle both Mother Brain and Ganon.
Gallery of Characters
Videos
| |
| |
|
| Nintendo-related TV shows | |
|---|---|
| 1980's | Saturday Supercade (1983-1984) • The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! (1989) • The Legend of Zelda (1989) • Captain N: The Game Master (1989) • King Koopa's Kool Kartoons (1989) |
| 1990's | The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 (1990) • The Super Mario Challenge (1990-1991) • Super Mario World (1991) • Mega Man (1994) • Fire Emblem (1996) • Pokémon the Series (1997-present) • Oha Suta (1997-present) • Donkey Kong Country (1998-2000) • Pocket Monsters Encore (1999-2002) |
| 2000's | Kirby: Right Back at Ya! (2001-2003) • Weekly Pokémon Broadcasting Station (2002-2004) • Mega Man NT Warrior (2003) • F-Zero: GP Legend (2003-2004) • Pokémon Sunday (2004-2010) • Mega Man Star Force (2007-2008) |
| 2010's | Pokémon Smash! (2010-2013) • Pokémon Get☆TV (2013-2015) • Meet Up at the Pokémon House? (2015-2022) • Pocket Monsters Premier 10 (2017) |
| 2020's | PokéDoko (2022-present) • Ninjala (2022-present) • Pokétsume: Pack Your Pocket With Adventure (2023) |