Games - Captain N: The Game Master

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	Games - Captain N: The Game Master

Captain N: The Game Master is an animated cartoon series that aired on U.S., Canadian and United Kingdom television from 1989 to 1992. 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.

The show was cancelled along with several other cartoons once NBC started changing its format to make more time for news programs. Criticism from government and watchdog groups that NBC's Saturday morning lineup consisted mostly of thinly-veiled commercials aimed at children also may have played a role.

The show went through several changes the most visible of which came with the show's third season. The second season introduced the bizarre character of Game Boy (based on the famous handheld console) which turned out to be one of the show's least liked characters. At season three the show took on more radical changes which were frowned upon by fans. The animation was simplified drastically, the episode length was decreased to 15 minutes and the overall quality of the show's writing and animation took a turn for the worse. The series was cancelled soon after.

Origins

The premise of Captain N first appeared in Nintendo Power magazine, created by a Nintendo staff member and magazine editor. The original concept involved Captain N as a Nintendo employee and the Mother Brain as a Nintendo main computer that went rogue. Nintendo later decided to create a cartoon series, opting not to credit or compensate its creator. DiC was shopped as the animation studio, and very little of the original concept remained.

Show premise

The premise of the series could be described as a video-game version of C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia. The hero of the series, Kevin Keene, a teenager from Northridge, California, and his dog, Duke, are summoned to another universe known as Videoland in order to fulfill an ancient prophecy. Kevin is to become the hero "Captain N: The Game Master" and save Videoland from the wicked Forces of Chaos, led by Mother Brain (the chief enemy in Metroid), who is trying to conquer Videoland. Kevin and Duke join 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"), and Game Boy (a giant supercomputer that resembled the Game Boy). At times, he receives help from Link, Princess Zelda (from The Legend of Zelda), and other Nintendo characters. Link and Zelda are, however, the only popular Nintendo-created characters to appear in the television series, although Samus was in the short-lived comic book series.

In most episodes, the N Team goes up against the evil Forces of Chaos (not given a name on the show, but called the League of Darkness in the comics), usually with Mother Brain along with her minions of the Eggplant Wizard (Kid Icarus), King Hippo (Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!), Count Dracula (Castlevania
) and Dr. Wily (Mega Man) in the lead, although other villains (such as Malkil of Wizards and Warriors) are the main villain for an episode. The original Donkey Kong makes an appearance in some episodes, sometimes on the side of Mother Brain, but usually as a dangerous neutral character. In each episode, the Forces of Chaos and the N Team clash, resulting in comical situations.

Voice cast

Gary Chalk: King Hippo/Donkey Kong
Ian James Corlett: Dr. Wily
Mike Donovan: Eggplant Wizard
Matt Hill: Narrator/Kevin Keene/Captain N
Alessandro Juliani: Kid Icarus
Andrew Kavadas: Simon Belmont
Doug Parker: Mega Man
Levi Stubbs: Mother Brain
Venus Terzo: Princess Lana
Tomm Wright: Duke

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Captain N: The Game Master ]

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