Slashdot Mirror
The History of Gaming Cartoons
1up.com has a feature up delving into the History of Video Game Cartoons, from the quirky Q-Bert to the much maligned Captain N. From the article: "Memories, however, can be problematic. Even when they're good, they can still suck pretty bad. Take, for example, your first ride on a two-wheeler bike. You experienced a short thrill of speed and independence, and then took a nasty spill, tore the seat of your pants to reveal your underwear to your childhood crush, and then likely started crying like a little girl." So true, so true.
Nuff Said...
"Oh drat these computers, they're so naughty and so complex, I could pinch them." --Marvin the Martian
It's amazing how much one letter can make a difference.
Creative Demolition
Starcade was a completely different show, which if I recall was more a game-show type.
T.
I think the Pac-Man cartoon is my first memory ever I can recall of watching *any* TV program.
then likely started crying like a little girl
Bah, when I was 6 I fell off my bike and immediately started crying like a grown man.
94% of Repubs and 21% of Dems voted to renew the Patriot Act
Game over. Far above par for a show about videogames.
The reviewer failed to point out the best part of Captain N: he could pause time. Yes, by pressing start on that controller of his, Captain N could pause the world around him. He could run to the bus on time, he could pause (though not rewind) live TV, and he could take the super mega weapon of death from the bad guy's hand. Thus the controller was Captain N's Voltron Sword, rendering entire episodes (and arguably, the series) pointless.
The ______ Agenda
One of my favorite episodes! The 80's cartoon parody what if episode. Watch it right now.
0- Eamonman Proud member of DNRC
I'd have to say hands down my favorite video game cartoon series was the Super Mario ones. I used to watch those all the time as a kid, luckly I snagged the DVD that had something like 6-9 episodes on it. Ahh... good times.
what about gaming cartoons not released in america? mahoujin guru guru is the most hilarious EVAR
What was that Nickelodeon game show, where you had to play video games? There were a few good games on that show... and that Mikey on the sidewalk game!
Let me tell you something, you need to balance, just not hit the accelerator.
But its good to have a 22 year old memory.
Oh reminds me of my other dirt bike story. I saw starwars, and thought you didn't need a trail to go through the woods. In fact I thought you could go full speed through the woods since I saw my friends disappear into them(they found a trail). So I'm plowing through full tilt, about 20 feet into the forest, a monkey vine snags my neck, and the bike falls on my leg. The not so fun part is that bike engines are hot and it left this burn scar for 6-8 years afterwards on my knee. So I know how kids are influenced by movies. I wasn't like,"Oh Starwars, let me go try this out." I was thinking,"Man, it seems like everyone can drive full speed through the woods."
God spoke to me.
ReBoot has always taken a place in my heart. It motivated me to become a CS major, and gave me an interest in graphics. MainFrame came out with two-movies continuing from season 3 which were later released as epis 1-8 of season 4. I wish they would at least finish that season. Further there was an Imax movie where Herr Doktor explored Hexidecimal's mind... at least from what I've read.
Becuse after all, there is so many errors in thoose old TV series compared to the Video games. Cavemen in SMW? Real world in SMB3? And when did Link live together with Zelda?
Of course, I loved this shows as kid. Becuse it had my favorite charachter, thought you realise how bad they are when youre older... and now you're used with having Charles Martinet as the offical Mario voice.
Do the Mario song is still a classic, becuse it's bad in a funny way.
I really like Bomberman Jetters. I wish they'd find a way to bring it over here. There can never be enough Bomberman.
" tore the seat of your pants to reveal your underwear to your childhood crush, and then likely started crying like a little girl."
Serves you right for trying to show off your mad bicycling skillz to her to begin with. You should have suffered your crush in silence like the rest of us! That way, you'd be starting down the road to becoming a bona fide stalker!
Really, would you rather have this embarassing memory, or leave recordings on her answering machine of you breathing deeply?
My friends and I always looked forward to fridays, cuz we could see The Legend of Zelda episodes that day!
Can anyone think of any games that were missed? I seem to remember cartoons based on Wing Commander and Mortal Kombat that showed on USA.
Try going back and watching Star Trek: The Animated Series. I had fond memories of seeing that in my jammies on Saturday morning with a bowl of cereal. Life just didn't get any better.
Then I watched a few episodes recently. Oooh boy. There are actually some decent stories but the production values are just...blech...
(On a side note, anyone seen the Flash Gordon animation series by Filmation floating around on the net? I've been wanting to see that again, but I can't turn it up anywhere)
Now Space Academy... THERE was s show...
Remember Video Power, the proto-G4 video games show? In their first season they had a cartoon called "Power Team", which was a Captain N knockoff starring Acclaim characters. A cop from NARC, the dude from Wizards & Warriors, Kwirk (a tomato), a basketball player from Arch-Rivals, and Bigfoot (yes, the truck) would team up to fight Mr. Big, also from NARC.
It was fucked up.
They also forgot about Dragon Warrior, the briefly translated RPG cartoon that, because of Akira Toriyama, looked a lot like Dragon Ball. I remember seeing it once or twice, and I remember it being pretty freaking cool.
That was the first thing that came to mind when I got to that page: "It's Supercade, idiots!" How can you do enough research to get screenshots but not get the title right?
My stupid web site
That would be much larger than 7+ pageviews.
I think with the interesting people, their lives can't possibly be wrapped up into a nice little package.
The article does leave quite a bit lacking. Maybe there should be a followup article about
A) Cartoons that go into the digital world, like the new Johnny Quest, and maybe Teen Titans.
B) Cartoons based off of games... not just video games. Yu-Gi-Oh should at least have an honerable mention there.
C) Live shows based off of games. I was looking for the live-person Super Mario Bros in there.. and it actually took me a while to realize it wasnt' a cartoon. It always felt like one.
Anything else someone was looking for in that article but never saw?
"There is a reason Linux is free"
~me~
Such an archaic device? What for? Inefficient transportation under unprotected sunlight?
No way, I'm keeping my car, and my childhood hasn't seen me fall.
Tordek, Dwarven Warrior - Juegos de Rol en Argentina
Just the other day I mentioned the QBert cartoon during a session of WoW, but no one had any idea what I was talking about. Also, I thought Lou did a great job as Mario. What else are you going to do after your fake manager position in wrestling falls flat?
If I'm not incorrect they had a cartoon show about one of my favorite games: "Sonic The Hedgehog", I remember the show was pretty..good even though I was probably still 8-10 at the time, I think the way they make cartoon shows off of video games or the other way around is kind of dumb because they dont have the same feel to them because well, you can't play with the character! Although, I like those videos before games! For example, Halo/Halo2 :)
Alright. Its saturday night. I have no date, a 2 litre bottle of shasta and my all rush mix tape. Lets rock!
People malign Captain N? They must have no childhood sense of wonder left in their poor, shriveled hearts.
Rob
Capcom: MegaMan NT Warrior: Axess, Street Fighter II/II V/Alpha/Alpha 2 (the Japanese versions, not the cheapo DIC hack), Power Stone, Vampire Hunter/Darkstalkers (Geneon version), Viewtiful Joe
Sega: Sakura Wars, Sakura Wars 2, Panzer Dragoon
Square Enix: Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals, Final Fantasy: Advent Children, Final
Sony: Parapper the Rapper, PoPoLoCrois, Wild Arms
Fantasy: Unlimited, Dragon Quest/Warrior, Chrono Trigger
Namco: Tekken: The Motion Picture, Xenosaga: The Animation
Others: Pia Carrot 1/2/2 DX, Psychic Force, Art of Fighting, Samurai Shodown, Power Dolls
Capcom: MegaMan NT Warrior: Axess, Rockman EXE Stream, Street Fighter II/II V/Alpha/Alpha 2 (the Japanese versions, not the cheapo DIC hack), Power Stone, Vampire Hunter/Darkstalkers (Geneon version), Viewtiful Joe
Konami: Legend of the Mystical Ninja, Twin Bee Paradise, Zone of the Enders: Dolores/Idolo
Namco: Tekken: The Motion Picture, Xenosaga: The Animation
Sega: Sakura Wars, Sakura Wars 2, Panzer Dragoon
Sony: Parapper the Rapper, PoPoLoCrois, Wild Arms
Square Enix: Final Fantasy: Legend of the Crystals, Final Fantasy: Advent Children, Final
Fantasy: Unlimited, Dragon Quest/Warrior, Chrono Trigger
Others: Pia Carrot 1/2/2 DX, Psychic Force, Art of Fighting, Samurai Shodown, Power Dolls, Ragnarok the Animation
It was *great*! Fully the equal of Freakazoid and sometimes even up to (dare I say it??) Tick quality. In a perfect world these would have been on shelves in DVD format two years ago.
and now you're used with having Charles Martinet as the offical Mario voice.
That really bugged me when Super Mario 64 came out. I was so used to the voice of Mario from The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World series (which incidentally wasn't Capt. Lou Albano, who played Mario in both the live-action and cel-animated segments in SMB Super Show) that I had a brief petit mal after hearing "It's-a-me, Mario! ... Hello!" in a voice that clearly wasn't what I thought of as Mario's.
I Was a little girl you Insensitive clod!