A new edition of Gaming Entertainment is up and we for once look at something else that isn’t DIC related. The Autumn season for some reason always reminded me of Mortal Kombat 3 and Rare related games. It’s one of those things you can’t explain but these games give me that nostalgic rush. Due to this feeling, through the Fall I replay Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, Donkey Kong Country 2 and 3 and the Resident Evil series. It’s traditional for me since those games represent this season and Halloween because of their themes. Even I put on videos that highlight holiday theme music from gaming. That is the best way to get into the spirit of Autumn especially from those soundtracks. Please check out my reviews on the series from Resident Evil, Ghosts N Goblins and Splatterhouse to really get into the mood.
On this occasion we take a look at Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm. The same studio that produced the first film called Threshold Entertainment returns again with the help of another company called Roman Films. If you are unfamiliar with Roman Films, they are infamous for producing average license cartoons like the Mask and Mighty Max. At least it’s not DIC’s awful resume of terrible produced cartoons of Gravesdale High and Hammerman (MC Hammer). You heard correctly DIC put together an MC Hammer cartoon…let that sink in. The show is based on the events of MK3 where Shao Khan’s influence in Outworld causes Earth Realm several invasions. The team of Sonya, Jaks, Raiden, Striker, Nightwolf, Kitana and Subzero join forces to combat the forces of Outworld. In the past I always assumed DOTR was a sequel to the original movie. However, that is not the case as this series is following its own continuity. It doesn’t continue the story from the games or acts as a bridge to MK: Annihilation. Will this be the one to redeem the other shows in the 90s from the curse of DIC? Mortal Kombat: Defenders of the Realm Review
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A new edition of Gaming Entertainment is up, and we take a look at the last Mario cartoon produced by DIC. The next incarnation of DIC’s version is based on Super Mario World and the studio aired it in the same year of its release. Like I have explained before, the cartoons were used to advertise the products for Nintendo. Even the US passed a law where these studios couldn’t advertise said product on the shows. It was a common practice for companies like Hasbro and Mattel to promote their toy lines. Shows like He-Man, My Little Pony, Care Bears, Voltron and Ninja Turtles were the textbook definition of marketing. It was clear millions of Americans loved Nintendo so DIC being a opportunistic company wanted to capitalize on the success. The cartoon itself is continuation from the SMB3 show and takes place after the events of the game. After Mario, Luigi and Yoshi saved Princess from Koopa, however the Reptilian King continues his work. Through their vacation they must deal with Koopa and his Koopalings who now want to try to conquer the Cave People of Dome City. Or is he trying to feed his dinosaurs to the Cave People? By 1992 NBC was cleaning up their cartoon block and Captain N’s season 3 along with Mario World were the last of these shows. DIC still went on to produce more gaming shows after and they even tried to redo the concept of Captain N with Video Power. Unfortunately, I will have to painful deal with their poorly made adaptations like the first Sonic cartoon (not Sonic Saturday Morning) eventually. For now, will it be three times a charm for another crappy Mario show or will they nail this for once? Super Mario World Cartoon Review A new edition of Gaming Entertainment is up, and we check out the second Mario cartoon from DIC. The show is based on the events of Super Mario Bros 3 and continues the theme of the game. After three failed gaming shows, the company still wanted to continue producing more crap. By 1990, NBC decided to ramp up the production of both Captain N and the Adventures of SMB3. Why it took them a year to do so after DIC produce such garbage is beyond me. By doing a side comparison between Super Show and SMB3 and the first two season of Captain N, you will notice the difference. I can never understand why it took them one series each to give DIC a bigger budget. To make money you have to spend it to see some return back but they didn’t seem to understand that the first time.
The cartoon takes place after the events of SMB3 and the Mario Brothers along with Toadstool and Toad face Bowser once again. However, now he brings along his Koopalings as Mario and friends face them not only in the Mushroom Kingdom but on Earth as well. Such a concept has always bothered me for years especially when Yoshi’s Island revealed this wasn’t the case. I don’t have a problem when other companies who do this in their canon like it is in Equestria Girls. However, Mario being from Earth isn’t canon in its lore by any means unlike Equestria Girls where it is within Gen 4. Now, DIC has always been known to cut corners and work with low budgets. It results in some of the worst produced cartoons of that era and still leaves a terrible taste for many gamers even today. So, can DIC finally redeem themselves after many attempts that ended badly for them? The Adventures of Super Mario Bros 3 Review A new edition of Gaming Entertainment is up, and we review the first Mario cartoon from DIC. Everyone at this point knows Mario is the Mickey Mouse of gaming as he paved a way for the industry. After the Crash of 1983 thanks to Atari ruining the market in North America, Nintendo took a gamble and brought the NES over here. Thanks to pushing Super Mario Bros and making the Plumber their mascot gaming went to new heights that Atari could ever take it. Throughout the last few decades, we have seen many game characters across different companies get their films and TV shows. In many instances it was always a mix reaction as for one quality film/show would be ten bad ones to come. Fortunately, today gaming in different medias has gotten better.
On to the review, if you didn’t know DIC’s venture into gaming cartoons wasn’t the first time, a studio created a series. In my Captain N season one review, I mentioned how another studio did the same thing with Donkey Kong. A company called Ruby-Spears Production did that during Saturday Supercade in 1983/1984. They didn’t just feature Donkey Kong but also Frogger, Q-Bert and even Pitfall. DIC and NBC wanted to create their set of cartoons but so far, they haven’t been the best of animation. With two failed shows one should wonder how bad the studio could get Mario on this occasion. If only DIC had the same integrity as Valiant Comics, then we would’ve gotten better cartoons. It’s just a fine example of not producing good results since they didn’t seem to care about the quality. With DIC dipping their hand into Nintendo licensing for the third time, will they finally get it on this occasion? Super Mario Bros Supershow Review A new edition of Saturday’s Game Entertainment reviews is up, and we look at where it all began for Pokémon with the Anime’s first season. I apologize for delaying this upload as writing a review for an 82 episode season proved difficult to do. While Sword and Shield got released last week and I’ve been playing it, my thoughts of the original series came to me. Of course, that lead my thoughts to the anime’s first season and how it captivated us as kids. Through the last 20 years, the show did have its ups with the Orange Island Leagues and then its lows as seen from Best Wishes. However, the anime continues going on regardless if the quality dips or not. Like clockwork, when a new generation comes out it's always followed by the anime entering the same regions as the games. The first season has always been a mixed reaction by me once I watched this as an adult again. There are some shows that do get it right on the first time like from Stranger Things. While others stumble in season one before the show is written better the next time around. One thing the cartoon did right was doing the franchise justice by bringing the world of Pokémon to life. During the 90s, gaming in other medias was the worst quality a TV/film could muster. I already discussed how terrible the Captain N and Zelda cartoons were between the bad art style and crappy writing. Unfortunately, it didn’t stop there as Double Dragon and Mortal Kombat also got their own cartoons and movies. It was either the writers of these studios didn’t understand the product or just tried to make a quick buck off a license. The Pokémon anime was the first to break away from this terrible format that the American companies often got so wrong. It has been over 20 years since the anime came out and certainly it had to age by now. Did the first-season age badly to the point of no return or has it stood the test of time? Pokémon Season One: Indigo League Review A new edition of Gaming Entertainment is up as we check out the first comic issue of Captain N. While DIC was too busy pushing the cartoon, at the same time Valiant Comic also produced their own as well. The thing I like about these comics as a format is the writers and artists can do things that's considered experimental. Some ideas would never work in the mainstream like a darker and mature Scooby Doo. Yes, a mature comic of Scooby Doo is real I kid you not. The comic series' from Valiant used Nintendo characters in a much darker tone compared to the cartoons. The reason I think they got away with this might have to do with it being a niche format when compared to TV and Movies. That is probably the reason Nintendo was more laid back for them to write the characters and their worlds in that style.
For the review, Captain N on paper sounds like a fantastic idea as I’m sure many of us would love for a proper show like this to happen. You all already know my thoughts on the cartoon produce by DIC but so far, I find the comics enjoyable. According to the story, its about the same with Kevin getting pulled from Earth to Video Land according to a prophecy. The difference is Simon Belmont and Mega Man weren’t added but would get replace by a better character. Samus would appear in this series, and you can’t think of a better replacement then the bounty herself. The story is split in two parts that of course act like separate plots. The first one has Kevin and Kid Icarus head to Mount Olympus to find out why a war has stared. The second theme is about the N-Team exploring Zebes and teaming up with Samus to stop Mother brain from finding a source of energy she uses for her fortress. Captain N: The Game Master Vol.1 Review A new edition of Gaming Entertainment is up and this time we look at the first volume in the Zelda comic series. Some of you probably rolled your eyes upon me reviewing another non-canon Zelda. However, the Nintendo comics actually had effort put into them compared to the cartoons they got based off. It all comes down to good writing and researching the license which is something TV and Film studios don't even do. That's why the majority of gaming TV shows and movies had horrible writing and if not animation for nearly two decades. Of course, it got better eventually when you factor in the recent Castlevania anime on Netflix and films like Detective Pikachu. I guess it took a few generations of gamers to have other producers and writers understand the license from the games themselves.
The comic much like the cartoon takes place after the second Zelda as Link and the Hylian Princess adventure through the land. The format is broken between two stories instead of being one whole chapter. The first story has the heroes face Ganon in one of his evil plans to conquer Hyrule. However, the Triforce of Wisdom predicts Link will die if he leaves the castle for any reason. The second story is about Zelda fleeing the North Palace with the Triforce in hand. After reporting to the king about it, Links tries to find out why Zelda ran away and to make sure she returns safely back to the castle. The comics were said to have a much darker theme even compared to Nintendo's light hearted concept. That was a feature the cartoon could never have when this got featured on a Saturday Morning TV block. So can Zelda be redeemed from its terrible cartoon with this comic? The Legend of Zelda Vol.1 Review A new edition of Gaming Entertainment is up and this time we look at the 1989 Zelda cartoon by DIC. Video games in other medias during the late 80s and through most of the 90s has always been among the worst of animation. Not only are they the worst cartoons but terrible from a writing standpoint as both artists and writers screw up the source material. It usually comes down to them being unfamiliar with the product they try to draw and write about. Before any one point this out, yes, back then the NES and the 16-bit games had little narrative with a few exceptions. However, that's not a good excuse to produce a crappy cartoon all because they didn't want to do their research. It's just odd how TV shows and movies transition well into gaming half the time yet the opposite happens when this is the other way around. The reason this is the opposite is due to game developers researching the license they will build the project around. That should tell you the difference between film/TV producers and game developers when it comes to a good gaming narration. Now, the Zelda cartoon as I think about this was a rarity for a studio to produce as it wasn't popularity compared to Mario. Of course, in the late 80s, both Zelda games sold millions of copies making these titles among Nintendo's long-standing series. That still doesn't compare to the ten million plus copies Super Mario Bros 2 sold during that era. The plot revolves around Link and Zelda along with Sprite (a fairy that tags along) who tries to defend the Triforce of Wisdom from Ganon. Just like in the games, Ganon uses his minors from the underworld to conquering Hyrule as its sole ruler. Yeah, my description sounds boring and an eye roller considering Sprite is the typical side kick in these cartoons. The question we should ask is had the cartoon aged well or something DIC should've stayed away from? The Legend of Zelda (Cartoon) Review A new area on my site called Gaming Entertainment is now live as its something I wanted to do for a while. At Gaming Entertainment we check out gaming in other forms of media from films and TV shows to comics. Whether it's animated in traditional 2D art and CGI or live action, each will get reviewed on how close they come to the source material. However, as we all know, most of these studios in the past have always gotten them wrong. At times the writer from any of these studios would just write their own narrative even if there was a clear plot. For over two decades from 1989 to the mid 2010s, many companies continued this poor trend. It didn't matter whether this was a cartoon or a live action show and movie, the outcome had the same results of being terrible. Aside a few exceptions, companies outside the industry couldn't produce a quality show based off a game to save their life.
For the review, Captain N sounds like a decent idea on paper when there were hardly any crossovers this massive in the 80s. There wasn't even a game from one platform to ever have such a concept. Remember kiddies this is way before Super Smash Bros was ever a thought and would be another decade until that became the newest crossover. The synopsis is about Video Land, a place connected to other worlds being attack by Mother Brain and her minions. The N-Team of Princess Lana of Video Land, Mega Man, Kid Icarus and Simon Belmont find themselves almost corned. That's when a prophecy told by the Power Glove in the Throne Room where Captain N will come to Video Land to save it from evil. An average American teen named Kevin Keene is the Game Master as the Power Glove drags him to Video Land. Now it's up to Kevin and the rest of the N-Team to stop Mother Brain from conquering Video Land. Will this be a blast from the past or something that Nintendo should've never let DIC produce? Captain N: The Game Master Season One Review |
In Gaming Entertainment we check out video games in different medias and highlight what made them iconic. We review based on their qualities and if they come close to the original games themselves. Archives
October 2020
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