An early gaming review and news show powers us through the console wars
Video game TV shows have been around since the beginning of video games, but it wasn’t until the 80s that cartoons on the entertainment genre arrived en masse. Nintendo’s Captain N and its Super Mario Bros Super Show were two of the most popular, and competing companies tried to replicate the fever. Acclaim was one of those companies, and it created Video Power as a way to capture everything happening in gaming and give it an MTV glaze.
Video Power was really three shows. When it first launched, it centered around real-life with actor Stivi Paskoski playing the role of Johnny Arcade, a kid who would review games, give out tips, and even drop some news and rumors, all from what we assume was his self-made gaming bunker studio. Midway through the live action portion, the show flipped over into a cartoon featuring Johnny as he led the Power Team, a collection of some of Acclaim’s heroes like, uh, Bigfoot and a basketball player. Okay!
But then things got weird. After that original season, the show transitioned to a game show, where contestants would battle out in video games for prizes. It lost all of the magic of the dual-format for something that was easily forgettable, and our heroic Power Team was lost forever.
Anyhoo, here’s that original series, featuring Johnny dropping some tips and taking on gaming’s villains.
Like reliving video game show nostalgia? Check out our entire catalog of Saturday Morning Cartoon recommendations now.
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