Review: Nick Arcade

NICK ARCADE

Broadcast history:
Nickelodeon January 3, 1992- Summer 1993
Host(s): Phil Moore
Announcer(s): Andrea Lively

GAME PLAY
They're protecting their neurons from impulses. Yeah... Two teams of kids competed. To start, one member of each team played a face-off game where the winner got 25 points and control.

Mikey's moving right! (cue catchy tune) Phil: Kids, this is a professional marshmallow guy, so don't try this at home The team in control got to move Mikey on a grid of about 15 squares. The object was to move him up, down, left or righ Game Over, the pie-throwing bully t towards a goal. On each square was an event. Phil referred to these as the four P's "points, puzzles, pop quizzes and prizes." So, some squares would be worth free points, some worth a free prize, some had video puzzles for points, and some squares contained pop quizzes. There, the team that landed on the square would pick a topic and a buzz-in question would be asked for 25 points. If a team hit the monster for the day, they lost control.

They're playing Battletoads If a video challenge came up, the team that moved Mikey there would choose one of five video games on stage. One member of the team would risk any or all of their points to that point. The other had to meet or beat the "Wizard's Challenge" in 30 seconds. Points were added or subtracted accordingly.

If a team reached the goal, the team that did not move Mikey picked from the pop quiz categories and the other team tried to answer a question for 50 points. If time ran out before anyone reached the goal, Mikey moved straight to the goal and the question was asked as a buzz-in. A second round was played with bigger point values, and a goal worth 100 points. The team in the lead after this round won the game.

In the bonus round, the winner's entered the "Video Zone" in an attempt to win cash and prizes. In one minute, the team had to conquer a level each individually and face the "Game Wizard" together to win it all. Each level completed was worth $50 and a prize.

NOTES
Phil Moore is a Florida native and a comedian.

The show produced about 85 episodes, but was in reruns all over the place on Nickelodeon until 1996. The broadcast history date is far from correct, but feel free to drop me a line with the real one.

The games used were put into arcade shells, but were always home console games or studio originals. Some of the games used were Sonic the Hedgehog, Paperboy 2 and Super Ghouls'n'Ghosts.

The video zone was acheived by putting the players in a green-screened studio setting where they saw the video game action on a monitor. This concept was also used on travelling Nickelodeon stage shows.

MY THOUGHTS
All right as entertainment, but the game was poor. Time constraints led to little game playing. A lot of that time was ate up by video challenges and the video puzzles. Neat concept, bad execution.

JAY SAYS...
Cast - 1.0
Bells and Whistles - 1.5
Game - 1.0
Prize - 0.5
Tilt - 1.0

[ 05.0 ]

The prizes were pretty poor. $150, a camera, a basketball hoop and tickets to the city you're standing in? Phil Moore's lisp will grow on you (not in a good way). The set and music are fine, but it took a good number of episodes for the barren portions of the set to be filled in. An enjoyable show as a kid, but not a solid game show by any means.

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