"The Most Dangerous Game Master" is the third episode of Captain N: The Game Master.
Episode Recap
Mother Brain hatches her latest scheme to take over Videoland, and sends Eggplant Wizard and King Hippo to the Palace of Power to steal Kevin's memories with a special device created by Dr. Wily. When they return to Metroid with the recorded memories, Wily inputs them into an android he had already begun creating in order to make a bigger, badder version of Captain N.
Mother Brain contacts the N Team at the Palace of Power, and tells them that Kevin is no longer the most powerful game master in Videoland. Then, the N Team gets a distress call from Mike Vincent, someone who bullied Kevin back in the real world, who tells Kevin that he was also sucked into Videoland through his TV and is lost in the world of Castlevania. The entire N Team warps to Castlevania to help him.
The N Team finds Mike, who reveals that he lured them to Castlevania to be ambushed by him and his "M Team" of monsters: The Count, Frankenstein, Mummy, and Wolf Man. The N Team stops the monsters, but Mike freezes the N Team in their tracks with his own power pad. Taken to another chamber within Castlevania where Mother Brain is, it is revealed to Kevin that Mike is Wily's super-powered android with Kevin's darkest memories inputted into him. Mother Brain thinks that with this, she has conquered Videoland. Mike takes charge, and against Mother Brain's wishes, challenges Kevin to a race through the world of Castlevania: the winner being the real Game Master.
Kevin and the android Mike take 2 different routes through Castlevania, battling various monsters on the way to the Count's chamber. The Count pushes Kevin out the window right before being defeated by Mike with a shot from his Zapper. Mike then walks over to Kevin, still hanging on with his fingers, to brag about winning the challenge. Kevin says that if he’s really based on Mike Vincent, he can’t be all bad. Kevin tells the Mike android about old times when they used to be friends before Mike was a bully.
Back at the chamber where the N Team is held captive, Mother Brain yells for Wily to activate the secret weapon, equipping her with two huge guns. Mike pushes Kevin out of the way and ends up getting blasted. Kevin then blasts a chandelier which falls onto a table and flips Mother Brain, Dr. Wily, King Hippo, and Eggplant Wizard out the skylight and back to Metroid. Kevin tries to comfort Mike. Mike says Kevin was right, deep down he really was a nice guy. Then he says not to worry about him because he’s just an android, and then shuts down. Simon Belmont says that he knew he could beat Mike. Kevin tells Simon that he did better than beat him, he became his friend again. The android then fades out and disappears.
Appearances
The series-exclusive characters Wombatman and Nikki debut in this episode in a cameo on the TV screen the N Team is watching. They would reappear in Season 2. Nikki’s name is neither known nor referred to until her next appearance. The Mike Vincent android is a creation by Dr. Wily. This would be its only appearance.
Not counting the Season 1 opening (in which he appears only in bat form), the Count makes his debut in this episode. He would appear throughout Season 1 as an ally of Mother Brain and once in Season 3. He is never referred to as Dracula on the show, and is only referred to as “the Count” as he is in the original Castlevania’s manual. However, in Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest, he is referred to as Dracula.
Besides the Count, the following creatures from the Castlevania series are seen in this episode:
*Blue Vampire Bats (appear in the original Castlevania only)
*Red Vampire Bats (both Castlevania I & Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest)
*Skeleton (both I and II)
*Wolf Man (II only)
*Mummy (both I and II)
*Frankenstein (I only)
*Ghost (I only)
*Fish Man (both I and II)
*Black Knight (both I and II)
Details
*The title of this episode references The Most Dangerous Game, a famous short story by Richard Connell.
*It is unknown how Dr. Wily was able to design the robot without already having Kevin’s memories. However, the android’s face was not revealed until after the device used to gather Kevin’s memories was returned and after Wily threw the switches to finalize the process. It is possible he had seen the memories and modified the face of the android to match Mike Vincent’s before the scene began.
*The “Donkey Kong Jones” movie the N Team is watching is an obvious parody of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. It may also have contained elements of the cancelled NES game, Return of Donkey Kong, since it portrayed Donkey Kong as the protagonist. According to the preview of the then-upcoming game in The Official Nintendo Player’s Guide, Donkey Kong was to be playable in the game. The scene also somewhat resembles the gameplay of a later video game, Donkey Kong 64, where Donkey Kong is on a quest for giant golden bananas.
*The “Wombatman” show the N Team is watching is an obvious reference to the Michael Keaton movie Batman, which was a popular and recent release at the time the episode first aired. Wombatman would appear again in person in Season 2.
*It is never revealed how the android Mike made use of the heart dropped by the Wolf Man that he zapped. Hearts function as ammo for the special weapons (boomerang, axe, etc. – none of which are seen in the episode) in Castlevania and as money in Castlevania II.
*The point of time within a game’s canon, or “correct story”, is never made clear as far as when Captain N episodes depicting said game worlds within Videoland take place, in relation to their respective games. Also, many game worlds that are visited in the series do not have all major story-related characters present, including the game’s protagonist. Simon Belmont is indeed present as a series regular, but it is never made clear whether he has already defeated the Count the first time (or second time, as he did in Castlevania II). The Castlevania world depicted in the series and this episode features elements and creatures from both games, but it is not revealed how many times the Count has been revived (based on only the first two games of the series having been released by the time production for Captain N began in 1989). Nor is anything said about Simon having to lift a curse by collecting the Count’s body parts and defeating him in battle again (as he did in Castlevania II, this was most likely deemed too gory for the show’s target audience). However, it is clear that there is a main central castle (like in I, but only a tiny portion of it is seen in II) and a surrounding countryside with forests, lakes, and towns with villagers (like in II).
Differences / Inconsistencies from the Actual Video Games
*The game worlds in the series are not all identified by the names they had in the actual games and their respective literature. However, the name of the world of Castlevania is actually half-right. It is the name for the castle in the game series, but the surrounding area is known as Transylvania.
*Kid Icarus (Pit) only attacks with regular, fire, or light arrows in the Kid Icarus game. In this episode and throughout the series, Kid Icarus attacks with all different types of arrows that have some sort of magic or comedic effect for whatever situation he is facing – in this case, the party arrow.
*The Fish Man (known as Merman in later Castlevania installments) that Kevin fights looks more frog-like as opposed to fish-like according to the game’s design, another example of DiC Animation’s room for creativity in character design. No frog-like enemies exist in the first two Castlevanias, though 8-bit sprites can be subject to imagination.
*The Black Knight threw a seemingly unlimited supply of lances at Kevin, and was at least one story tall. It is both impossible and unnecessary in either game to jump on lances stuck in the wall to reach higher areas in the game, as Kevin did in the scene right before reaching the Count. When Black Knights appeared in Castlevania I and II, they did not even throw their lances, and were the same general height as the games' protagonist, Simon Belmont. This representation would appear more accurate in comparison to later Castlevania games, since larger variations of black and other armored knights existed and would throw their lances.
*In neither of the first 2 U.S. Castlevanias does Dracula turn into a bat when battling Simon, as he does in this episode and in the Season 1 opening. However, later Castlevania games would have the Count (Dracula) turning into a bat. It is widely believed by Castlevania fans that Dracula indeed has this ability anyway since it is considered an inherent ability of any vampire. Also, the bat seen flying above the castle on the original Castlevania’s title screen is considered by many gamers to be the Count.
Music
Actual video game music heard in this episode is the following:
*Metroid’s title screen music (in the very beginning of the episode, and the start of the final scene with Mother Brain in Castlevania)
*The password entry screen music from Castlevania II (when the N Team first encounters android Mike in Castlevania)
*The underground music from Super Mario Bros. 2 (when Kevin is hanging out the window after being attacked by the Count)
The song played over the action sequence in which Kevin and the android Mike fight their way through Castlevania in the original version aired on NBC is a female vocalist's cover of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”. In the DVD version, this is replaced by the “Mega Move” tune. Due to copyright issues, this would happen with every non-video game song not recorded specifically for the show.
Episode Recap
Mother Brain hatches her latest scheme to take over Videoland, and sends Eggplant Wizard and King Hippo to the Palace of Power to steal Kevin's memories with a special device created by Dr. Wily. When they return to Metroid with the recorded memories, Wily inputs them into an android he had already begun creating in order to make a bigger, badder version of Captain N.
Mother Brain contacts the N Team at the Palace of Power, and tells them that Kevin is no longer the most powerful game master in Videoland. Then, the N Team gets a distress call from Mike Vincent, someone who bullied Kevin back in the real world, who tells Kevin that he was also sucked into Videoland through his TV and is lost in the world of Castlevania. The entire N Team warps to Castlevania to help him.
The N Team finds Mike, who reveals that he lured them to Castlevania to be ambushed by him and his "M Team" of monsters: The Count, Frankenstein, Mummy, and Wolf Man. The N Team stops the monsters, but Mike freezes the N Team in their tracks with his own power pad. Taken to another chamber within Castlevania where Mother Brain is, it is revealed to Kevin that Mike is Wily's super-powered android with Kevin's darkest memories inputted into him. Mother Brain thinks that with this, she has conquered Videoland. Mike takes charge, and against Mother Brain's wishes, challenges Kevin to a race through the world of Castlevania: the winner being the real Game Master.
Kevin and the android Mike take 2 different routes through Castlevania, battling various monsters on the way to the Count's chamber. The Count pushes Kevin out the window right before being defeated by Mike with a shot from his Zapper. Mike then walks over to Kevin, still hanging on with his fingers, to brag about winning the challenge. Kevin says that if he’s really based on Mike Vincent, he can’t be all bad. Kevin tells the Mike android about old times when they used to be friends before Mike was a bully.
Back at the chamber where the N Team is held captive, Mother Brain yells for Wily to activate the secret weapon, equipping her with two huge guns. Mike pushes Kevin out of the way and ends up getting blasted. Kevin then blasts a chandelier which falls onto a table and flips Mother Brain, Dr. Wily, King Hippo, and Eggplant Wizard out the skylight and back to Metroid. Kevin tries to comfort Mike. Mike says Kevin was right, deep down he really was a nice guy. Then he says not to worry about him because he’s just an android, and then shuts down. Simon Belmont says that he knew he could beat Mike. Kevin tells Simon that he did better than beat him, he became his friend again. The android then fades out and disappears.
Appearances
The series-exclusive characters Wombatman and Nikki debut in this episode in a cameo on the TV screen the N Team is watching. They would reappear in Season 2. Nikki’s name is neither known nor referred to until her next appearance. The Mike Vincent android is a creation by Dr. Wily. This would be its only appearance.
Not counting the Season 1 opening (in which he appears only in bat form), the Count makes his debut in this episode. He would appear throughout Season 1 as an ally of Mother Brain and once in Season 3. He is never referred to as Dracula on the show, and is only referred to as “the Count” as he is in the original Castlevania’s manual. However, in Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest, he is referred to as Dracula.
Besides the Count, the following creatures from the Castlevania series are seen in this episode:
*Blue Vampire Bats (appear in the original Castlevania only)
*Red Vampire Bats (both Castlevania I & Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest)
*Skeleton (both I and II)
*Wolf Man (II only)
*Mummy (both I and II)
*Frankenstein (I only)
*Ghost (I only)
*Fish Man (both I and II)
*Black Knight (both I and II)
Details
*The title of this episode references The Most Dangerous Game, a famous short story by Richard Connell.
*It is unknown how Dr. Wily was able to design the robot without already having Kevin’s memories. However, the android’s face was not revealed until after the device used to gather Kevin’s memories was returned and after Wily threw the switches to finalize the process. It is possible he had seen the memories and modified the face of the android to match Mike Vincent’s before the scene began.
*The “Donkey Kong Jones” movie the N Team is watching is an obvious parody of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. It may also have contained elements of the cancelled NES game, Return of Donkey Kong, since it portrayed Donkey Kong as the protagonist. According to the preview of the then-upcoming game in The Official Nintendo Player’s Guide, Donkey Kong was to be playable in the game. The scene also somewhat resembles the gameplay of a later video game, Donkey Kong 64, where Donkey Kong is on a quest for giant golden bananas.
*The “Wombatman” show the N Team is watching is an obvious reference to the Michael Keaton movie Batman, which was a popular and recent release at the time the episode first aired. Wombatman would appear again in person in Season 2.
*It is never revealed how the android Mike made use of the heart dropped by the Wolf Man that he zapped. Hearts function as ammo for the special weapons (boomerang, axe, etc. – none of which are seen in the episode) in Castlevania and as money in Castlevania II.
*The point of time within a game’s canon, or “correct story”, is never made clear as far as when Captain N episodes depicting said game worlds within Videoland take place, in relation to their respective games. Also, many game worlds that are visited in the series do not have all major story-related characters present, including the game’s protagonist. Simon Belmont is indeed present as a series regular, but it is never made clear whether he has already defeated the Count the first time (or second time, as he did in Castlevania II). The Castlevania world depicted in the series and this episode features elements and creatures from both games, but it is not revealed how many times the Count has been revived (based on only the first two games of the series having been released by the time production for Captain N began in 1989). Nor is anything said about Simon having to lift a curse by collecting the Count’s body parts and defeating him in battle again (as he did in Castlevania II, this was most likely deemed too gory for the show’s target audience). However, it is clear that there is a main central castle (like in I, but only a tiny portion of it is seen in II) and a surrounding countryside with forests, lakes, and towns with villagers (like in II).
Differences / Inconsistencies from the Actual Video Games
*The game worlds in the series are not all identified by the names they had in the actual games and their respective literature. However, the name of the world of Castlevania is actually half-right. It is the name for the castle in the game series, but the surrounding area is known as Transylvania.
*Kid Icarus (Pit) only attacks with regular, fire, or light arrows in the Kid Icarus game. In this episode and throughout the series, Kid Icarus attacks with all different types of arrows that have some sort of magic or comedic effect for whatever situation he is facing – in this case, the party arrow.
*The Fish Man (known as Merman in later Castlevania installments) that Kevin fights looks more frog-like as opposed to fish-like according to the game’s design, another example of DiC Animation’s room for creativity in character design. No frog-like enemies exist in the first two Castlevanias, though 8-bit sprites can be subject to imagination.
*The Black Knight threw a seemingly unlimited supply of lances at Kevin, and was at least one story tall. It is both impossible and unnecessary in either game to jump on lances stuck in the wall to reach higher areas in the game, as Kevin did in the scene right before reaching the Count. When Black Knights appeared in Castlevania I and II, they did not even throw their lances, and were the same general height as the games' protagonist, Simon Belmont. This representation would appear more accurate in comparison to later Castlevania games, since larger variations of black and other armored knights existed and would throw their lances.
*In neither of the first 2 U.S. Castlevanias does Dracula turn into a bat when battling Simon, as he does in this episode and in the Season 1 opening. However, later Castlevania games would have the Count (Dracula) turning into a bat. It is widely believed by Castlevania fans that Dracula indeed has this ability anyway since it is considered an inherent ability of any vampire. Also, the bat seen flying above the castle on the original Castlevania’s title screen is considered by many gamers to be the Count.
Music
Actual video game music heard in this episode is the following:
*Metroid’s title screen music (in the very beginning of the episode, and the start of the final scene with Mother Brain in Castlevania)
*The password entry screen music from Castlevania II (when the N Team first encounters android Mike in Castlevania)
*The underground music from Super Mario Bros. 2 (when Kevin is hanging out the window after being attacked by the Count)
The song played over the action sequence in which Kevin and the android Mike fight their way through Castlevania in the original version aired on NBC is a female vocalist's cover of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”. In the DVD version, this is replaced by the “Mega Move” tune. Due to copyright issues, this would happen with every non-video game song not recorded specifically for the show.
Kevin Keene is the titular main-character of the animated series Captain N: The Game Master.
In the pilot episode of the cartoon, Kevin is playing the NES when he and his dog (Duke) are sucked through their television set into Videoland, where NES games form their own worlds. In this world Kevin is endowed with his Zapper and power pad and becomes the leader of the N-Team, a group of local heroes composed of the video game characters Simon Belmont (of Castlevania), Mega Man, Kid Icarus (known in the game as "Pit"), Princess Lana, the heir to the throne of Videoland and in the show's second season, the mischievous Gameboy. His primary nemesis is Metroids Mother Brain, assisted by Dr. Wily, King Hippo, the Eggplant Wizard, and occasionally other video game villains.
Kevin is often said to be a teenager, and though his age is never specified, he is suspected to be around 15 years of age (as per a "Nintendo Power" article that previewed the series), and that in one episode, he says he doesn't have his driver's license yet. He has brown hair and dresses in a white and red jacket with an N symbol on the left side of it (for Northridge High School, in Northridge, California) over a yellow T-shirt. He usually wears blue jeans and sneakers. He is a good leader, but occasionally clashes with the extremely vain and selfish Simon. He is often said to be the romantic interest of Lana, but due to the nature of the show they are never shown to have a very conclusive relationship. This is why Simon often tries to make Lana fall in love with him, but usually ends up embarrassing himself. In the second season Simon is less awkward and has grown to accept that Kevin and Lana would be a good couple. In the comic book version of the series, Kevin, Lana, and Kid Icarus (Pit) (Mega Man and Simon don't appear in the comic book version due to copyright issues) are joined by Samus Aran, the bounty hunter heroine of the Metroid series. Samus also develops a major crush on Kevin because of his bravery and knowledge as well as saving her life and wants him to join her as a bounty hunter; much to the silent jealousy of Lana.
Powers and Abilities
Kevin's primary weapon is the Zapper, which he uses to dematerialize villainous characters. He also has a power pad (not to be confused with a Nintendo product of the same name), a device shaped like an original NES controller which gives him an array of special abilities when he presses the buttons on it. For instance, use of the D-pad allows him to move quickly sideways or jump extremely high. Pressing Select he is able to freeze everyone around him (this is actually reversed from most NES games where Start is usually used to pause the game). The overall function of the Power Pad however appears to depend on the whim of the writers.
Kevin also has an extensive knowledge of NES games which often helps him and his friends on their adventures. One game he was never able to beat is The Adventures of Bayou Billy, and thus needs Billy's help when he becomes stranded in Bayouland in one episode.
In the pilot episode of the cartoon, Kevin is playing the NES when he and his dog (Duke) are sucked through their television set into Videoland, where NES games form their own worlds. In this world Kevin is endowed with his Zapper and power pad and becomes the leader of the N-Team, a group of local heroes composed of the video game characters Simon Belmont (of Castlevania), Mega Man, Kid Icarus (known in the game as "Pit"), Princess Lana, the heir to the throne of Videoland and in the show's second season, the mischievous Gameboy. His primary nemesis is Metroids Mother Brain, assisted by Dr. Wily, King Hippo, the Eggplant Wizard, and occasionally other video game villains.
Kevin is often said to be a teenager, and though his age is never specified, he is suspected to be around 15 years of age (as per a "Nintendo Power" article that previewed the series), and that in one episode, he says he doesn't have his driver's license yet. He has brown hair and dresses in a white and red jacket with an N symbol on the left side of it (for Northridge High School, in Northridge, California) over a yellow T-shirt. He usually wears blue jeans and sneakers. He is a good leader, but occasionally clashes with the extremely vain and selfish Simon. He is often said to be the romantic interest of Lana, but due to the nature of the show they are never shown to have a very conclusive relationship. This is why Simon often tries to make Lana fall in love with him, but usually ends up embarrassing himself. In the second season Simon is less awkward and has grown to accept that Kevin and Lana would be a good couple. In the comic book version of the series, Kevin, Lana, and Kid Icarus (Pit) (Mega Man and Simon don't appear in the comic book version due to copyright issues) are joined by Samus Aran, the bounty hunter heroine of the Metroid series. Samus also develops a major crush on Kevin because of his bravery and knowledge as well as saving her life and wants him to join her as a bounty hunter; much to the silent jealousy of Lana.
Powers and Abilities
Kevin's primary weapon is the Zapper, which he uses to dematerialize villainous characters. He also has a power pad (not to be confused with a Nintendo product of the same name), a device shaped like an original NES controller which gives him an array of special abilities when he presses the buttons on it. For instance, use of the D-pad allows him to move quickly sideways or jump extremely high. Pressing Select he is able to freeze everyone around him (this is actually reversed from most NES games where Start is usually used to pause the game). The overall function of the Power Pad however appears to depend on the whim of the writers.
Kevin also has an extensive knowledge of NES games which often helps him and his friends on their adventures. One game he was never able to beat is The Adventures of Bayou Billy, and thus needs Billy's help when he becomes stranded in Bayouland in one episode.
Buckinghamshire County Council (BCC) are in the early stages of consultation on a waste management strategy, and have proposed the adoption of an Energy-from-Waste (EfW) facility of capacity around 210,000 tons per annum to manage most of Buckinghamshire's non-recyclable waste. It has been proposed by BCC that this facility might be located in Aylesbury Vale at College Road North, Aston Clinton, near Aylesbury.
Currently Buckinghamshire imports significant quantities of waste from other local authorities, including from the Greater London area. An estimated 360,000 tons per annum from the London area is disposed of in the Calvert landfill site.
Opposition
Residents in the area have formed an action group (Aylesbury Chilterns Resistance to Incinerator Development - ACRID ) to campaign against the proposals, on grounds of poor location and the concern that more of London's waste might be imported into the area for incineration.
Residents in South Bucks have also formed an action group (Buckinghamshire Residents Against Incinerators - Brains) to oppose the proposals, on the grounds that the health hazards caused by emissions are unknown, unacceptable increase in HGV traffic to and from the site, other technologies, e.g. plasma gasification, have not been examined sufficiently, and a distributed approach with smaller facilities near to sources of waste would be fairer and possibly more economic.
Currently Buckinghamshire imports significant quantities of waste from other local authorities, including from the Greater London area. An estimated 360,000 tons per annum from the London area is disposed of in the Calvert landfill site.
Opposition
Residents in the area have formed an action group (Aylesbury Chilterns Resistance to Incinerator Development - ACRID ) to campaign against the proposals, on grounds of poor location and the concern that more of London's waste might be imported into the area for incineration.
Residents in South Bucks have also formed an action group (Buckinghamshire Residents Against Incinerators - Brains) to oppose the proposals, on the grounds that the health hazards caused by emissions are unknown, unacceptable increase in HGV traffic to and from the site, other technologies, e.g. plasma gasification, have not been examined sufficiently, and a distributed approach with smaller facilities near to sources of waste would be fairer and possibly more economic.
Sensei Al Perry, AKA Big Sensei Al, AKA Master of the Reversed Ompelata™ (except in live rolling where it's not practical) started his martial arts career in 1990 training in Jui-Jitsu, Karate, Kick Boxing and Tae Kwon Do fighting. That was before the Ultimate Fighting Champions made Jiu-Jitsu the most sought after martial art in America starting in 1993. When Al started training in Jiu-Jitsu it was an obscure art with few practitioners. In 2000 Al created MMA Fighters and hasn’t looked back since. With over 12 years of combined MMA coaching and competing experience and a former US Nationals Champ on the team, there’s no loosing with M.M.A Fighters Academy. Of course, this is all pure speculation since Sensei Al has yet to date answer a single question regarding his lineage training.
Sensei Al is the most sought after BJJ Black Belt under The Gracies in Brazil™, and has often been referred to as "Brazil's best kept secret". As a result has been forced to keep the location of his school a secret to only a few special individuals. Amongst Sensei Al's elite students are the following elite warriors:
* Mecho "16 and Oh" McKinsey
* "THE DAVIS"
* Armed "with a lil penus" Psycho
* Damon "the little cocksucker" 2120
* Scott "The Polish Terror" Wachowski
Much of Sensei Al's background is shrouded in myst, many believe him to be the last real ninja, and others still insist he simply doesn't exist.
Sensei Al is the most sought after BJJ Black Belt under The Gracies in Brazil™, and has often been referred to as "Brazil's best kept secret". As a result has been forced to keep the location of his school a secret to only a few special individuals. Amongst Sensei Al's elite students are the following elite warriors:
* Mecho "16 and Oh" McKinsey
* "THE DAVIS"
* Armed "with a lil penus" Psycho
* Damon "the little cocksucker" 2120
* Scott "The Polish Terror" Wachowski
Much of Sensei Al's background is shrouded in myst, many believe him to be the last real ninja, and others still insist he simply doesn't exist.