Nick Arcade

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Image:NickArcadeLogo.jpg Nick Arcade was a game show hosted by Phil Moore that aired on the Nickelodeon television network in America from 1992 to 1993 (in the first season, the shows were taped in 1991 and aired in early 1992). The show was the first to regularly intermix live action with animation using a bluescreen. Two teams of contestants played two initial rounds, with the winner advancing to play "inside a video game." The show can currently be seen on Nick GAS.

Contents

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Main Game

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Face-Off

Each round would start with a one of the following games:

  • Meteoroids: Space shooter where players move targets trying to zap the most flying targets from asteroids to ships, etc.
  • Laser Surgeon: Same as Meteoroids, but with an inside-the-body theme.
  • Post-Haste: A race type game where players control a mailman trying to dodge obstacles. Winner is the player who gets the farthest.
  • Jet Jocks: Same as Post-Haste, with players controlling jetskiers avoiding obstacles in a river.
  • Crater Rangers: Same as Post-Haste, with players controlling vehicles avoiding obstacles on the moon.
  • Brainstorm: Players dodge an impulse that bounces from side to side. The team whose side gets hit the fewest times wins.
  • Battle of the Bands: Same dodge-game as Brainstorm, with an onstage theme.
  • Star Defenders: Same dodge-game as Brainstorm, with a spaceship theme.

All of these games were developed by Psygnosis, creator of the "Lemmings" video game series.

The winner of the face-off wins points for his/her respective team. If the face-off ends in a tie, a toss-up question was asked for the points. The team would also get control of "Mikey, the Video Adventurer".

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Main Rounds

Image:Nick Arcade Mikey.jpg After the face-off, a cartoon character called "Mikey" would be navigated over a thematic game-board by the teams. (The themes included things like "The Old West" or "The Jungle".) The game-board was divided into 18 squares, and Mikey was moved around the board towards a "goal" space on the board. When new squares were landed on, various things would be uncovered, including trivia quizzes, video based puzzles, bonus instant-win prizes, and "Video Challenge" squares. The latter involved one player of the team playing one of five video games in an attempt beat a high score within 30 seconds.

The following home systems were used in the Video Challenge:

The object was to get Mikey to the Goal, as discussed below. Sometimes, the round might end prematurely due to time constraints. In such cases, a question is asked and the first team to buzz in received 50 points. Round 2 was played the same way, but with point values doubled.

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Moving Mikey

Image:MovingMikey.jpg There are seven different types of spaces Mikey could land on:

  • Pop Quiz - A question based on the area Mikey is travelling in was asked. The teams can buzz-in in the middle of reading of a question. If a team guesses correctly, they earned 25 points (50 in the 2nd round) and control of the board.
  • Prize - The team that moved Mikey won a prize and kept control.
  • Bonus Points - The team that moved Mikey was awarded 25 points (50 in the 2nd round) and kept control.
  • Video Puzzle - Different puzzles were played. The team that identified the object received 25 points (50 in the 2nd round) and control. Examples of video puzzles:
    • "Video Repairman": Identify the artist in a scrambled up music video.
    • "What Was That": A video of an object being destroyed is rewound and the object is to identify the object.
    • "Credit Crawl": Credits appear identifying a person, place or thing and the object is to identify it.
    • "Fast Forward": A sped up video clip is shown and the object is to predict the outcome.
  • Video Challenge - One of the contestants from a team chose one of five video games on stage to play. The goal was to beat the "Wizard's Challenge" ("Expert Challenge" in season 2) which is to achieve a certain score in 30 seconds or less for the game chosen. The other team member used a Magna-Doodle to wager an amount from their score on whether or not his/her partner would meet or beat the score. If they do, the wager is added to there score and the team kept control of Mikey. If not, they lost the wager and the other team gained control.
  • Enemy - An animated enemy, which changed with the setting of the game board, "attacked" Mikey, and the team that moved Mikey lost control. The Enemies included:
    • "Game Over", a bully in Mikey's Neighborhood who hits Mikey in the face with cream pies. Also appears on beaches in the later seasons.
    • "Silly the Kid", a baby armed with baby-bottle pistols in the Wild West.
    • A Witch Doctor in the jungle, who blew up a voodoo doll of Mikey and then let it fly off and deflate.
    • A Fire-Breathing Dragon in the medieval realm "Camelittle", who burned Mikey.
    • A Ghost who would scare Mikey away in haunted venues.
    • "Djinny", a genie in the Egyptian level who cast a spell on Mikey, turning him into a chicken.
    • A Hammerhead Shark, found underwater, who would flatten Mikey with his hammerhead, turning Mikey into a coin with his face on it.
    • "Blackboard the Pirate", a pirate shaped like a blackboard, usually found on pirate ships or coves.
  • Goal - The goal works in two ways. If the team that moved Mikey moved him to the Goal, they alone were asked a question based on a category chosen from a list by their opponents. If they were right, they earned 50 points (100 in the 2nd round). If they answered wrong, the opponents got half the amount. If time ran out before Mikey reached the goal, a Pop Quiz question was asked for 50 or 100 points depending on the round.
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Time Bomb

In the rare occourance that Mikey moved to a space that was already landed on, a Time Bomb would occur. The team controlling Mikey had to spell a word, alternating back and forth between team members (within a 10-second time limit). If they succeeded, they kept control. If they failed, the other team controlled Mikey. No points were awarded regardless.

The team with the most points at the end of two rounds won the game. If there is a tie at the end of both rounds, a tie-breaker question was asked worth 100 points. The winning team would advance to the Video Zone.

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"The Video Zone"

Image:Nick Arcade flying carpet game.jpg Image:NickArcadeWizards.jpg The Video Zone was a live-action video game with three levels. Using a video monitor to see themselves, the contestants would be in front of a blue screen attempting to achieve previously explained goals (which is always to get three of anything) for each level of the game.

Typical stage 1 scenarios include (but are not limited to):

  • A jungle setting where the player must climb "palm trees" to obtain three bunches of bananas sitting at the top.
  • An ancient temple where the player needs to grab three coins while trying to avoid bats.
  • A city under attack by alien UFOs, and the player needs to rescue three humans from being abducted by the UFOs.
  • A haunted mansion where the player needs to collect three books hidden inside moving bookcases while trying to avoid certain dangers such as mummies and a "Hand of Doom".

Typical stage 2 scenarios include (and again, are not limited to):

  • The player floating on a fast-moving Egyptian river with a wooden raft, where he or she must collect 3 gems.
  • The player traveling through a Wild West town and some abandoned mines on a railcar, where he or she must obtain 3 coins.
  • A river scene with the player in a rowboat; the player needs to collect 3 treasure chests while avoiding certain underwater dangers such as sea mines.
  • A flying carpet scene through an old Arabian town where the player must snatch 3 golden rings while avoiding different hazards such as snakes and genies that shoot lightning bolts.
  • An Arctic scene where the player must hit three snowball-throwing elves with their own snowballs, avoiding the mentioned snowballs, skiing foxes, and ice skating polar bears.
  • A Mayan room gauntlet where the player has to collect coins, while dodging fireballs and electrified panels.

The last level of each video game included a face-off with one of three villains that recurred throughout the games run. ("Merlock", a Gandalf-esque evil wizard; "Scorchia," a fireball throwing sorceress; and "Mongo", a spiked-armor wearing troll). To defeat them the player needs to snatch three orbs before the time expires, while trying to avoid the ghosts that fly around the level.

Obviously, in all these scenarios, the player was on a soundstage climbing ladders in front of a blue-screen.

Like a real video game, players could be "damaged" by enemy characters. If they lost all of their power (shown by an on-screen gauge,) they would have to start the stage over, and repeat its objectives until successful. Also, each level has a 'power up' that appears periodically, that - when touched - gives the player an added advantage to clearing the level, such as destroying all enemies onscreen, or refilling their health to maximum.

The team had a total of 60 seconds to clear all three levels. Each item they touched was worth $50, and each level cleared won a prize of increasing value. Successfully beating the wizard boss in the third and final level won the grand prize, usually a vacation.

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Prizes

Typical grand prizes awarded in the bonus round included trips to U.S. Space Camp, a return trip to Universal Studios Florida, bicycles and video game systems. Commodore Amiga computers were a mainstay in the show. Consolation prizes usually consisted of sneakers, supplies of candy, or video game cartridges.

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References

Nickelodeon Arcade page at Travis' Game Show Jackpot site. Retrieved on January 2, 2005.

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