Do the warp, do the Warp of Life
Sep. 21st, 2008 08:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vovatOkay, I might as well finish up with the first season of Captain N. We have two episodes left:
Metroid Sweet Metroid - When Mega Man somehow finds a video of King Hippo and Eggplant Wizard gathering Power Flowers for Mother Brain, the N Team takes the initiative for once, and travels to the flower world in order to destroy the villain's power source. To get there, they take the Warp Wagon, a flying vehicle that makes its first appearance in this episode, but (like King Charles) isn't actually named until the second season. After they've stopped the two goons, Eggy begs Kevin not to shoot him, because he has a wife and two kids at home. He might just be bluffing to try to get sympathy, but I think the idea that he might actually HAVE a family to be an interesting one. Maybe he needs money to support them, and Mother Brain is the only one who would hire him. Anyway, Kevin gives the villains a chance to escape, but destroys the flowers. A warp opens nearby, and it appears to lead to Kevin's old California neighborhood. You'd think he'd be suspicious right away, since I don't think any other warps have actually shown their destinations. Kevin figures he's "won the game," and is now supposed to go back home. Even though the rest of the team (even Simon, who always viewed Kevin as competition) is sad to see him go, he seems to think he has no other choice. He leaves his Power Pad and Zapper behind, and there's no indication that anyone else picks them up, yet they appear on the Palace of Power's world at the end of the episode. Plot hole, anyone? Speaking of which, Kevin eventually realizes something is up, because the trees in what he thought was California are made of metal, and he and Duke "didn't even change back to normal." Is he talking about the change from live action to animation that occurs in the first episode? If so, wouldn't he have noticed that earlier? And if not, what change IS he talking about? He goes on to find out that he's really on Metroid, and the whole thing was a setup by Mother Brain. It's a very elaborate scheme that seems to have too many variables (What if the N Team didn't see the video, or didn't believe Hippo and Eggy? What if Kevin didn't go through the warp, or took his power items through with him?), but it works, at least temporarily. Mother Brain traps Kevin in the corridors of Metroid, and she and her minions go on to conquer Videoland. Hippo takes some other boxers with him to Mount Icarus, where Kid Icarus is celebrating with his rather large family, and renames the world "Mount Hippocus." Hey, wasn't it just "Mount Mother Brain" earlier in the season? These constant changes of name and government must be pretty tedious for the citizens. Eggy and some other vegetable people invade Castlevania, where Simon is being interviewed by the local news media. Wait, isn't that world supposed to still be in the late seventeenth century? Well, maybe after the confederation of worlds was established, they got some new technology through trade with other worlds. Dr. Wily, not wanting to mess with tradition, attacks Megaland with some robots. Soon, Mother Brain has the entire team captured, and is ready to try them in a kangaroo court with herself as judge, jury, and executioner. When she calls the court to order, Eggy replies, "I'll have an eggplant sandwich, hold the pickles." Ha, now THERE'S a clever joke! Wait, wouldn't his eating an eggplant sandwich be cannibalism?
Meanwhile, Kevin takes advantage of the fact that, as long as you're still alive, there's a way to get out of any situation in a video game. Well, maybe that's not entirely true. I remember my brother once getting trapped under some mushroom blocks in Super Mario Bros. 2, and having to reset the game. It's a good thing Mother Brain didn't find out about that. But Kevin uses the power-ups scattered around Metroid, and fights his way to Mother Brain's chamber. It's deserted, and the brain has left her keys, complete with rabbit's foot keychain, in the ignition. I'll admit that I actually find that amusing. Kevin drives Metroid to the palace's world, where the N Team has just been sentenced to the Black Hole Warp Zone, and threatens to sever the nerves that bind Mother Brain to Metroid unless she gives up and frees her prisoners. She tries to call his bluff, which is a little weird. I mean, earlier in the episode, he'd been perfectly willing to totally destroy what he thought was her only power source, so why would he back off now? Anyway, Mother Brain and her minions return to Metroid, and the status quo is restored. You might think that, with that kind of control over Mother Brain (Metroid is, after all, her nerve control center), he'd force her into unconditional surrender, but maybe he doesn't want to push his luck. Anyway, for all the plot holes in this episode, I still thought it had a pretty clever story.
Happy Birthday Megaman - I doubt it's a coincidence that the two worst episodes of the first season are focused around a character being upset because he's different. This time, Mega Man suddenly wants to be human, although we'd never heard of this desire before. It's not like he bothered wishing for that when he had control of the Power Genie, for instance. But this episode shows him as determined, and when he finds a map to the Warp of Life, he sets out to find it, with the N Team and Dr. Light in tow. Following this party is Light's newest creation, Mega Girl. My initial thought was that she was the show's equivalent of Roll, but I don't know that the writers would have heard of her until Mega Man 3, which had not yet been released. First, the team visits a tiny, bug-like wizard. On their way to his castle, Kevin says, "I wonder if it's the same wizard that Dorothy and Toto met in the Land of Oz," and in response to Mega Man's question about where Oz is, states that it's "in a fantasy land called Hollywood." And if you don't think this made me interested in writing a Captain N/Oz crossover (using the Oz of the books, of course), but that I never actually did, then you don't know me very well. I also have a Super Mario Bros./Oz crossover planned out, although I'm too embarrassed to actually write any of it. Getting back to the episode, the wizard tells Mega Man that there are three challenges he'll have to face, the first one being in the Pleasure Zone. No, that's not a strip club, but essentially a perpetual carnival run by a really ugly clown with a fake arm on top of his head. Or maybe it's a real third arm. It's hard to tell in Videoland. With Mega Girl's help, Mega Man eventually realizes that escaping from the Pleasure Zone is one of the challenges, but not until after the team has spent three weeks there. Considering that Mother Brain seems to attack the palace every other day, you'd think they would return to find the place in chaos, but they apparently don't. Actually, we never see them return there, but the next episode certainly doesn't suggest that anything much happened while they were gone. Anyway, the next challenge is to cross the Uncrossable Sea (wasn't that a song from Man of La Mancha?), which they do in Dr. Light's inflatable ship. The third challenge is to save Mega Girl from a warp whale (apparently all you have to do to make something sound Videoland-appropriate is to put "warp," "power," or "video" in front of it), but the others try to talk him into making the wrong decision. He succeeds, though, and the others reveal that they "were playing along with the Warp of Life the whole time," and that Mega Girl has already been through it. Kind of a hokey ending, I'd say, but Mega Man does succeed in his quest. His being alive never comes up in later episodes, though, and he still has robotic powers. Also, Mega Girl never shows up again. Even the writers presumably forgot about this episode, so maybe we should as well.
I haven't re-watched any of Season 2 yet, but I'll probably do so pretty soon. Maybe I should hold off for a little while, though, so as not to flood your friends pages with these reviews. Any opinions on the matter?
Metroid Sweet Metroid - When Mega Man somehow finds a video of King Hippo and Eggplant Wizard gathering Power Flowers for Mother Brain, the N Team takes the initiative for once, and travels to the flower world in order to destroy the villain's power source. To get there, they take the Warp Wagon, a flying vehicle that makes its first appearance in this episode, but (like King Charles) isn't actually named until the second season. After they've stopped the two goons, Eggy begs Kevin not to shoot him, because he has a wife and two kids at home. He might just be bluffing to try to get sympathy, but I think the idea that he might actually HAVE a family to be an interesting one. Maybe he needs money to support them, and Mother Brain is the only one who would hire him. Anyway, Kevin gives the villains a chance to escape, but destroys the flowers. A warp opens nearby, and it appears to lead to Kevin's old California neighborhood. You'd think he'd be suspicious right away, since I don't think any other warps have actually shown their destinations. Kevin figures he's "won the game," and is now supposed to go back home. Even though the rest of the team (even Simon, who always viewed Kevin as competition) is sad to see him go, he seems to think he has no other choice. He leaves his Power Pad and Zapper behind, and there's no indication that anyone else picks them up, yet they appear on the Palace of Power's world at the end of the episode. Plot hole, anyone? Speaking of which, Kevin eventually realizes something is up, because the trees in what he thought was California are made of metal, and he and Duke "didn't even change back to normal." Is he talking about the change from live action to animation that occurs in the first episode? If so, wouldn't he have noticed that earlier? And if not, what change IS he talking about? He goes on to find out that he's really on Metroid, and the whole thing was a setup by Mother Brain. It's a very elaborate scheme that seems to have too many variables (What if the N Team didn't see the video, or didn't believe Hippo and Eggy? What if Kevin didn't go through the warp, or took his power items through with him?), but it works, at least temporarily. Mother Brain traps Kevin in the corridors of Metroid, and she and her minions go on to conquer Videoland. Hippo takes some other boxers with him to Mount Icarus, where Kid Icarus is celebrating with his rather large family, and renames the world "Mount Hippocus." Hey, wasn't it just "Mount Mother Brain" earlier in the season? These constant changes of name and government must be pretty tedious for the citizens. Eggy and some other vegetable people invade Castlevania, where Simon is being interviewed by the local news media. Wait, isn't that world supposed to still be in the late seventeenth century? Well, maybe after the confederation of worlds was established, they got some new technology through trade with other worlds. Dr. Wily, not wanting to mess with tradition, attacks Megaland with some robots. Soon, Mother Brain has the entire team captured, and is ready to try them in a kangaroo court with herself as judge, jury, and executioner. When she calls the court to order, Eggy replies, "I'll have an eggplant sandwich, hold the pickles." Ha, now THERE'S a clever joke! Wait, wouldn't his eating an eggplant sandwich be cannibalism?
Meanwhile, Kevin takes advantage of the fact that, as long as you're still alive, there's a way to get out of any situation in a video game. Well, maybe that's not entirely true. I remember my brother once getting trapped under some mushroom blocks in Super Mario Bros. 2, and having to reset the game. It's a good thing Mother Brain didn't find out about that. But Kevin uses the power-ups scattered around Metroid, and fights his way to Mother Brain's chamber. It's deserted, and the brain has left her keys, complete with rabbit's foot keychain, in the ignition. I'll admit that I actually find that amusing. Kevin drives Metroid to the palace's world, where the N Team has just been sentenced to the Black Hole Warp Zone, and threatens to sever the nerves that bind Mother Brain to Metroid unless she gives up and frees her prisoners. She tries to call his bluff, which is a little weird. I mean, earlier in the episode, he'd been perfectly willing to totally destroy what he thought was her only power source, so why would he back off now? Anyway, Mother Brain and her minions return to Metroid, and the status quo is restored. You might think that, with that kind of control over Mother Brain (Metroid is, after all, her nerve control center), he'd force her into unconditional surrender, but maybe he doesn't want to push his luck. Anyway, for all the plot holes in this episode, I still thought it had a pretty clever story.
Happy Birthday Megaman - I doubt it's a coincidence that the two worst episodes of the first season are focused around a character being upset because he's different. This time, Mega Man suddenly wants to be human, although we'd never heard of this desire before. It's not like he bothered wishing for that when he had control of the Power Genie, for instance. But this episode shows him as determined, and when he finds a map to the Warp of Life, he sets out to find it, with the N Team and Dr. Light in tow. Following this party is Light's newest creation, Mega Girl. My initial thought was that she was the show's equivalent of Roll, but I don't know that the writers would have heard of her until Mega Man 3, which had not yet been released. First, the team visits a tiny, bug-like wizard. On their way to his castle, Kevin says, "I wonder if it's the same wizard that Dorothy and Toto met in the Land of Oz," and in response to Mega Man's question about where Oz is, states that it's "in a fantasy land called Hollywood." And if you don't think this made me interested in writing a Captain N/Oz crossover (using the Oz of the books, of course), but that I never actually did, then you don't know me very well. I also have a Super Mario Bros./Oz crossover planned out, although I'm too embarrassed to actually write any of it. Getting back to the episode, the wizard tells Mega Man that there are three challenges he'll have to face, the first one being in the Pleasure Zone. No, that's not a strip club, but essentially a perpetual carnival run by a really ugly clown with a fake arm on top of his head. Or maybe it's a real third arm. It's hard to tell in Videoland. With Mega Girl's help, Mega Man eventually realizes that escaping from the Pleasure Zone is one of the challenges, but not until after the team has spent three weeks there. Considering that Mother Brain seems to attack the palace every other day, you'd think they would return to find the place in chaos, but they apparently don't. Actually, we never see them return there, but the next episode certainly doesn't suggest that anything much happened while they were gone. Anyway, the next challenge is to cross the Uncrossable Sea (wasn't that a song from Man of La Mancha?), which they do in Dr. Light's inflatable ship. The third challenge is to save Mega Girl from a warp whale (apparently all you have to do to make something sound Videoland-appropriate is to put "warp," "power," or "video" in front of it), but the others try to talk him into making the wrong decision. He succeeds, though, and the others reveal that they "were playing along with the Warp of Life the whole time," and that Mega Girl has already been through it. Kind of a hokey ending, I'd say, but Mega Man does succeed in his quest. His being alive never comes up in later episodes, though, and he still has robotic powers. Also, Mega Girl never shows up again. Even the writers presumably forgot about this episode, so maybe we should as well.
I haven't re-watched any of Season 2 yet, but I'll probably do so pretty soon. Maybe I should hold off for a little while, though, so as not to flood your friends pages with these reviews. Any opinions on the matter?
