I had to scratch my head a little while I was watching the new DVD release of "Captain N and the New Super Mario World." It's not that I didn't get what was going on so much, but more so that I wasn't familiar enough with the original video games to know all the characters. There was also the fact that this DVD set featured the final seasons of both shows (now combined into a single series) and I had never seen what came before. Both animated shows started as separate series and featured characters (obviously) from both Nintendo video games and stories written for the Nintendo Power Magazine. The characters for Super Mario World were based on those created in the original Donkey Kong video game and went on to greater heights with the gazillion games that have come since. I believe in some of them you can play tennis, race cars… and my guess would be that eventually Mario and Luigi will someday fight the Terminator.

There was even a feature film based on these guys starring (would you believe it) Bob Hoskins, John Leguizamo and Dennis Hopper.

Captain N was slightly different in that its stories began life in a Nintendo Magazine and never really attained the level of popularity as the two Italian plumbers. Still, both were popular enough to make the leap to Saturday morning cartoons. Neither of which I had ever seen. Here's where my son comes into the equation. He was born after the shows originally aired so he wasn't all that familiar with them either… BUT he is what we call a vidiot. He plays video games incessantly, though he does take time out to breathe, eat and sleep.

As I watched the shows with him, he was able to explain… in frightening detail… who all the characters were, what they were doing and even why they were doing it. Watching the episodes with him also made them a bit more enjoyable as my fun was affected by his. I could get into then vicariously through his excitement. While the animation style and stories were not quite up toe the standards of the old Saturday Morning Cartoons I used to watch in the 70's, they were still pretty decent. So much so that I think I'm going to search out the previous DVD releases that deliver the original separate season episodes.

Speaking of Saturday Morning Cartoons… what the heck ever happened to them. Am I so old that I can still remember the excitement of staying up on Friday night once a year to watch the previews for each new season of shows? Is it scary that I can still remember fondly the silliness of "Captain Kool and the Kongs" (or that Captain Kool was played by Michael Lembeck)???

Episodes:
Fire Sale / Misadventures in Robin Hood Woods
The Wheel Thing / Pursuit of the Magic Hoop
Send in the Clown / Return to Castlevania
Ghosts R Us / Totally Tetrasized
King Scoopa Koopa / Battle of the Baseball Know-It-Alls
The Night Before Cave Christmas / A Tale of Two Dogs
Born to Ride / The Fractured Fantasy of Captain N
Party Line / Gopher Bash
Rock TV / The Yoshi Shuffle
A Little Learning / Mama Luigi

Extras: Storyboard to Screen - Opening Title Sequence, Original Concept Art - Yoshi
Specifications: Full Screen
Studio: Shout Factory
Release Date: 11/13/2007
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website

We'll give Captain N and Super Mario World a C.