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The Big Game
Season 2, Episode 5
Gm
Air date October 20, 1990
Written by Dennis O'Flaherty
Episode guide
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"The Big Game" is a Season 2 episode of Captain N: The Game Master. It is the fifth episode of the season and the eighteenth episode of the series.

The episode was written by Dennis O'Flaherty.

Plot summary[]

Dr. Wily discovers a mysterious new form of "competition energy" which he can use to power a device that will trap the N Team in the Earthquake Warp Zone. To gain energy for his machine, the Power Vacuum, Wily transports people from Kevin's school on Earth to Videoland - and challenges them to a football game, with the winner taking the throne of Videoland. Suspecting not all is right, Lana sets out to see what Wily is really up to.

Character appearances[]

(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)

N Team Forces of Chaos Others

Trivia[]

  • This episode is based on both California Games and Mega Man 2.
  • The music that plays when the Valley Girl robot speaks is the theme from Paperboy.
  • Mega Man's jersey has the number "3" on it. Could reflect his age in the series? 
  • The Valley Girl Robot and Stacey are voiced by Venus Terzo, Princess Lana's voice actress. 
  • Various foes and the Robot Masters from Mega Man 2 appear in this episode. The only Robot Master who doesn't make an appearance is Flash Man, who was also absent from the Ruby-Spears Mega Man cartoon.
  • When Kid Icarus and Kevin are on the skateboard ramp, Kid soars into the sky; his shadow looks similar to a falcon.
  • This episode firmly establishes that Kevin is from California, although it was hinted at in Season 1's "Three Men and a Dragon."
  • Kevin's hometown technically is never established as Northridge, California, only that he went to Northridge High School in California. However, in comic book continuity, "Welcome to Videoland" explicitly references the city (which is more a suburb of Los Angeles).
  • There is no Northridge High School in Northridge, California. There is a Northridge Academy High School. It was opened on September 9, 2004, the fifteenth anniversary of Captain N.
  • This is the third episode where The Forces of Chaos serve as the main villains, but Mother Brain isn't the primary threat, as well as the second episode where Dr. Wily is the main antagonist.

Errors[]

Animation[]

  • When the N Team is sitting on the couch, there's an animation error that results in there being two Lanas and two Simons on the couch!
  • On the high school, the name of the school alternates between being one word (Northridge) and two words (North Ridge).
  • The Mega Man 2 Robot Masters look very little like their game counterparts (but what else is new?).

Continuity[]

  • Lana claims they asked for the best from Earth to be Game Master. They didn't really ask for anyone; the Ultimate Warp Zone chose Kevin. They had nothing to do with it.
  • Lana also claims that everyone who comes to Videoland forgets being there when they go back. This clashes with their conversation in "How's Bayou," which implies she and he could go back to Earth if they wanted.

Logic[]

  • How does this whole "winning tickets through the television" thing work? If they can receive live voice feeds through every living room in Videoland, surely they would be bombarded by everyone's voice shouting out potential answers.
    • Of course, this could strictly be a Dr. Wily thing, and not necessarily something widespread across Videoland...but if that's the case the N Team should have been more suspicious.
  • When he's on the skate track Mega Man wears a helmet even though he never actually takes his regular helmet off.
  • Rick says they were coming out of the gym for Saturday football practice when they were brought to Videoland. However, both the school and the football field were brought to Videoland, so where's the rest of the football team? And where's the coach? And any teachers or administrators that might be working on a Saturday?

Video game and cultural references[]

  • Lana mentions California.
  • Mega Man attempts to talk in Valley speak.
  • Kevin mentions the San Fernando Valley.
  • Kevin and Lana skateboard.
  • The N Team visits the world of California Games.
  • Several enemies and Robot Masters from Mega Man 2 appear.

Music[]

  • an instrumental version of "Louie Louie" (when the N Team first arrives on California Games); it was also used on the title screen in the NES game
  • "Having a Ball" - possibly a parody of "Rock This Town" by The Stray Cats

Variants and alterations[]

  • When airing on The Family Channel, an extra commercial break was inserted right before the opening kick-off, resulting in the "Having a Ball" song fading in from silence instead of just starting. This is the version that's present on the DVD set.

External Links[]

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