Video Power

OK, so after posting about the Konami Code early I started getting all nostalgic about the original Nintendo. All the great games, the conveinence of only two buttons, and who could forget all the merchandise and video game spin-off shows. There was one show, in my opinion that ruled them all, Video Power. I used to watch this all the time before school and day dream about running thru the video game maze and how I would dominate the shit out of it and grab every game I could. Looking back on it now though it was kind of a strange show. The whole thing looks like it was shot in a public access studio in Canada. The kind of set that shared space with an afternoon cooking show called "Grits with Grandma" or some shit like that. Video Power shot in the morning and then the set cleared for the cooking show. The young host, Johhny Arcade, seems like he blew a few rails with his morning coffee and I'm pretty sure I've seen the guy doing the play-by-play in an old '80s porn movie.
Either way it was one of my favorite shows to watch back in the day. In the first season it was geared more towards promoting new games, different strategies and who could forget The Power Team. A cartoon that featured characters from popular NES games at the time:

Max Force - a policeman from NARC
Kuros - the knight from Wizards and Warriors
Tyrone - a basketball player from Arch Rivals
Kwirk - a tomato from the game of the same name
Bigfoot - a monster truck that had its own video game.
The main enemy of each episode was mostly Mr. Big and his thugs, Joe and Spike, from NARC.

The 2nd season was more of a game show atmosphere. Johnny Arcade would go in to the crowd and find 4 kids to ask questions about Nintendo games that he would answer on the spot. Those 4 kids were then picked as contestants to compete in the video game round(gaming head to head)then the quiz round and after that the two remaining contestants faced off again in another head to head gaming round. The over all winner would move on and get the greatest prize of them all, a chance to run thru the game maze!! The kid had 41 seconds to grab as many games and stick them to their velcro vest before time expired. If they were lucky they could find the "secret game" which unlocked a treasure trove of more games and sometimes new consoles like the Neo Geo. Ha! Remember that piece of shit system! The show ran from 1990-1992 and will forever live in the hearts of the NES generation.