Nickelodeon Games and Sports: All-Star Collection

In the late-80s and early-90s, Nickelodeon was a growing entity. Bolstered by the likes of Doug, Ren and Stimpy, and Rugrats, among other shows, Nick became a viable competitor in the world of children's and teenage programming. In Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida stood Nickelodeon Studios, the place where a number of shows were shot including the shows on this disc.This is basically a sampler. None of the shows included on this set have any type of home video release as of this date (May 2015). To make this review short and sweet, you have any interest whatsoever in getting season sets of Legends of the Hidden Temple or Guts or any of the other shows on this set, buy this release now. For $10, you get an excellent sample of episodes from six different shows. This is the best way by which you as a consumer can tell Amazon and Nick that there is a market for these products, and along the way, you get something fun to pop in and watch.PACKAGINGThe DVD comes in a standard single disc case. The sleeve inside is bright and vibrant. The back of the case has a listing of all the episodes and shows on the disc, which other reviews have referenced. The disc itself looks nice and has a similar design as the outer packaging. The DVD is a standard DVD-R with a purple back.DVD MENUThe menu is basic but effective. These Nickelodeon MOD sets are somewhat bare-bones, but that's okay. Each episode is clearly shown on the menu and there is a play all feature. Using both the play all feature and the episode selection options, everything worked without issue. There is no background music.VIDEO QUALITYThese shows were not shot in the digital age, and it shows. The video quality is about the best that can be expected from these, but at the same time, they look just a little better than a VHS transfer. That said, there's nothing inherently wrong with the video quality. Everything looks good and the original 4:3 aspect ratio is retained. The Gak is as green as it ever was in 1990.AUDIO QUALITYThe sound on this disc is stereo. For my viewing, when I had it channeled through my 5.0 surround system, the rear channels had echoing that sort of made it sound like you were sitting in the audience listening to everything over a PA system. Changing the output to omit the rear channels, the sound was much more reminiscent of the original broadcast. Everything sounded excellent, from the opening themes to the music supporting Legends of the Hidden Temple's various events.CONTENTAs others have noted, there are 8 episodes spanning six unique shows on this set:2 Legends of the Hidden Temple1 Figure it Out2 Guts1 Family Double Dare1 Super Sloppy Double Dare1 Nick ArcadeI'm not really sure what makes this an "All-Star Collection." There isn't much unique about most of the episodes, though the Nick Arcade episode does feature a young "Joseph," who would grow up in a few years to become one of the 5 members of the popular boy band N'Sync. The Legends of the Hidden Temple episodes have 1 in which the team wins and 1 where the team loses at the end, so this is not necessarily a depiction of the best of the best. All the same, that is not a criticism of the episode selection. All of the episodes on this disc are nostalgic fun for adults who grew up with them, and kids will be able to enjoy and appreciate it too.SUMMARYIn a lot of ways, this is not the release I always wanted. I've been dying for a full series release of Legends of the Hidden Temple and some of the other shows on this set for years. This is sort of a Walmart "Best of" release for impulse buys. That said, as I noted at the outset, this is a no-brainer if you want to see full releases of these shows. Frankly all of the episodes on this set are enjoyable to a degree, and even if you buy it solely because it happens to include one or two episodes of an old favorite, you can watch the other episodes and probably be entertained for a couple of hours anyway.For now, I recommend this set wholeheartedly. If you're a fan of any of these shows, it's fun to rewatch them. If you're looking for a nice sample of early Nickelodeon, this is a good set to satisfy that as well. It could lead to season sets, which would be great for fans, so for the time being, this release should be supported.

I'm not a huge Nickelodeon fan, but I did like a few of its shows (these game shows, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Power Rangers Megaforce, and Rocko's Modern Life). The game shows were the real treat as they were all original and added some much needed excitement after school. This DVD has 8 episodes from the six shows (well one of each save for Guts and Legends of the Hidden Temple which have two and for good reason). Here are the episodes:Legends of the Hidden Temple -The Golden Cricket Cage of Khan and the Jewel Encrusted Egg of Catherine the GreatMy personal favorite of them all and I'm glad they did 2 instead of one. My favorite team was the Blue Barracudas, but I didn't really care who made it to the temple. The problem here is, why did they choose the episode with the most embarrassing temple run in the history of the show (the Cricket Cage episode)? I'll never figure that one out, I could have had my very first episode (and favorite!), The Lucky Pillow of Annie Taylor, which had the luckiest temple run ever. Oh well, at least the second episode makes up for that loss since it's a victory and maybe they wanted to show a loss.GUTSAJ "Mean" Mclean/Amanda "The Accelerator/Jaime "The Jackal""Nervy" Nikki/Tony "The Tiger"/Robert "The Bull"My second favorite game show, like a kids Olympic competition with plenty of events! The first episode features future Backstreet Boy AJ Mclean, doing the best he can (I won't reveal the outcome). The second was a good one too, though I would have liked it if it was one from the Global season where there were players from 8 different countries (USA, Israel, Mexico, Portugal, UK, Germany, Spain, and the former Commonwealth of Independent States).Nick ArcadeThis would be my third favorite since it involves video games, features future N*SYNC member Joey Fatone as a contestant.Family Double DareKandy Kanes vs HoldersSame silly, sloppy fun as it was two decades ago with all sorts of wacky gamesSuper Sloppy Double DareMore of the same, but I think I prefer the Family version better...Figure it Out Family StyleFeaturing Kenan of Kenan and Kel in a Family Feud style game. I didn't fully appreciate this one as the other ones though...One of the cool things about this package is they included the prizes for the contestants who didn't get far (even though those products are dated). Overall, this is a good purchase for those who grew up in the 90's with these game shows. Perhaps we'll see more of these in the future...