Sonic 2 on Nick Arcade

This was something I meant to do a while ago, but never got around to it. "Sonic 2 appeared on TV show, Nick Arcade"... is what Sonic Retro and others have been saying for neigh-on 20 years. And nobody bothered to write down which episodes.

"Nickelodeon Arcade" ran for two seasons in 1992. The first was taped in November 1991 and began airing in January 1992, the second was taped in June and began airing in September 1992. Originally broadcast on Nickelodeon with repeats airing until 1997, it moved to defunct channel, "Nickelodeon Games and Sports for Kids" (GaS) where it aired a bit longer. Except that channel started as a 1-hour programming block in 1998 so maybe it was last broadcast there. Who cares - if you see GaS on the screen it means it's a repeat.

All filming occurred in the Nickelodeon Studios building at Universal Studios Florida (so you might have walked past the set while on holiday). If you want other statistics that might mean something - Nick Arcade had the largest blue screen ever built at the time, and was the only game show in 1992 to be fronted by an African American, Phil Moore. Some of the graphics were produced by Amigas, others ran on LaserDiscs.

Sonic 2 appeared in the last two episodes of season 2. Yes, two episodes. The season was broadcast at 5PM on weekdays, which means I reckon the Sonic 2 episodes did not air until late-ish September or October. Likely before the release of the game, but after more complete versions had been shown in the gaming press. Crucially, while I can't track down exactly when these episodes were made, they weren't seen by the public until after Summer CES 1992, which is where this prototype also appeared.


Here's the first episode: "Gina & Derek vs. Quincey & Robert"


at about the 6:40 mark, Gina and Derek get to choose between a bunch of games in the VIDEO CHALLENGE. Out of Super R-Type (SNES), Atomic Runner (MD), Gun-Nac (NES), Sonic 2 (MD) and Alpha Mission II (Neo Geo), Gina picks Sonic 2, which is paused in Emerald Hill/Star Light Zone. After a short fluff she proceeds to run through the level and get herself killed by one of those damned snails and fails the 25 ring challenge.

At 13:52 they return and you get to see a bit of Sonic 2 again (this is where we established there was a smaller CPZ building back in the day), but because it's been played, Derek has to settle for Alpha Mission II. Stuff happens and nobody cares.


Sonic 2 returns in the next episode - it's a Clarissa Explains it All special.


Melissa Joan Hart, better known for being Sabrina the Teenage Witch in the 90s, goes up against her parents because reasons. She is joined by co-star Jason Zimbler.

At about 6:50 they get the opportunity to play the same list of games as above. Jason goes for Gun-Nac, which is why he hasn't found much acting work since. But he does actually win.

They return around the 14:20 mark, where Melissa Joan Hart decides to play Sonic 2. She takes the upper path and gets stuck trying to go around a loop. And also fails. This means Melissa Joan Hart was one of the first people to play Sonic 2, and had her hands on the Nick Arcade prototype a full 14 years before we did. However you can sleep easy knowing that because her dad was a producer and talent scout, her acting career was likely not based on merit.

BONUS



In the unaired pilot, a prototype version of Sonic 1 appeared. A kid called Jody gets 25 rings - the footage isn't new (and aside from the "press start button" text and purple flowers, isn't very interesting), but at least now you know where it's from. A final(?) version of the game then appeared in season 1, episodes 4, 5 and 6.

 

That footage of Nick Arcade has been doing its rounds for years. In fact, truthfully all three clips probably have, but there was never much context.