Nick Arcade
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Nick Arcade was a game show for children that aired on the Nickelodeon television network in America from 1991 to 1993. The show was the first to regularly intermix live action with animation using a bluescreen. Contestants, in teams of two, would play two initial rounds. In these rounds a cartoon character, called "Mikey", would be navigated over a thematic game-board by the teams. (The themes included things like "The Old West" or "The Jungle".) The game-board was divided into 18 squares, and Mikey would be moved towards a "goal" space on the board. When new squares were landed on, various things would be uncovered, including trivia quizzes, video based puzzles, bonus instant-win prizes, and "Video Challenge" squares. The latter involved one player of the team playing one of five specially-designed video games in an attempt to meet a certain pre-set score within thirty seconds.
The team with the most points after two rounds would then head into a live-action video game with three rounds. Using a video monitor to see themselves, they would be in front of a blue screen attempting to achieve previously explained goals for each level of the game. A typical scenario would be a jungle setting where the player must climb "palm trees" to obtain bunches of bananas sitting at the top. (Obviously the player was on a soundstage climbing ladders in front of a blue-screen.) The third round of each video game included a face-off with one of three villains that recurred throughout the games run. ("Merlock", a Gandalf-esque evil wizard, "Scorcha," a fireball throwing sorceress, and "Mongo", a spiked-armor wearing troll).
Typical prizes on the game included trips to Space Camp, bicycles and video games systems. The show was hosted by Phil Moore.