FEEL THE POWER - CAPTAIN POWER! Join the boys for a review & DEMO of Captain Power on ARG PRESENTS 298!

·56 min·5 clips

Why did the hosts demand you break your volume knob before reviewing the obscure 1987 interactive show Captain Power?

The episode begins with high-energy enthusiasm as hosts Amigo Aaron and Brent introduce their review of Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, a 1987 interactive TV show and toy line. They first contextualize the show by listing Saturday morning cartoon competitors from 1987 like The Real Ghostbusters, Smurfs, and Pee-Wee's Playhouse. The hosts then describe Captain Power as a live-action, half-hour show with 22 episodes, created by Gary Goddard and co-created by Tony Christopher, both known for amusement park dark rides. They explain the show's interactive element: a jet toy called the PowerJet XT-7 that used photo-sensor technology to let viewers shoot at red targets on screen during brief action sequences. A live demonstration shows the toy in action, with its cockpit ejecting dramatically. The hosts delve into the show's plot, a dark sci-fi narrative where machines led by Lord Dredd digitize humans to feed a supercomputer called Mastermind, subjecting them to eternal torture. They note the involvement of writer J. Michael Straczynski, linking the show's tone and characters to Babylon 5. The review critiques the gameplay as poorly integrated, with only 1-2 minutes of shootable content per episode and unreliable technology. The hosts discuss the show's cancellation, attributing it to a 15,000-strong parental activist campaign against children shooting at TVs. They also mention a 1988 DOS/Commodore 64 video game adaptation that was panned. The episode concludes with announcements: a special 300th episode is planned, and next week's Retro Rotation will feature Sid Meier's Pirates on the Atari ST.

As heard by us

A warm, slightly wandering look at Captain Power, its toy line, and the game tied to its kids-TV world.

ARG Presents revisits Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future with an affectionate focus on the kids-TV series, the game connected to it, and the hardware that made the whole thing feel unusually tangible.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

Press play when Captain Power, Saturday morning sci-fi, toys, and game hardware sound like an excellent use of your afternoon.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from ARG Presents