Captain Nintendo - Nov/Dec 1988 This issue: The origin of Captain Nintendo, the "birth" of the Mother Brain, and the beginning of...the promise Part I It was one of those sort of can't-make-up-its-mind-if-it-wants-to-be-gray- or-sunny kind of days. A day typical for Redmond, Washington; home of the headquarters for Nintendo of America, Inc. Maxwell W. Powers lumbered into the Research and Development Special Projects Department with a package that had been delivered to Data Entry by mistake. Max's best friend, Brett Randalls, put his Metroid game on pause and turned his attention to Max. "Ho, ho, ho," said Max. "I have a nice package for some little techhead who's been very good this year. It says 'Napaj Microchips. Avoid exposure to moisture and extreme temperatures.'" "All right!" exclaimed Brett. "We've been waiting for those." "So where is Tara? Have you two interfaced yet?" asked Max. "Miss Bates went out for coffee," said Brett indignantly, "and, no, but I've been trying to boot up my courage files to ask her out all day." "It's about time. You've had a huge crush on her for six months." "Hey, what are you two goldbricks doing?" called Tara as she returned. "We're just running on idle cycles. Max dropped by those special microchips we've been expecting," replied Brett, picking up his NES Advantage and resuming his game. "Oh, thanks, Max," said Tara, setting her piping hot cup of coffee next to the package of Napajese microchips. "You bet. Well, break time's over. Got to go." Max started toward the door. "Uh, Tara?" asked Brett as he turbo-fired missiles into the Mother Brain. "Yes, Brett?" Tara answered. Neither of them noticed the box of microchips had begun to glow. As its glow increased, it started to hum. "Well... uh... would you like to (gulp) go out-" Suddenly the box was beaming like a small sun; the hum swelled to a piercing whine. Tara and Brett, startled, turned toward the glow. Max, standing frozen at the door, could only manage to stare and sputter "The chips!" under his breath. Brett said nothing but stood transfixed by the incredible bright object just a few feet away. He could sense it was going to explode any second. He felt that he had only one chance to save his friends. Pushing Tara backward, Brett lunged toward the pulsating miniature star in an attempt to absorb the explosion with his own body. Just as he reached the object, it exploded violently, driving him backward and into his Control Deck, NES Advantage, and the monitor as the enchanted microchips sprayed forth like tiny darts. Most of them embedded themselves deep into Brett's skin. Others fused with the microchips on the Metroid cartridge and the monitor. Tara reached Brett first and knelt down to feel his pulse, but he was almost too hot to touch. And then she noted something else: his skin had a soft metallic feel to it. "Brett! Brett! Are you all right?!!" There was no answer. "Max, what should we do?" Tara was obviously worried. "I'll call 9-1-1," said Max and he started toward the phone. "Unhhh. C'mon, Mom. Lemme sleep just another half hour." It was Brett. He was coming to, but holding his head. "I...I feel strange. The light..." "Are you hurt?" Tara asked. "N-no, I think I'm O.K." managed Brett, trying to get his bearing, but feeling a little out of it. "My skin...I just feel very...sensitive...to the light; almost like I could control it. It doesn't hurt. I can just feel it. It's hard to explain." "But Brett!" said Max. "There's hardly any light in here!" True enough. The only light that wasn't blown out was the one given off by the monitor on which Brett had been playing Metroid. "Brett, is this supposed to be like this?" Max inquired, staring at the screen. "Blast my asteroids!!" exclaimed Brett. "No! That shouldn't be like that at all!" "What in the world? That's impossible!" cried Tara, moving closer to the screen. All three were now transfixed by the monitor, and all three knew something was definitely wrong. On the screen was the scene from Metroid, where Samus was standing on a platform, ready to fire missiles at the sinister Mother Brain. What was definitely wrong was that the Mother Brain was nowhere to be found. "It's gone!" said Brett. "The Brain is gone! What the heck is going on here? Where's my NES Advantage? Darn, I wish it was lighter in here." Suddenly the room became brighter; bright enough for above average visibility, though it was impossible for anyone to determine the source. "This is real bizarre," said Max. "Where did this light come from?" "I...I think I did it somehow," said Brett. "Hey, look at the table." "What was all this stuff?" asked Max picking up a smoldering cartridge. "Fortunately, it was mostly just blank Game Paks that hadn't been programmed yet," said Tara. "Look at this one," Brett said. "Look at all the chips that are melted into it. And check out how green and shiny the metal is." "Let's play it," said Max. "Well, all right," Brett gave in, "but don't expect anything." He then placed the still warm cartridge into the Control Deck and pushed on the Power button, but, as Brett expected, the monitor displayed only electronic snow. "Oh, well," said Max, leaving. "I'll see if I can find a broom and help you guys clean up in here." For several seconds Brett and Tara stared at the white snowy screen. Finally, Tara shook her head. "I told Max nothing would..." "Nothing is the absence of all else and therefore incapable of action," the monitor interrupted. A beautiful green gem had appeared on the screen. "Ohmanohmanohmanohman..." stammered Tara, almost in shock. "What is this thing, Brett?" "I'm not certain if..." Brett started. "I am an Electro-Organic Microchip Educative Reasoning-Active Language Device," the monitor again interrupted. "E.M.E.R.A.L.D., for short. EMERALD -the omin intelligence. My function is to absorb random information, assimilate it into a logical order, and determine reasoned conclusions. Is that impressive or what?" "Where did you come from, uh, EMERALD?" asked Brett. "Search me," the monitor answered. As near as I can surmise, I am a result of special microchips fused into this particular cartridge format. It's pretty comfy, actually." "Is this for real?" asked Tara. "I guess so," he replied. "If it is, maybe it can answer some questions." "Shoot," said EMERALD. "O.K. What happened!!!?" Brett inquired. "The explosion a few moments ago. Sensors indicate a liquid in this area, with a temperature in excess of 108 degrees, caused thermal and precipitous exchanges resulting in molecular evoluant disintegration." "You know, I kind of thought that's what happened," said Tara sarcastically. "What did that thing say, anyway?" "Yo, lady," said EMERALD. "What I said was 'Your hot cup of decaf got too close to bright boy's box, started playing jiffy pop with the chips inside, and caused a major awesome boo-boo'." "My coffee!?" Tara cried. "Oh, Brett, I'm so sorry..." "That's all right, Tara," said Brett. "I'm sure that..." "No sweat, Sherlock. Basically, the only really big things that happened are 'me', your boyfriend's suped-up powers, and one other thing." "What do you mean 'my boyfriend's suped-up powers'?" shouted Tara. "Oh, come on," said EMERALD. "Sensors show definite irregular heartbeat and brainwave patterns. You two either have an algebra test you didn't study for or you're hot for each..." "That will do, Big Mouth!!" interrupted Brett abruptly. "The lady was asking what you meant by 'suped-up powers'?" "Oh," said EMERALD. "well, excuuuuuuuuuuse mmeeeeeeee!! I thought you already knew about that part. My sensors and radar show a molecular bioneural restructuring has taken place." "In English, EMERALD," said Tara. "Got it," replied the monitor. "O.K., these really rad microchips, like, fused with our dude's central nervous system, and now he be jammin'; he be jammin'..." "Is there an 'off' switch to this thing somewhere?" Brett said, to no one in particular. "Hey, chill, Holmes! All right, all right. In a nutshell, you have the following powers: you have the ability to temporarily actualize or give 'life' to two-dimensional electronic life forms and control those life forms; you have complete control over the color spectrum, brightness and darkness, and loudness - all within a radius of fifty feet; you have control over electrical currents; and you have control over some microchip informational systems like certain computers or phones." "The abilities," EMERALD went on, "Allow you to emit the following: an electronic blast akin to a small lightning bolt, a sonic wave blast, and a spectrum ray - beams of light such as blinding white, infrared, ultraviolet, colors, X-ray, and others." "This is incredible, Tara, but EMERALD's right. I can feel it," Brett said. "Watch this." Brett then raised his hand, and the entire room was bathed in a really ugly yellow-green glow. "That's pretty good," commented EMERALD, "But it's a really ugly yellow-green glow." "Give him a break," said Tara protectively. "It's his first time." "Sorry," said EMERALD. "By the way, with your color powers you can cast the illusion that you're wearing different clothing." "You mean, like a costume or something?" asked Brett. "If that's what you want," came the reply. Brett considered this new notion for a few moments as he glanced around the room. Gathering ideas from the jump boots Samus was wearing, Brett fashioned the illusion of an impressive pair of super high tops with screaming yellow and purple designs. The matching costume was equally impressive. Even a person just inches away from him would not be able to tell the illusion from the real thing. "This is all so amazing! I feel so powerful!" said Brett. "And I can really bring video characters and objects to life?" "Temporarily," reminded EMERALD. "You'll be like a 'Captain,"' Tara christened, "of the whole Nintendo Universe." "Whoa, wait until Max gets a load of this," said Brett. "Say, where is Max anyway?" Tara asked. "Yeah, he should have been back..." started Brett. "Probabilities indicate that now would be a real good time to explain about that other thing," said EMERALD. "Other thing?" asked Tara. "That's right," said Brett to EMERALD. "You mentioned another thing that was a result of the explosion. What did you mean by that?" "Several of the microchips merged with some of the pre-programmed chips from the game you were playing and actualized one of the life forms from it. Since it was pre-programmed, it has an independent will and the motivation of its programming." "EMERALD, can you tell which life form was brought to life," asked Brett anxiously. "Easy enough to retrieve the info. The life form was the only one of its kind in the game; the thing you call the 'Mother Brain'." "Oh, this is not good," said Brett. "Correct," said EMERALD. "Information being processed has formulated that there is at least a 91.392 percent possibility that this Mother Brain has a similar capacity to actualize other characters and objects for limited periods of time. There is a 94.20833333... percent chance that this situation could be termed: 'real gnarly'." "AAAUURRRRNGGHH!!!!!!!!!!" The scream came from down the hall near the reception area. Brett, still in "costume", and Tara raced toward the direction of the commotion. They couldn't have been prepared for what they saw when they arrived. On the floor beside a broken wooden broom, lay Max. Not 15 feet away was the ominous and foreboding Mother Brain. Even more surprising was the sight just a few feet away from Max, for there, in all her royal splendor, was Zelda herself, who, except for an occasional blood-curdling scream, was as quiet as a shy mime. And finally, between Zelda and Max, with his large hairy arms raised in triumphant glory and his low gravelly laughter sounding like a '69 GTO with a broken muffler - was Ganon - big as life and twice as ugly. To be continued.............. Next Issue!!!: A clash of titanic type guys that is so big it moves out to the parking lot!; EMERALD shuts up for five minutes!; Tara swears off coffee!; Max meets a Darknut or two!; and we find out just what the heck the Mother Brain is up to. Oh, yeah, and straight from the Lost Woods will be our special guest star: Link - (Gee, this is gettin' good.) ----------- (Jan/Feb 1989) Captain Nintendo What Happened In Part I: Brett Randalls, a member of Nintendo's R&D team was accidentally endowed with special powers. The accident also brought to life the Mother Brain from "Metroid." Brett and Tara have just discovered their friend, Max, and a terrified life-size Princess Zelda at the mercy of a larger-than-life Ganon, who in turn is being enlisted by the Mother Brain in her attempt to...to...oh, you'll find out. Pass the popcorn. "Aw, man," exclaimed Brett, "not Ganon! Not Ganon!" Turning to Tara, he confided, "Tara, I don't know what to do. These are the baddest villains yet, and I'm just one guy." "Brett," replied Tara, calmly taking his hand. "I don't know too much about these new powers of yours or even what's really going on here, but I do know this: You are the captain of your fate. You have great powers that are totally unique. Look at yourself in the mirror. You are already more than 'just one guy.' You are Captain Nintendo." Brett Randalls turned to see his reflection in the tinted picture window of the reception area. He gazed at the inspiring figure in the glass, adorned with the costume he, himself, had designed. In that fleeting moment, he realized his awesome destiny. Tara was right. Brett Randalls was now Captain Nintendo. And now, Captain Nintendo was needed. Turning from the glass, he stared bravely at the terrifying spectacle before him. As he took a step toward the perilously powerful monstrosities ahead and without turning his gaze from them, Captain Nintendo remarked, "You know, this is turning into a really long day..." Concentrating, Captain Nintendo raised his arm shoulder-high and pointed his fingers at the terrifying beast in front of him. But, before Brett could fire any kind of blast, Ganon disappeared. "What!?" thought Captain. "Where'd he...Ooof!!" Something unseen had knocked Captain Nintendo several feet across the floor and onto his costumed keester. He was so shocked, he didn't even hear Tara (who by this time was trying to administer First Aid to his unconscious best pal, Max) scream his name. Though considerably dazed, he could sense that Ganon was coming toward him. Instinctively, Captain Nintendo bathed the area in different hues, hoping to change the light pattern around Ganon and make him visible. Going through the spectrum had little effect until Captain hit upon ultraviolet rays. He could just make out a huge form plodding toward him. He then increased the intensity of the rays, casting a dim silverish wash over the entire reception area. "Arroarrrggh!!" Ganon roared in pain and promptly became visible, waving his apelike arms and glaring with crazed fury. Cap wasted no time. Though weakened by the blow from Ganon, Cap focused a concentrated beam of solid silver laser light and hit the towering beast full force right between the eyes. "Arroarrrrrgggh!!! Rrrraurrgghh!!" Ganon was definitely ticked off. He put his paws to his smoldering eyes, stumbled back, and plopped to his own keester with a considerable thud. He continued to snarl and complain unintelligibly. Captain Nintendo noticed that the Mother Brain was quivering somewhat. He realized that the Mother Brain was directly controlling Ganon. "All right, you two! That will be quite enough!" Captain Nintendo looked up to see Morgana O'Faye, Nintendo's top receptionist, descending the stairway which led into the reception area. "I'm the one responsible for this area, and I won't stand for any roughhousing in here." scolded Morgana. "Take it outside where it belongs!" "Where it belongs!! That's it!" said Captain Nintendo to himself. "Sorry, Morgana," he said, redirecting his attention. "This...they...it..." "Oh, Brett! It's you!" shouted Morgana getting a closer look. She had maintained a world class crush on Brett for some time now, though she never let him suspect it. "I didn't recognize...Say, nice threads! I really like the boots, but I'd put, like, a big S on the chest; or a bat. And over here I'd try one of those." "Morgana, I'd like to stay and chat, but I'm sort of in the middle of something, and you've just given me an idea." "Me? But I..." "Brett, did you injure that thing permanently?" asked Tara, still attending to Max, who was starting to come around. "I think he's only blinded temporarily," Cap answered, "which means we've got to work fast. You and Morgana stay here and help Max and Zelda. I'll be back very soon." As he turned to go, he could see that Zelda, frozen with fear, looking like a mannequin, oblivious to everything. "Hang in there, Princess," he thought. "I'm going to get you the best kind of help...from 'where it belongs'." Brett raced back to the R&D department. "EMERALD!" he shouted. "I saw. I saw." said EMERALD. "I intercepted magnetic field relays and watched the whole thing through the security camera." "Oooh, that's very good!" "Thanks." "So you know what I've got in mind?" asked Cap. "Probabilities indicate." "EMERALD, spit it out!!" "Yeah, I know." "Will it work?" "Well, if we insert random values for unknown variables not already in conjunction with constant factors..." "EMERALD!!!!" "I haven't got the foggiest idea!" "Thanks a heap," said Brett and turned to leave. "Hey, Brett," said EMERALD. "Yeah?" said Brett. "Good luck, man. Kick his tail." Moments later, Brett was upstairs in the Game Counselors area. "Anybody seen Howard?" he asked. "I think he's down in Production passing out autographs," someone said. "Dude, are those longjohns you're wearing?" another Game Counselor shouted. "Never mind," countered Brett. "Is anyone playing 'The Legend of Zelda'?" "I am," said Phillip Bland, "but I'm only on Level 4. I've got a magic sword, too, though I wouldn't even be this far if it wasn't for the other counselors." Brett hurried to Phillip's desk and stood before the monitor. He stared at the colorful screen and concentrated. Suddenly, there was a bright flash which gained the attention of the other Game Counselors. And there, standing beside Captain Nintendo, was Link. "Whoa, cool!" shouted the counselors. "Hey, Phil, what kind of controller are you using? Is that in the Player's Guide?" "Boots are killer, but the chest needs a star or..." the counselors continued. Phillip, as usual, was dumbfounded. "C'mon," said Captain Nintendo to Link. "Ganon's here. We need your help." Without a word, the heroic pair bolted off toward the reception area where they arrived to find Max, Tara, and Morgana fending off an obstinate Darknut. And to make matters worse, Ganon was beginning to recover. "The Mother Brain has just brought it here for reinforcements," shouted Tara, noticing the Captain and Link arrive. "EMERALD says she didn't have to spend any more energy controlling Ganon since he was hurt, so she managed to bring this thing here." "EMERALD?" inquired Captain. "Que pasa, Boss?" came a familiar mechanical voice from the reception desk PC. There on the screen was EMERALD, and somehow it didn't seem to surprise Brett, considering how quickly EMERALD learned what it was capable of accessing. "I don't understand any of this," said Max, hitting the Darknut square in the jaw, with no effect. "Hit him from behind!" shouted Captain Nintendo. "It's his weak spot." Max dashed behind the Darknut, raised his fists high over his head, and brought them down full force. Without a sound, it vibrated and vanished, though a faint cry emanated from the Mother Brain. Tara and Morgana sank on the stairs, sighing with relief, while Max collapsed completely near the reception desk. "Grrrrraarrrgh!!!!!" Ganon bellowed, his eyes wide and glowing red like volcanic embers. "Uh-oh. Dodongo breath's back!" EMERALD alerted. "And the Brain is pouring all her remaining energy directly into him!" As suddenly as before, Ganon disappeared. "Don't be fooled, Link," said Captain Nintendo. "He's still here, somewhere." Link wasted no time and struck out in the direction of Ganon's last location. Bingo! On the first swipe, the sword connected hard against Ganon's thick hide. Stunned, he became visible for a few moments as the Mother Brain quivered and shrieked. Brett fired another silver laser blast, but the giant vanished too quickly. "He seems to weaken when he comes into contact with something silver," said Brett. "Do you have anything of silver?" Link considered and then shook his head. "Brett," cried Morgana, "try my letter opener. It's pure silver!" Suddenly, Link fell back against a wall. The raging invisible Ganon had landed a substantial blow of his own; a blow that had knocked the wind out of Link. Captain Nintendo felt it, too, since he was directly maintaining Link's life support to this world. Out of nowhere came a pair of flying fireballs straight toward Link. With his legendary lightning-fast reflexes, he struck the fiery spheres. As the sword connected with the fireballs, Ganon again became momentarily visible and then vanished. Two more fireballs hit Link. Captain Nintendo could feel his energy draining, though Link remained standing. "He's too close to Mother Brain," said the Captain. "We've got to separate them, Link. Draw him outside while I get..." FLOOM!! Two more fireballs sped between the Captain and Link, just missing them. Link raced toward the door and outside into the parking lot, followed by another pair of fireballs, almost clipping his heels. The door then seemed to open by itself, and Ganon's distinctive odor trailed outside. He was pursuing Link. Captain Nintendo bounded to the reception desk and grabbed the silver letter opener. "Careful! It's sharp," cautioned Morgana. Cap grabbed the letter opener and charged toward the door. As he passed by the stationary Mother Brain, a drifting bubble seemed to deliberately swoop down against his shoulder, injecting a searing pain. Reflexively, Captain Nintendo turned and fired an electrical blast at the Mother Brain, but hit her pedestal instead, with no result. Jumping as high as he could, Brett fired another blast, this time directly into the Mother Brain. Though she seemed to absorb the blast, Cap could tell she had been affected. "Smoke that, witch!" He knew he'd made some progress, but there was a more pressing problem in the parking lot. Cap shot out the door, dreading the destruction he feared had already taken place. He was relieved to find that Link had thus far managed to dodge the fireballs in the unimpeded freedom of the parking lot and as yet no real damage had occurred. FLOOM!! Link, out of breath, succumbed to two more fireballs, which brought him to his knees. Captain Nintendo, too, had to steady himself as he fell to one knee from the loss of energy. They would not survive another such attack; and the both knew it. "Hit the next fireballs with your sword, Link!" shouted Cap. Link said not a word, but nodded his comprehension. A split second later, another pair of fireballs were streaming toward him. With perfect timing, Link raised his sword, divided the flaming globes, and for a third time, the savage Ganon became momentarily visible. But this time Captain Nintendo was ready. Just as Ganon began to come into view, Cap lunged toward him with the letter opener, unerringly connecting with the target. Ganon roared in incredible pain and began to flash in and out of visibility. Cap could head shrieks coming from inside the building. The Mother Brain was feeling the pain as well since she was directly supplying Ganon's life support. Suddenly, Ganon froze motionless and then evaporated as though he was being beamed away. The letter opener hung in mid-air for a second and then dropped to the ground. Captain Nintendo looked through the tinted glass and saw the diabolic Mother Brain shimmer and slowly fade from sight, leaving only a quickly dissipating black smoke behind. "Well," said Cap, turning toward Link, who by now had risen to his feet. "What is there to say but 'Thank you, my friend'." He stretched his hand to the fabled adventurer. As the heroic duo stood shaking hands, Link smiled and spoke the only words Captain Nintendo had heard him declare: "I like the boots, but on the chest I'd put..." and then Link faded back to continue his adventure in Hyrule on the Game Counselor's monitor. Inside, an anxious trio greeted Brett as he reentered the building. Cap waved them off, however, and approached the PC. "EMERALD, is the Mother Brain gone?" he asked. "Well, yes and no..." started EMERALD. "EMERALD," said a very tired Brett, "one day, I'm going to fry your ROM." "O.K., I'm hip. The Mother Brain is in a dormant suspension phase - what we would call 'hibernating' until she can store up enough mental energy to resume her plan. There's no way to determine how long she'll be gone. Might be centuries; might be just a few seconds." "What exactly is her plan?" asked Cap. "Recall her programming, Brett. The Mother Brain is programmed to attempt world domination!" "I hadda ask," groaned Captain Nintendo. "Well, with that happy thought, I must be getting back to my desk. I'm way past my break time," said Max, and promptly departed. "What a day," sighed Captain Nintendo as he returned the letter opener to Morgana. "Brett, what was it you were going to ask me just before all this began?" asked Tara. "Huh? Oh. Well, I just wondered if you'd like to go out with me? There, I said it," said Brett like a heavy burden had just been lifted. "Well, that's sweet, Brett," said Tara with a strange glint in her eye, "but I really try not to date the people I work with, you know? Thanks anyway." Tara proceeded down the hall as Brett watched after her, scratching his head. Turning, he smiled at Morgana and then lumbered outside where he searched the air with his eyes. He reflected on how his life and purpose had changed so drastically in such a short time. And then he spoke: "If you can hear me, Mother Brain, listen well: You will not succeed. For wherever there is an injustice to be rectified, a person in need of rescue, or a quest to be taken up, there also will you find the power of Nintendo... and it will always triumph. I promise." ---------------