Defenders of Dynatron City

Defenders of Dynatron City is a video game released for the Nintendo Entertainment System by JVC and Lucasfilm Games (later, LucasArts) in August 1992.[1] The designer of the game was Gary Winnick.[2] This was Winnick's first project as sole designer. He was previously the co-designer of Maniac Mansion, alongside Ron Gilbert.

Defenders of Dynatron City
Cover art
Developer(s)Lucasfilm Games
Publisher(s)JVC
Designer(s)Gary Winnick
Composer(s)George Sanger, David Warhol
Platform(s)NES
Release
  • NA: July 1992
Genre(s)Action
Mode(s)Single-player

Videogame

The game centers on a team of superheroes who protect a futuristic metropolis from Dr. Mayhem and his robotic henchmen. The Defenders are:

  • Ms. Megawatt (voiced by Whoopi Goldberg in the animated special), who can generate electrical energies.
  • Jet Headstrong (voiced by Pat Fraley in the animated special), who can fire his head like a rocket.
  • Buzzsaw Girl (voiced by Candi Milo in the animated special), who has a buzzsaw blade instead of legs and feet.
  • Toolbox (voiced by David Coburn in the animated special), a robot with a smashing hammer head and a litany of useful tool options he can use in combat.
  • Monkey Kid (voiced by Brian Stokes Mitchell in the animated special), a blue monkey armed with exploding bananas.
  • Radium Dog, who can fly and has jaws strong enough to pick up cars with his mouth.

Critical response

The game won praise in its preproduction by many video game magazines for the creation of an original superhero team. However, when the game was released it was widely panned by video game critics for, among other things, having a notoriously poor hit detection that required extremely precise aim for attacks to hit enemies. [3]

TV special

The game was adapted into an animated pilot by DIC Animation City.[4][5] It featured the voices of Whoopi Goldberg and Tim Curry. Originally, Doctor Mayhem was voiced by Christopher Walken. Steve Purcell recalled, "It was lively and hilarious. For god-knows-what-reason, the producers at the last minute replaced him with a more cartooney voice."[6] Fox Kids aired this pilot as a special on February 22, 1992. It failed to be picked up as a series and was subsequently released on VHS.[7][8] No DVD or digital video release has surfaced as of yet.

Comics

Marvel Comics released six issues of a comic book adaptation, written by Steve Purcell. The first issue was released in February 1992.[9]

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References
  1. https://web.archive.org/web/20060623025112/http://www.lucasarts.com/20th/history_2.htm
  2. Smith, Rob (2008). Rogue Leaders: The Story of LucasArts.
  3. http://www.mobygames.com/game/nes/defenders-of-dynatron-city/mobyrank
  4. Lenburg, Jeff (2009). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons (3rd ed.). New York: Checkmark Books. p. 288. ISBN 978-0-8160-6600-1.
  5. http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/animation/watch/v15913870n8xzBbrm
  6. http://spudvisionblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/cartographers-cabin.html
  7. https://www.amazon.com/Defenders-Dynatron-Brian-Stokes-Mitchell/dp/6302878470
  8. Defenders of Dynatron City at AllMovie
  9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-02-13. Retrieved 2009-06-18.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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