''Captain Planet and the Planeteers'' is a

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

released for various platforms in the early 1990s, loosely based on the

environmentalist An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...

animated series '' Captain Planet and the Planeteers'' and developed by Mindscape Inc. Three versions were developed to suit three different platform capabilities, each with markedly different gameplay. The

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and significantly improved graphi ...

and

Atari ST The Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the Atari 8-bit family. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985 and was widely available in July. It was the first pers ...

versions were released in late 1991, and the

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as t ...

, Amstrad CPC,

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in America ...

, and

Sega Mega Drive The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Syst ...

versions were released in 1992.

Gameplay

NES version

The NES version has five levels, each of which are divided into two different types of stages. The first involves controlling the international teen heroes, the Planeteers, flying their Eco-Jet to an enemy fortress, while avoiding instant death by touching any of the scenery, projectiles, or birds. The second stage involves controlling

Captain Planet ''Captain Planet and the Planeteers'' is an American animated environmentalist superhero television series created by Barbara Pyle and Ted Turner and developed by Pyle, Nicholas Boxer, Thom Beers, Andy Heyward, Robby London, Bob Forward and Cas ...

, fighting toward an ecovillain from the TV series. The NES version's levels are set in the

Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowston ...

, the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, and

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

Amiga/Atari ST version

The Amiga/Atari version has five stages, one for each Planeteer, and a final stage controlling Captain Planet. Each Planeteer stage has at least one objective, and some have two: to clean up pollution using the Planeteer's magic ring power, or to rescue a particular type of animal using a Planeteer vehicle. Completing the objectives opens the exit gate for the level; touching environmental hazards or the unusual monsters costs a life, failing the objective by killing any of the animals will crack the Planeteer's ring depicted at the bottom of the screen (in the Amiga version), opening the level's exit gate early. The final level allows the player to control Captain Planet, who must be navigated to the end of the stage by using and swapping powers held in bubbles throughout the level. He has an ecovillan

boss fight In video games, a boss is a significant computer-controlled opponent. A fight with a boss character is commonly referred to as a boss battle or boss fight. Bosses are generally far stronger than other opponents the player has faced up to that ...

, with either Hoggish Greedly, Dr. Blight and her computer MAL, Looten Plunder and his assistant Argos Bleak, or Duke Nukem.

Reception

The computer magazine ''

Crash Crash or CRASH may refer to: Common meanings * Collision, an impact between two or more objects * Crash (computing), a condition where a program ceases to respond * Cardiac arrest, a medical condition in which the heart stops beating * Couch su ...

'' rated the game 88 out of 100. '' Sega Pro'' gave the game a mixed review, rating it 59 out of 100 and describing it as "dull and repetitive".

References

{{reflist 1991 video games Amiga games Amstrad CPC games Captain Planet Nintendo Entertainment System games Platform games Video games based on animated television series Video games based on Hanna-Barbera series and characters ZX Spectrum games Superhero video games Video games set in Africa Video games set in the United States Video games set in Antarctica Fictional works set in the Atlantic Ocean Video games developed in Canada Single-player video games Environmental mass media Mindscape games