DVD Review - Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors Volume 1

Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors Volume 1 is another DVD that I won in a recent giveaway. I didn't recognize the name or the cover art. It wasn't until I played the first episode that I finally, more like vaguely, remembered the show, as I was a four-year-old when it aired on television. Actually, I don't recall much about the show, but I do the toys, which were released by Mattel before the show was created. Mattel needed a way to explain the strange looking silver vehicles and the even stranger looking organic/machine vehicles, thus Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors was created. Talented writes such as Larry DiTillio, Barbara Hambly and J. Michael Straczynski, creator of Babylon 5, wrote most the episodes.

Here is the series main plot: Audric, a botanist, was experimenting with biotechnology, and developed a crop that could grow in any environment.  A burst of radiation from a solar flare mutated one of his crops, transforming it an evil creature called Saw Boss. The other plants transformed as well and were called the Monster Minds. Audric created a magic root to destroy Saw Boss, but time was not on his side as his laboratory is being attacked. He splits the magical root in half and gives the other half of it to his faithful servant, Oon. He commands Oon to take the root to his son, Jayce, and serve under his command.

Oon (a magically animated suit of armor servant) finds Jacye along with Gillian (a wizard/scientist), and Flora, who was created from a flower by Audric. With the help of a Han Solo ripoff character, Herc Stormsailor - a pilot and  mercenary, they become known as the Lightning League. They use their ground vehicles to battle the Monster Minds vehicles, that are grown from vines. The Lightning League travels to planet to planet by the Pride of the Skies II, Herc's space barge, as Jayce searches for his missing father.

Volume One contains the following 32 episodes on 3 DVDs.

Disc 1

1. Escape from the Garden
2. The Vase of Xiang
3. Steel Against Shadow
4. Silver Crusaders
5. Ghostship
6. Flora, Flora and the Monster Minds
7. Fire and Ice
8. Space Outlaws
9. Future of the Future
10. Underwater

Disc 2

1.  Frostworld
2. Critical Mass
3. The Purple Tome
4. Hook, Line, and Sinker
5. Bloodstone
6. The Slaves of Adelbaren
7. The Hunt
8. Blockade Runners
9. The Sleeping Princess
10. Deadly Reunion
11. Sky Kingdom

Disc 3

1. Quest into Shadow
2. Unexpected Trouble
3. Bounty Hunters
4. Double Deception
5. Gate World
6. Space Thief
7. Moon Magic
8. Affair of Honor
9. Doom Flower
10. The Stallions of Sandeen
11. Brain Trust 

Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors definitely has that 80s feel to it, along with the catchy pop rock theme song. Obviously, the show had one purpose - sell the toy line. The talented writers took a silly premise and did what they could with it, giving us an original science fiction cartoon. Now thanks to Cookie Jar, a division of Mill Creek Entertainment, old fans can watch the series again and introduce the Lightning League to a new generation. Despite each episode being similar (searching for Jayce's father on a new planet, Saw Boss and his minions show up, and they battle it out with their vehicles. Sadly, the series never got a conclusion as it was cancelled before a movie could go into production. I enjoyed revisiting Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors, and I can't wait for Volume 2 to be released.

*There is a Bonus Episode from C.O.P.S. on Disc 1.