Overview: Ring of Light, Magic Might! When a solar flare wreaks havoc on his botanical experiments, Jayce’s father is forced to flee from his accidental creations: Saw Boss and his band of ruthless mutated plant life called the Monster Minds. Now it’s up to Jayce, joined by the valiant Lightning League, to reunite with his father and combine the two halves of the magic Root amulet, the only object capable of purging the universe of Saw Boss and his army forever.

Based on the popular line of Mattel toys, and scripted by acclaimed writers such as J. Michael Straczynski ,creator of Babylon 5, the first 33 episodes of Jayce And The Wheeled Warriors finally make their way to DVD, taking nostalgic action to a whole new level!

DVD Verdict: "Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors" was one of my favorite 80s animated series. It's right up there with "ThunderCats" -- that good! But "Jayce" was rather overlooked compared to the likes of "ThunderCats", "He-Man", "She-Ra", "Voltron" and many other good animated series of that decadent decade.

"Jayce" has very good storytelling for starters: the basic premise is about a scientist named Audric (Jayce's father) who nearly succeded with ending starvation and hunger in vast star systems with the creation of genetically-engineered vegetation. Out of the blue, a cosmic explosion occurs and causes Audric's creations to wildly mutate into creatures with evil brains (called Monster Minds). Audric had to flee his laboratory with one half of a magical relic called "The Root" (Jayce somehow has the other half) that, when fused, would revert the evil creations and their machinations back to harmless vegetation.

Jayce, with the help of an old and wise wizard named Gillian, an empathic girl named Flora, and an intergalactic traveling merchant named Herc Stormsailor, sets out to search for his father before the Monster Minds take over the universe. And I can't forget Jayce's little companion, a robot squire named Oon who believes his lance is "magic" (which adds a degree of cuteness to what is otherwise dramatic and thrilling stories). "Jayce" was among J. Michael Strasyncski's ("of "Babylon 5" fame) first major efforts at sci-fi storytelling and was also co-producer of this series.

It also has great music by Shuki Levy and Haim Saban (some of the most talented musicians for animated fare), and is pretty nicely animated by DIC (the creators of "M.A.S.K.", "Inspector Gadget" and "Where On Earth is Carmen Sandiego?).

I think "Jayce" is a timeless series and is highly recommended especially if you are a fan of 80s toons, or any 80s TV program for that matter. This is a Fullscreen Presentation (1.33:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and comes with the Special Features of:

Sideshow of Concept Art for the Show
Alternate Versions of the Show's Logo - with the Show's original name, and different concepts for the main characters and villains give a welcomed look at the show's origins
2 PDF Scripts - One for the show's pilot by Haskell Barkin, and one for the series' third episode, by Straczynski