Remember when the television landscape had game shows aimed at kids that actually featured kid contestants? If you do, you likely grew up during the 80s and 90s. For whatever reason, there doesn't seem to be anywhere near the number of kids game shows today, so we decided to take a look back on the best ones the 90s had to offer. +1 to Nostalgia!

Here's a little caveat before you dive into this ranked list: I'll only be covering American kids game shows that were on the air from 1990 to 1999. Sorry to our international fans who were hoping to see Knightmare, A*mazing, Get Your Own Back, 50/50, The Adventure Game, Uh-Oh!, To Me… To You… and more I don't even know about on this list; it wouldn't be fair for me to rank them since I didn't grow up with them. Feel free to let us know your favorites in the comments!

And now, before we get into the meaty part of the 15 Best 90s Kids Game Shows, let's start with a pair of Honorable Mentions.

17) Animal Planet Zooventure

J.D. Roth hosts Animal Planet's Zooventure.
Image via Animal Planet

Initial Run: 1997 - 2000

Network: Animal Planet

Host: J.D. Roth

Premise: Taped at the San Diego Zoo, four child contestants competed in a series of mental and physical challenges for a chance to win the grand prize of being zookeeper for a day.

Reason for Ranking: This one gets an Honorable Mention because it was a bit of a mess. It was an effort to teach kids about animals, their care, and rehabilitation, all while running them through some half-baked games. The game show was split into two halves, each of which were further divided into three rounds. That means that the winner of the first half had to sit around and wait for the winner of the second half just so they could square off in the final round. And since the games amounted to basic physical stunts (i.e. mixing food in a bowl...), True or False questions, and solving a word puzzle, this was about as boring a show as you could watch. Check out an example below:

 

16) Video Power

Video Power game show logo.

Initial Run: 1990 - 1992

Network: Syndicated

Host: Stivi Paskoski (aka Johnny Arcade) and co-host Terry Lee Torok

Premise: Essentially a game show that existed only to market video games to kids, this show saw four contestants compete in a variety of rounds that consisted of playing video games and answering trivia. A final prize round allowed the winner to run through a maze in a Velcro suit, sticking prizes to his or her body and helmet along the way.

Reason for Ranking: My second Honorable Mention goes to this mess because even through it pre-dated the modern video gameplay-watching audiences of Twitch, its prizes and premise were pretty weak. The animated portion of the show was often more entertaining than the live-action trivia rounds or the brief and boring video game challenges. It was, however, delightfully 90s.

Watch some examples below:

15) Fun House

Fox's Fun House game show.
Image via Fox Kids

Initial Run: 1988 - 1991

Network: Fox

Host: J.D. Roth and Cheerleader Twins Jacqueline "Jackie" and Samantha "Sammi" Forrest

Premise: Two teams comprised of a boy and a girl on each competed against each other by answering questions, playing in messy stunt games, and racing around a track. The winners got a chance to run through the final Fun House obstacle course.

Reason for Ranking: Fun House can be considered the first legit game show on this list at spot 15. Much like more popular game shows that will appear later, Fun House combined brain games with physical challenges that relied on the team members' cooperation. The object was, obviously, to win each round so your team would earn points and advance to the final prize round, but also to avoid getting slimed or garbage dumped on you. (The gunge-centric humiliation of the other team was a staple of 90s game shows.)

After surviving the stunt rounds, each team competed in a Grand Prix, ie a (sometimes) relay race with or without a vehicle in which collecting tokens of varying point value was sometimes more important than crossing the finish line first. It was as confusing and forgettable then as now, but the real fun of this show was the prize round in the Fun House itself. (Points for this final round being potentially worth more than other game shows of the same time.) Imagine that you're a kid and you've just been given free rein to run through a stranger's house, stealing thousands of dollars in cash and prizes with no consequences!

I mean, if it was good enough for Leonardo DiCaprio...

14) Think Fast!

Think Fast! game show logo.
Image via Nickelodeon

Initial Run: 1989 - 1991

Network: Nickelodeon

Host: Michael Carrington, Skip Lacey

Premise: A blue team and a gold team squared off in mental and physical challenges ranging from memory games, to mini golf, to strategy-based competitions. Each mini-game was followed by a Brain Bender round, which gave the previous mini-game's winning team a chance to solve a more challenging puzzle worth $200. Whichever team had the most money by the end of the game went on to the bonus round ... the Locker Room.

Reason for Ranking: If the name of the show's bonus round creeps you out, then you can understand why it's ranked 14th on this list. Only slightly less creepy than having teenage cheerleaders running around the set, Think Fast! had contestants run through a mock-up locker room in order to match a pair of locker doors. The trick is that each door had a puppet which would distract the player with water cannons, confetti, or any number of crazy things. While Think Fast! gains points for its variety and difficulty of its levels, it doesn't climb any higher on this list thanks to the dreaded locker room.

Watch host Carrington struggle to wrangle the games, contestants, and audience in this episode:

13) Nick or Treat!

Nick or Treat Halloween game show.
Image via Nickelodeon

Initial Run: 1992 - 1997 on Halloween

Network: Nickelodeon

Host: Fred Newman as Radar the Bat, Joey the Werewolf, a hunchback person, and Pumpky the Jack-o'-Lantern

Premise: A Halloween-themed call-in show in which the contestant is a child on the telephone who has to navigate his character around a virtual neighborhood to ring doorbells and get prizes, all within 40 seconds.

Reason for Ranking: This wasn't a regular game show, but rather a seasonal one, so it won't be ranked as high as the rest of the shows on this list. That being said, it was quite the long-running series, giving kids an extra treat to look forward to each Halloween in the mid-90s. I never got a chance to play, but man was it frustrating to watch. The kids' avatars never moved fast enough and they only ever got a chance to open three doors at most. Usually, a Nicktoons character would answer the door and just be like, "Nope! Nothing here! I'm just going to waste your time!" Even when kids did win prizes, it was usually garbage like candy or McDonald's swag, but every once in a while someone would win video game systems.

Watch a playthrough from 1995 below:

12) Make the Grade

Image via Nickelodeon

Initial Run: 1989 - 1991

Network: Nickelodeon

Host: Lew Schneider, Robb Edward Morris

Premise: Three student contestants, each situated at a desk of a different color, answered trivia questions from a 7x7 game board similar to Jeopardy! Their own game board had seven grades and seven categories, with each square lighting up when they answered an associated question correctly. The goal was to light all 14 squares or at least have the most lit squares at the end of the main game. In addition to the trivia questions, there were some physical challenges called Fire Drills. These allowed contestants who otherwise performed poorly at the trivia games to gain ground, since winning a physical challenge allowed that player to claim the desk with the most complete squares.

Reason for Ranking: Even though Make the Grade appeared to be a bootleg version of Jeopardy!, the focus on trivia questions with the added twist of game-usurping physical challenges made this one an interesting watch each episode. It was theoretically possible to win the main game without ever answering a question correctly, though this was never actually done. I liked the show for the ability of a contestant to pull a reversal, but also found it incredibly frustrating that a smart kid with zero athletic ability (ie, me) could be trumped by a jock. Life is cruel.

Whoever won the main game then went on to the Honors Round, during which they could win more money and a trip to Universal Studios Florida (where the show was filmed...) by answering more questions. In later seasons, another bonus round called the University Round was added as a time-filler; since the games were over relatively quickly, more filler was added via footage of Schneider asking trivia questions in public. That's just good TV! Right? Take a listen to the theme song below:

11) You're On!

You're On! Nickelodeon game show logo.
Image via Nickelodeon

Initial Run: 1998 - 1999

Network: Nickelodeon

Host: Phil Moore and remote hosts Vivianne Collins and Travis White

Premise: Similar to a Candid Camera-type show, You're On! featured kid contestants trying to convince strangers to perform certain tasks while the adults were unknowingly being filmed. The contestants were assisted in the field by remote hosts and were allowed to work together to complete three related tasks, usually silly but harmless things like playing hopscotch. If the kids managed to get someone to do all three tasks in less than 10 minutes, they won a major prize; failing still won them a prize, just a smaller one. Since the remote tasks were pre-recorded, a parallel game called Runaround involved audience members - kids and their related adult guardian - guessing how many of the tasks each of the contestant pairs would successfully get strangers to complete. Adults who lost this game would end up getting slimed or having to do some other disgusting task.

Reason for Ranking: You're On! has to earn points for changing up the style of play in the game show genre; then it loses those points by teaching kids that it's totally cool to approach strangers and ask them to do weird stuff, like give you a piggy-back ride. (Could you even imagine this game existing today?) The Candid Camera pranks could only go so far while still trying to keep some semblance of competition, but it's clear that You're On! was a one-trick pony that tried to shoehorn some gunge mini-games in to fill up time. Still, Phil Moore is one of the better game show hosts on this list, so that bumps this one up a notch.

Check Moore out in action below!

10) What Would You Do?

What Would You Do? game show logo.
Image via Nickelodeon

Initial Run: 1991 - 1993

Network: Nickelodeon

Host: Marc Summers

Premise: The live studio audience watched a previously taped segment featuring children or families put in unusual situations, though the tape was stopped before their actions were revealed. Summers then asked the audience what they would do in the same situation or what the outcome would be. The votes were tallied before revealing the resolution. Special guests also appeared on What Would You Do? to pick audience members to perform gross and silly stunts involving handling animals, playing messy games, painting, dancing or creating sound effects.

The second season introduced more competitive segments in which two audience members (usually a child and his or her parent) tried to finish a stunt first, such as chugging milk or inflating a balloon until it popped. The loser would get a pie in the face or get sent to a pie contraption. The end of each episode saw audience members either playing the Medley - in which index cards with various stunts were placed on their foreheads - or the Wall O' Stuff, a wall of 20 doors that hid either prizes or surprises, including more pies in the face.

Reason for Ranking: Now we're getting serious. This is this the first mention of the most-excellent kids game show host, Marc Summers, so it's fitting that we crack into the Top 10 with him at the helm. Summers - who publicly announced his battles with OCD, making his career of hosting gunge game shows even more impressive - had great rapport with the contestants and their parents in every show he hosted. In What Would You Do?, the highlight of the show was getting a contestant - or Summers himself - into one of the many pie contraptions, such as the Pie Pod (picture a barber's chair at the center of multiple pie-launching catapults), the Pie Slide (a playground slide ending in a huge pool of whipped cream), and the car-wash's messy cousin, the Pie Wash.

What Would You Do? was pure silly fun. They didn't bother with trivia questions (besides ones about fellow family members) or physically stressful competitive stunts; it was all about getting your mom or dad or brother or sister a faceful of pie by any means necessary. Oh, and that theme song! Check it out below:

9) Get the Picture

Image via Nickelodeon

Initial Run: March to December of 1991

Network: Nickelodeon

Host: Mike O'Malley

Premise: Two teams of two players each answered trivia questions for opportunities to reveal squares on a 4x4 grid with the ultimate goal of guessing the hidden picture composed of the 16 squares of a video wall. The first round was a version of Connect the Dots, with two chances to reveal a section of the actual image; the second round featured more difficult questions that had multiple answers, but if completed correctly would reveal a portion of the hidden image.

The first season also incorporated physical challenges into the competition. The team with the most money (or points, in the second season) would go on to the bonus round, "Mega Memory." This round pitted the winning team against a nine-square video wall that featured nine separate images all related by a theme. The images would be shown briefly before being hidden again. O'Malley would then read clues and the contestants had to press the number of the square they thought matched the clue, requiring both memory and logic skills. Six right answers won monetary prizes, the seventh and eight won merchandise, and all nine won a grand prize.

Reason for Ranking: Now we get back to real game shows that test the mental faculties of kids in exchange for money and prizes should they prove victorious. We also introduce another Game Show Host Hall of Fame member (making that up, I think), Mike O' Malley. (Don't worry, we'll see him again soon.) Get the Picture was O'Malley's first host gig which would kickstart his acting career and open the door to a more popular franchise. Even though this game show had a short run, it continued in syndication until 1993 (and of course Nickelodeon's various networks have milked these reruns and others over the years). It's a relatively obscure show, but deserves this spot on the list for its inclusion of technology and original premise. Check out O'Malley being a goof below!

8) Figure It Out

Image via Nickelodeon

Initial Run: 1997 - 2000

Network: Nickelodeon

Host: Summer Sanders

Premise: Similar to adult game shows What's My Line? and I've Got a Secret, this panel show featured children with special skills competing as contestants. While they stand off-screen and share their talent with the home audience, a panel of four Nickelodeon celebrities try to guess the predetermined phrase that describes the contestant's particular skill. If one of the panelists guessed part of the contestant's special skill, that word would go on the game board, called Billy the Answer Head. The contestant wins prizes for each round that their talent goes unguessed, while the panel is subject to getting slimed if they perform a Secret Slime Action (which could be as simple as "Being a Contestant on This Show").

Reason for Ranking: Two words for this ranking: Summer Sanders. How cool was it to have an Olympic Gold Medal-winner hosting a kids game show? In addition to Figure It Out's host star-power, the main panel of the show was composed of other Nickelodeon child stars, who (contractually) had no problem getting slimed in the name of entertainment. Was it cross-promotional advertising at its best? Yes. Did they give away old game show props as prizes in the early episodes? Yes. But Figure It Out was a great way to flip the script on kids game shows, putting the talents of contestants in the spotlight while having their celebrity peers try to guess, and then admire, their hard-won talent. The show was so popular that a revival of it was launched in 2012; it lasted about a year.

Watch an episode below and prepare to get nostalgic with the celebrity panel guests!

7) Wild & Crazy Kids

Wild and Crazy Kids game show logo.
Image via Nickelodeon

Initial Run: 1990 - 1992

Network: Nickelodeon

Host: Omar Gooding, Donnie Jeffcoat, Annette Chavez and Jessica Gaynes

Premise: Large teams of kids, captained by one of the show's hosts, would compete in playground games like Dizzy Bat Home Run Derby, Three-Legged Soccer, Simon Says, and Tug of War (against professional wrestlers).

Reason for Ranking: This was one of my favorite game shows as a kid since it was essentially a TV version of the games I'd play with my friends in the neighborhood. It was all about kids being kids, without the pressures of a studio or answering trivia questions, and with the benefit of playing these games on a much bigger scale than they're used to. As an added feature, guest appearances from professional athletes, TV and movie stars were a common occurrence. As for why this show ranks here on my list, the title says it all; it was a show that just let kids be themselves and have fun. Watch the intro for Wild & Crazy Kids below:

6) Nick Arcade

Image via Nickelodeon

Initial Run: January to November of 1992

Network: Nickelodeon

Host: Phil Moore

Premise: Two teams of contestants played two initial trivia rounds, with the winner advancing to the "Video Zone" to play against the virtual "Video Game Wizard" of the day. Each round started with a face-off between one player of each team; they would compete head to head for the high score in a number of video games designed specifically for Nick Arcade. The winning team earned points and the ability to control the game's main avatar, Mikey. (Mikey's movin' up!)

In the main game, the teams would navigate Mikey across an 18-square game board towards a Goal. Each step along the way triggered trivia quizzes, video puzzles, instant-win prizes, enemies and video game challenges; Points! Puzzles! Pop Quizzes! and Prizes! The winning team got a chance to play in The Video Zone, a massive bluescreen background in front of which contestants would act as the character within a game, attempting to beat three levels, including one of three Video Game Wizards of the day.

Reason for Ranking: This is probably the game that everyone reading this list remembers. (Are you as surprised as I was that it was only originally on the air for less than a year? Reruns aired until late 1997.) Phil Moore did a great job at bringing energy to what was essentially a game show in which the studio audience watched contestants play video games, though it's still a big step up from Video Power. The real Claim to Fame for Nick Arcade is the show's use of bluescreen for its final round in which poor, disoriented kids would try to navigate a skittish virtual environment while watching themselves on a monitor and feeling the wrath of frustrated audience members screaming bloody murder about the stupid move they just made. (Granted, the U.K.'s game show Knightmare used this tech first, but Nick Arcade was the first to do so on American shores.) Despite all that pressure, I'd still love to have a go at Mongo, Scorchia, or Merlock.

Even better than watching perfect strangers play Nick Arcade was watching celebrity stars of other Nickelodeon shows do the same. Click on the links to watch the casts of Clarissa Explains It All and Salute Your Shorts play Nick Arcade. https://www.youtube.com/embed/BpIWFl2uMIc

5) Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?

Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? game show logo.
Image via PBS

Initial Run: 1991 - 1995

Network: PBS

Host: Greg Lee and Lynne Thigpen (and a cappella group, Rockapella)

Premise: Based on Brøderbund Software's computer game series, the live-action game show was created after a National Geographic survey found that one in four Americans could not locate the Soviet Union or the Pacific Ocean on a map. ("I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because, uh, some, uh, people out there in our nation don't have maps...") Three contestants, known as "Gumshoes", have been recruited by ACME Detective Agency to track down Carmen Sandiego and her henchmen by answering geography-based trivia questions. The Gumshoes were given Crime Bucks to start out, rewarded with more for each correct answer, and allowed to wager their Crime Bucks based on how certain they were as to the criminals' location. The Gumshoe with the lowest bank account at the end of the first round did not get to continue on.

The second round saw the remaining Gumshoes looking for prizes and evidence hidden behind images of famous landmarks of that game's location. Gumshoes had to find The Loot, The Warrant, and The Crook (all sung to humorous effect by Rockapella) in that exact order to win the game. That winning Gumshoe then earned a chance to capture Carmen Sandiego in the bonus round's World Map. One of the world's continents was laid out on the floor in the form of a blank map; the Gumshoe had to find and mark a number of locations in order to capture Carmen Sandiego and win the grand prize.

Reason for Ranking: It's funny that we had to move away from Nickelodeon to find one of the 90s best game shows for kids, but it makes absolute sense that PBS is the network responsible for it. I give huge points to any game shows that actually try to teach kids - both contestants and the home audience - while rewarding their knowledge with cash and prizes. There's a time and a place to just have fun and get messy; we've visited them in earlier spots on the ranking. But the awards and longevity that Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? enjoyed suggests that it's a contender for the best kids game show ever. Props to them for securing Rockapella to provide the music, comedy, and nostalgia for the show, because without them it just wouldn't be the same. (Honorable Mention for the spin-off show Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego? which ran on PBS from 1996 to 1997.)

Watch an episode of the original show below:

4) Jeopardy! Teen Tournament

Jeopardy! Teen Tournament game show logo.
Image via Sony Pictures Television

Initial Run: 1987 - Present

Network: NBC

Host: Alex Trebek

Premise: Contestants in this tournament are primarily high school students, and between the ages of 13 and 17. The format used by the Teen Tournament format is identical to that of the Tournament of Champions and the College Championship: 5 quarterfinal games produce 5 semi-finalists (winners) and 4 wildcard semi-finalists (high scorers among non-winners); 3 semi-finals produce 3 finalists who compete in a two-game final.

Reason for Ranking: If you were paying attention in the last game show entry, you know that shows that reward kids for their knowledge get a big point boost in this ranking list. You can't really do much better than Jeopardy! for trivia quiz shows. (I will give an Honorable Mention to the local weekend trivia shows in which high school students compete, ie Scholastic Scrimmage or Hometown High Q; I'm obviously a Pennsylvania kid.)

Jeopardy!, for me, has always been the pinnacle of trivia game shows, so I'm instantly impressed by any of the teens who manage to get themselves into the competition. And while it certainly makes me feel better (as an adult) to mow through these slightly less difficult trivia questions, in recent years these kids have given the adults a run for their piles and piles of game show money. That being said, 90s kids game shows still need to have that fun factor, which we'll get back to with the next few entries.

Take a look at some vintage (and cringe-worthy) contestant intros from the 90s below:

3) Double Dare

Image via Nickelodeon

Initial Run: 1986 - 1993

Network: Nickelodeon

Host: Marc Summers

Premise: Variously known as Double Dare, Super Sloppy Double Dare, Family Double Dare, and Double Dare 2000, this game show combined trivia questions with physical challenges, relying heavily on gunge to entertain audiences and gross out contestants. Two teams - each either comprised of two children or two children and their parents - squared off in a main game of trivia questions, which could be answered in a number of ways: answer the question, dare the other team to answer it (doubling the value), returning a dare with a double dare (doubling the value again, ie quadrupling its original value), or accepting a physical challenge instead of answering at all.

Reason for Ranking: If you stuck with me this far, ladies and gentlemen, then you'll be happy to know that we're sticking with Nickelodeon game shows for the top three spots. Double Dare and all its various iterations could make a strong case for the #1 overall best 90s kids game show, especially considering that final obstacle course. Unfortunately, despite its high fun factor, nostalgia, family friendly nature, and messy fun, it's that final course that leaves it just a little bit short of the top spot. As you'll see, the top two spots have really upped their game in the category of Final Rounds.

2) Legends of the Hidden Temple

legends-of-the-hidden-temple
Image via Nickelodeon

Initial Run: 1993 - 1995

Network: Nickelodeon

Host: Kirk Fogg and Dee Bradley Baker (as Olmec)

Premise: Six teams each comprised of one boy and one girl (between 11 and 14) would compete in a series of physical and mental challenges with the ultimate aim of retrieving a priceless (not really) artifact from the titular temple. Fogg acted as the teams' guide while Olmec revealed mythological, historical, and geographical facts about each item. Teams went through three elimination rounds, leaving only one team standing to attempt The Temple Run, avoid the Temple Guards, and retrieve the artifact.

Though each episode started with six teams, two of them were eliminated right off the bat if they were the last ones to cross The Moat (ie a swimming pool rigged with ropes and nets). The remaining four teams then advanced to the Steps of Knowledge where Olmec would relate the episode's central story as well as the location of the artifacts within the temple. The two teams who advanced down the steps by correctly answering related trivia questions then moved on to The Temple Games.

These physical challenges appeared in a "Best of Three" series that not only granted the winning team access to the final round, but also allowed them to earn Pendants of Life. These items allowed Temple Runners to escape the clutches of the Temple Guards as long as they had a full pendant to exchange. It was a brave soul, indeed, who attempted a Temple Run with half a pendant, or worse, no pendant at all.

Reason for Ranking: You might remember this show for any number of reasons: Olmec, the giant faux stone carving who doled out advice; the team names and uniforms (Purple Parrots, Orange Iguanas, Blue Barracudas, Green Monkeys, Red Jaguars, and Silver Snakes. Boom! From memory!); or the greased-up, half-naked Temple Guards who would do their damnedest to terrify contestants. So maybe you didn't remember the historical significance of most of the stories; I appreciated the fact that Legends of the Hidden Temple went out of its way to construct an exotic world for these kids to play in, as if they were actual explorers who needed to use their wits and their athleticism to assault the temple, retrieve the prized artifact Indiana Jones-style, and win a fabulous prize!

So why is Legends not #1? A couple of reasons: first, I always took issue with the fact that two whole teams were eliminated in the very first round. Sometimes these guys didn't even have a chance because either their partner made a misstep or the other teams were just flying across that moat. I'm all for survival of the fittest, but this was a brutally short experience for fully one-third of the kids who ever attempted it. The second reason, there's one more game show that took its premise and quite literally ran with it to the extreme. Do, do, do, do you have it?

1) Guts

guts-nickelodeon
Image via Nickelodeon

Initial Run: 1992 - 1995

Network: Nickelodeon

Host: Mike O'Malley and Moira "Mo" Quirk

Premise: Unlike many of the other entries on our list, GUTS was concerned with one thing: pure, athletic competition. Each episode featured three young athletes squaring off against each other in a series of four events based on extreme sports. Similar to an Olympic style of scoring, contestants were rewarded with points no matter where they placed, with first place obviously being worth the most.

All three athletes got to compete in the fifth and final round, The Crag. This 28-30 foot tall artificial mountain featured strobe-light lightning, foam rock avalanches, glitter snow, and whatever "nuclear flying crystals" are. Contestants had to navigate the perilous mountain climb while activating buttons along the way, with the ultimate goal of climbing the mountain first. Different point totals were given out to contestants depending on what place they finished the climb in, giving them an opportunity to hold or even overtake a points lead. The Crag was known as the Aggro Crag in season one and two, the Mega Crag in season three, and the Super Aggro Crag in Global GUTS.

Reason for Ranking: One of the main reasons Legends of the Hidden Temple didn't snag the top spot was that they had a nasty habit of eliminating two teams (ie, four kids) just a few minutes into each game. Like I said, 33% of kids who were lucky enough to get on the show got little more from the experience than a dip in a stank pool. On GUTS, every contestant got to climb the Crag, even if they were dead last through the previous events and had no chance of coming out on top. GUTS was about sportsmanship, athletic competition, and finishing what you started. That makes it stand out from the crowd.

And honestly, what can top the Crag? The imposing mountain looked absolutely unbeatable on our small tube TV sets. Even if it was only 28-30 feet tall, to a kid, it was literally the ultimate mountain to conquer. If my brother and I were like any of the other kids who watched GUTS, hoping to one day climb that mountain with the dream of nabbing a piece of the glowing rock, then our homemade Aggro Crag - complete with pillow rocks and packing peanut confetti and old mattresses stacked on the floor - was totally normal. As if GUTS wasn't already great enough, the spin-off series Global GUTS brought kids from all over the world together in the spirit of athletic competition. (FYI, America currently ranks third in the medal count ... with little chance of that changing any time soon.)

If you doubt that GUTS is the best that 90s Kids Game Shows had to offer, just watch this intro theme song below. If you still want to argue, well, I'll see you at the base of the Aggro Crag.

If you like this article, you might want to check out some of our other recent 90s nostalgia we put together for you: