As a kid, I first caught the series when it was retooled into a game show for the second season. If I had started watching from the beginning when it was mostly a cartoon, I doubt I would've held such nostalgia for it. The cartoon segments are generic action junk with lesser known Acclaim characters- they're certainly no Mario. In-between those segments, a teenager named Johnny Arcade gave gameplay tips and previewed upcoming games. That was really the draw of the program, but because Johnny was delivering a monologue instead of interacting with others, he was a lot more subdued.
By contrast, the second season had him really cut loose, since he was co-hosting a game show where he had to be high energy to pump the kid contestants up. There are many moments when he's hosting that I just burst out laughing because of how over-the-top he was acting, certainly helped by the kids' awkward reactions.
Yes, the game show hasn't aged gracefully- it definitely screams early '90s in the wardrobe/hair styles, music and set design, but you have to understand that as a kid, the second season was like crack. Not only did the gameplay tips from season 1 continue (yes, game magazines existed back then, but it was different and exciting watching actual gameplay footage), but we got kids trying to stump Johnny with video game trivia questions, which was always something kids wanted to see: Outsmarting the adults (okay, Johnny was an older teen but you get the idea). Then we got to see four kids competing against each other in a video game playing round while it was being commentated on like a professional sport with rapid cutting and camera swoops- again, exciting for a kid. Then the questions round, which allowed the kids to prove their NES knowledge. Again, fun in that nerdy "look how much I know about this hobby" way.
Of course, the biggest highlight for the series was the final round, where the winner would run through aisles of video games and velcro as many as they could to their vest and helmet before time ran out. A grand prize could be something as huge as a Neo Geo system. Talk about a kid's wet dream. This is before having more disposable income as an adult, so unless you were loaded, you probably only got a few games per year, if that. So vicariously, this was exciting to watch. You kind of envied the kid and wanted to be in their shoes.
Watching the second season today, it's still entertaining, especially to watch Johnny goof around. Just don't expect it to have a timeless quality. Skip the first season, though, unless you want to be a Video Power completist.