Mike Russo was indeed a special STARCADE! player. He was one of only two contestants who appeared on 3 Starcade! shows ... #34, #38 - a Dragon's Lair Special show, and #99 - another Dragon's Lair Special where he played a very special role, playing Dragon's Lair to the end and rescuing the Princess. The other contestant who appeared on 3 Starcade! shows was Marcelo Hassmer who played Cliff Hanger to the end on the #103 the Cliff Hanger only show. Click here to see Marcelo's page.

Mike first show #34 was taped when he was 13 years old. In his brief bio, Mike said, "my favorite rock group is Prince" ... his hobbies were "playing basketball, baseball, football and I love playing video games ... My best subject is Math."

When we taped our second Dragon's Lair special (Show #99), we invited Mike to come back and play the game from the beginning to the end for the show. Seemed the right choice given his performance on Show #38 which was a Dragon's Lair Special which he won.

Mike said he wanted to be on Starcade, "To win a video game." And win he did...just about everything we offered, he took home. He was a great player. He had an easy way about him -- the camera loved him ... he looked like he was enjoying himself -- and he was. You could tell.

After the taping of his first show, Mike sent flowers to the entire crew with the following note:

To the crew...
Thanks for letting me be on the show and WIN, WIN, WIN.
Mike Russo

You're very welcome.