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  • Nintendo Power (January/February 1989)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: Nintendo Power – Issue Number 4 – January/February 1989

    In early 1989, Nintendo Power only had the NES to cover. Nintendo Power was only a few months old but the NES had already been around for several years. The January/February 1989 issue includes:

    Features

    • Wrestlemania – A wrestling game from an era near the peak of the WWF.
    • Captain Nintendo – Part 2 of a story involving a member of Nintendo’s R&D team and the Mother Brain from Metroid among other gaming themes.
    • Sesame Street 1.2.3 – A couple of educational Sesame Street themed games that had previously been released on home computers, including Astro Grover and Ernie’s Magic Shapes.
    • Zelda II: The Adventure of Link – A detailed guide to the sequel to one of the most successful Nintendo game ever, including maps, items lists and more.
    • Skate or Die – A guide to the classic skateboarding game from Electronic Arts.
    • Howard and Nester – An ongoing Nintendo themed comic strip.
    • Counselors’ Corner – How to get to the other side of the water in World 4-3 of Super Mario Bros. 2; the location of the warp zones in Super Mario Bros. 2; how to advance past Greece in Golgo 13; where to find the red key in the lava stage of Wizards and Warriors; how to get through level 7 of Zelda; how to find the clue books in Castlevania II; and more.
    • Classified Information – A variety of hints fro Double Dragon, Mega Man, Life Force, Gantlet, Blaster Master, Bionic Commando, and Track & Field II.

    Now Playing

    • Marble Madness – A guide to the classic isometric marble game.
    • Operation Wolf – One of the better light gun games on the NES and a decent port of the arcade version.
    • Nintendo Power Bowl – A comparison of three football games for the NES, including Tecmo Bowl, John Elway’s Quarterback and N.F.L. Football.
    • Metal Gear – The beginning of a franchise. I still prefer this 2D overhead version to more modern incarnations.
    • Video Shorts – Brief looks at Friday the 13th, World Games, Star Soldier, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Bump ‘N Jump, Rampage, Othello, Robowarrior, Spy vs. Spy, Gyruss and Q*Bert.
    • Pak Watch – Previews of upcoming games including Ninja Gaiden, Magic Johnson’s Fast Break, Pro Basketball, hoops, One-on-One, Robocop, Bayou Billy, The Guardian Legend, Knight Rider, Air Wolf, Bad Dudes, Defender of the Crown, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, California Game, and more.

    Player’s Forum

    • NES Journal – A look at a hands free controller designed for special needs kids. Also, a look at Nintendo’s PlayChoice-10 arcade game (I used to love playing Excitebike on this), new music from Debbie Gibson, Julian Lennon, and Huey Lewis and the News, and more.
    • Mail Box – Mail from readers with topics such as Super Mario Bros. 2, Dragon Warrior, Metroid, a 4-year old’s high score on Super Mario Bros, and more.
    • NES Achievers – Reader high scores on 1942, Arkanoid, Athena, Castlevania, Commando, Contra, Duck Hunt, Excitebike, Ghosts ‘N Goblins, Golf, Golgo 13, Gradius, Gun Smoke, Hogan’s Alley, and lots more.
    • Video Spotlight – Readers brag about their gaming prowess.
    • Top 30 – The top games this month include Super Mario Bros. 2, The Legend of Zelda, and Zelda II among many others.

    …and more!


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  • Nintendo Power (July 1993)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: Computer & Video Game Magazines – Nintendo Power – Issue Number 50 – July 1993

    If you were a Nintendo fan it was hard not to appreciate Nintendo Power, Nintendo’s official publication. While I don’t know that I would trust its impartiality, if there was a Nintendo game you could at least find info about it in Nintendo Power. In 1993 the Super NES was relatively new and the original NES and Game Boy were still going strong. The July 1993 issue includes:

    Super NES

    • WWF Royal Rumble – A great game for WWF fans. A look at the various characters and moves.
    • Run Saber – I never played this one but it’s a platform game that reminds me a bit of games like Strider. All the levels are shown here and it appears the game is fairly short.
    • E.V.O. Search for Eden – A game from Enix in which you must create creatures that survive the evolutionary process.
    • Edutainment – A look at several different educational games broken down by category, including Learning (Mario Is Missing, Miracle Keyboard), Fact Recall (Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?, Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?, Jeopardy), Strateg simulation and creativity (SimCity, SimEarth, Aerobiz, and Mario Paint). Not sure some of those are really “educational”.
    • Bubsy: Claws Encounters of the Furred Kind – Excellent platform game featuring the comical feline Bubsy.

    Game Boy

    • The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening – The cover story this month is the release of Link’s Awakening for the Game Boy. Includes tons of maps.
    • Gargoyle’s Quest II – Quite similar to the NES version of this game, it reminds me of a cross between Castlevania and Zelda.
    • T2: The Arcade Game – What should be a light-gun game…on the Game Boy.

    NES

    • The Addams Family: Pugsley’s Scavenger Hunt – An ok platform game. Though the naming convention for these games on the NES vs. the SNES is rather confusing.
    • Mighty Final Fight – A beat-em-up for those looking for yet another one on the NES.
    • Bubble Bobble Part 2 – 80 levels of this action/puzzle game will keep you busy for a while. It has different levels and bosses than the Game Boy version. Plus being in color on a bigger screen is nice.

    Tips from the Pros

    • Nester’s Adventures – A comic strip but I’m not sure why it’s listed under the ‘Tips From The Pros’ category.
    • Classified Information – Secret codes for MechWarrior, Road Runner’s Death Valley Rally, Super Bases Loaded, Wayne’s World, Cybernator, Prince of Persia, Tiny Toon Adventures, Bases Loaded, Super Conflict, and Mega Man V.
    • Counselors’ Corner – How to obtain the Lone Star Badge and where to get the credstick in Shadowrun; how to help Hamton collect apples and how to jump of the train in stage 2-D in Tiny Toon Adventures; how to put out the fire in level 6, room 9 plus the solution to level 9-22 in Fire & Ice; where to get the lantern and how to get out of the well in Milon’s Secret Castle.

    The Info Zone

    • Next Issue – Next month’s issue features Street Fighter II Turbo, Alien 3, Jurassic Park and Star Trek The Next Generation.

    Video Updates

    • Now Playing – Brief reviews of new games including Ultima: The False Prophet, Troddlers, Super Turrican, Dungeon Master, WWF Royal Rumble, Run Saber, Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego?, Mario Is Missing, Bubsy, Alien 3, Tuff E Nuff, Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends, Super Widget, P.T.O., Mighty Final Fight, The Addams Family: Pugsley’s Scavenger Hunt, Bubble Bobble Part II, Gargoyle’s Quest II, T2: The Arcade Game, and Star Trek: The Next Generation.
    • PAK Watch – Previews of upcoming games including Street Fighter II Turbo, Mortal Kombat, Jurassic Park, TMNT Tournament Fighter, NHL Stanley Cup, Ken Griffey Jr. Major League Baseball, Mega Man X, Wayne’s World, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Beauty and the Beast, Felix the Cat, FX Trax, Super Off-Road, Cool Spot, Family Feud, Pinball Dreams, Goof Troop, Super Tecmo Bowl (one of the few sports games I really liked), and more.

    Player’s Forum

    • Player’s Pulse – Letters from readers about Super NES button lettering and Mario Paint, envelope art, Simpsons contest winner and more.
    • Power Player’s Challenge – Player accomplishments in Street Fighter II, Pilotwings, Desert Strike, Wave Race, NES Open Tournament Golf, Top Gear, F-1 Race, Prince of Persia, and Super Mario Kart.
    • Player’s Poll Contest – A contest in which you can win a game for a week for 50 weeks, 5 Game Boys each with 5 games (not sure why you would need 5 Game Boys), a $500 gift certificate, a party for 50 friends at your local arcade, or 50 pounds of quarters. If you couldn’t tell, this was to celebrate the 50th issue of Nintendo Power. Incidentally, 50 pounds of quarters is a much better prize than the $500 gift certificate. According to the internet and my calculations a pound of quarters is about 80 quarters so 50 pounds would be $1000.
    • Top 20 – Top games this month include Star Fox for the Super NES, Super Mario Land 2 for the Game Boy, and Super Mario Bros. 3 for the NES.

    Comics

    • Star Fox – A comic based on Star Fox. Somehow I feel that Nester should have been here as well but that’s not where the table of contents has it.

    Video Updates

    • 50th Issue Special – A look back at the last 5 years of Nintendo Power. Includes things like best cover, worst cover, issue with the highest circulation, biggest mistake, worst contest, biggest giveaway, most popular strategy guide, highest power meter rating, and much more.
    • Super Power Shop – Buy the first 50 issues of Nintendo Power for $50 plus t-shirts, hats and other stuff.

    …and more!


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  • Jackie Chan’s Action Kung Fu (NES)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    https://darth-azrael.tumblr.com/post/681661892986601472

    While it was always my impression that Jackie Chan’s Action Kung Fu was better known on the TurboGrafx-16, it was in fact released a year earlier, in 1990, for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Needless to say, the NES release was not quite as graphically impressive as the TG-16 release. On either system I don’t think it was a huge seller but the TurboGrafx-16 had fewer games so it was more easily noticed on that platform. Part of the problem of popularity had nothing to do with the game itself but with the fact that in North America, most people didn’t really know who Jackie Chan was until the movie Rush Hour came out in 1998 so the name itself probably didn’t really do much to help sell the game.

    Jackie Chan’s Action Kung Fu plays as a fairly typical side-scrolling beat-’em-up. There are a total of five levels, each with a boss at the end, plus some bonus levels in which extra continues may be earned. You have only one life but you start out with five continues. Health may be restored by collecting rice bowls and power-ups can be earned by hitting the occasional frog that comes along carrying one. There are a variety of martial arts moves and special moves that can be used (e.g. the Psycho Wave). The game is quite challenging. Whether it is timing the jump between a barrier, navigating moving platforms while in combat or just moving fast enough to stay ahead of the continuously scrolling screen, this game will keep you on your toes. The ultimate goal is to rescue Jackie’s twin sister Josephine from his enemy, The Sorcerer.

    Jackie Chan’s Action Kung Fu was generally well reviewed and it really is a pretty good game. But in a sea of martial arts games, this one probably didn’t get the notice it deserved. NES gamers by and large were not necessarily connoisseur’s of Asian martial arts films as much of its audience was fairly young at the time so Jackie Chan’s name didn’t help much. It probably would have been a massive seller had Rush Hour come out a few years sooner or this game been released later.

    While the graphics aren’t quite as impressive on the NES as they are on the TurboGrafx-16, they are still quite good for that system and the game play also compares very favorably. On both systems, the larger than typical sprites gives the game a unique look. Unfortunately, if you want to play this one, emulation or tracking down an original NES or TG-16 copy are probably your only options. Licensed games rarely ever get re-released or make it to later compilations for various legal reasons.

    All screen shots above are from the NES version of the game.


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