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Let's Read - Nintendo Power #7
When I started doing this series, it was actually this particular issue that I was looking the most forward to digging back through because the cover features Mega Man II, which is one of my favorite NES games of all time. Aside from Issue 1, this is the earliest issue of NP that I have in my collection, and I believe I acquired it through a promotion that Chips-Ahoy cookies ran where if you sent in a few UPC symbols, you'd get a free issue of the magazine. Enough of that - there's Mega Fun to be had coming up here, so let's turn the page and get cracking!
Before I forget, the pull-out tips guide for this issue was for the first half of Super Mario Bros. 2. Amusingly enough, it has a $2.50 cover price despite being stapled into the magazine...wonder what that was all about.
We open the magazine with an ad for some freebies you can get if you sign a friend up for Nintendo Power, including a big poster of tips and tricks that you can't get anywhere else (does anybody have this, by the way? We'd love to see it archived here!)
Mail Box kicks the fun off once more, and thankfully there aren't any recipes or bad poems to ruin our day this early. In fact, compared to last issue, this letter page positively exudes 'awesome'. We start with a letter from a reader who built his own personal arcade cabinet to house his NES collection. Even though it ran him $200 (and this is in 1989, remember), the result is a cabinet with room for his console, a TV set, four controllers, two joysticks, a pair of 3D glasses (probably for 3-D World Runner or Rad Racer), a magnetic strip across the top to hold maps, a section for all his Nintendo Powers, and even holders on the side for pop cans so you can drink and play at the same time. I want one! Another letter complains about the magazine arriving late, which prompts a response from NP that it actually is timed to arrive late in the month instead of early. Someone else wants to know a number of personal things about a few Nintendo characters, and is politely told to use her imagination because we can't possibly think of everything you know. 
There's also a picture from a previous contest winner and his friend at Disneyland, wearing their Nintendo shirts.
Player's Forum is a scant single page this issue, with three letters from would-be Power Players and a spotlight on a 36-year old father from Atlanta who winds up being this issue's Power Player. Oh yeah, and an errata: we got the Power Player's name from last issue wrong. Oops...
The real meat and potatoes come next. Mega Man II gets an incredible sixteen-page write-up, showing maps of six out of the eight opening stages, screenshots of the remaining two, and a few teasers of bosses to come in the Dr. Wily levels. There's also tons of artwork, information about when and how to use the different weapons and items you acquire in the game, and even a brief description of the password system. Seriously, if you weren't dying to play this game before the write-up, you sure as hell are by the time you reach the last page.
Faxanadu is back again this issue, as promised, and now we get a bit more to digest on the impossible-to-pronounce quest to save the Elves. Easily the most important part of this feature are all the screenshot maps that show the way through the different mazes and caves you have to maneuver through in the early parts of the game. While they gets more and more complex as the game moves on, any player can use this to get a firm footing in the game and understand how the mechanics of various items work.
After two awesome write-ups, we get a mere four pages of answers from Counselors' Corner. Part of that is because one question for Legacy of the Wizard ("How do I go about finding the crowns?") gets a full-page explanation without actually giving any answers. What it DOES provide though is step-by-step instructions for using one of the most important and yet confusing items in the game: Xemn's magic glove that allows him to move blocks around. Other tips, like being aware of walls that can be walked through or that disappear on contact, how to avoid being damaged by spiked pits, and resetting the positions of key items by leaving the screen also get some press. An explanation of how and why fights break out in Bases Loaded, an method of passing a couple of Ninja Gaiden's trickiest spots, a tutorial on how to acquire the Ultra Space Sensor in Dr. Chaos, and some weapon-related queries for Friday the 13th round out this episode. Four counselors get profiled this time around, including one whose best accomplishment was being the first person at Nintendo to beat Ninja Gaiden, a pretty significant claim.
The editors apparently fell asleep at the wheel when it comes to this month's Top 30. It's hard to say whether they confused games or confused point totals (or both), but Super Mario Bros. 2 holds the #1 spot, but scored 12,900 points versus Zelda II's 2nd-place showing with 13,428 points. My guess is somebody just entered the numbers in backwards, but how a mistake this noticeable didn't get caught prior to press time is beyond me. Among other changes, we see Ninja Gaiden debut in the #3 slot (dropping Legend of Zelda down to #4), but despite its 6,800+ votes, it's still miles away from inching into #2. Ryu's ninja antics are the only new game under the sun for the top 10; the next-highest newbie is WWF Wrestlemania at #20. Track & Field II which hit #5 last issue has stopped to catch its breath down at #12, and Metal Gear has completely fallen off the chart, despite its enormous surge up to #7 just before. Scoring the largest upward mobility is Mega Man II which has flown from #30 all the way up to #9 in the span of two months. Can a ninja or an android put an end of the Mario & Zelda show? Tune in next time and find out! Best line that could be taken out of context? The description for the Dealers' Picks: "What can you say about the dealers? They seem to enjoy vegetables, sword play, and football. Hey, who doesn't?" 
Following the Top 30, we get our first real look at Dragon Warrior. Sure, there was an itty bitty pre-preview last issue, but this time we get a twelve-page extravaganza including some pretty awesome artwork and enough gameplay description that you could lose the instruction manual and be just fine with this as a back-up. Reading the article now provokes a host of "Really? Duh..." reactions, but you have to remember that in 1989, there was nothing like this on the NES at all in the US. This article was the first to really lay out a lot of the concepts and ideas behind a computer RPG, and it heavily promotes the game as being playable by anyone due to its lack of twitch-style gaming mechanics and emphasis on turn-based strategy. Even if you can't cook Contra or massacre Mega Man, Dragon Warrior lets you take your time in deciding what to do. I knew I had to get this game as soon as I read this article.
Six pages worth of maps and playing techniques for Strider come next. While I can't say as I ever felt very much love for the NES game, which utterly failed to capture any of the intensity of the arcade game the way the Genesis version did, this would be invaluable for anyone intent on beating the game. It gives you stage maps for the first four levels, as well as plenty of tips for getting past some tricky points.
Previews drops a dime on four up-and-coming carts: Robocop, DuckTales, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, and Ironsword. Three pages are devoted to Officer Murphy's quest to rid Old Detroit of crime, Scrooge McDuck gets four pages for his globe-trotting treasure hunt, four more pages are granted to Roger to help prove his innocence (including a very helpful map of Los Angeles if you're dead-set on playing this turkey through to the end), but poor Kuros only gets two pages detailing his run-in with Malkil in the realm of Sindarin. Eh, he's played by Fabio. He'll get over it, I'm sure.
Howard & Nester seems misnamed this issue, as Nester alone gets off at the wrong bus stop and encounters help from the lovely April who introduces him to none other than the mean, green fighting machines themselves, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. A slight mistake involving collectible items and pizzas leaves Nester with pie in his eye and Howard as the true game master once again. Not as good as some of the previous ones.
Everybody's favorite section of the magazine, Classified Information, unloads five pages of codes and hints on us next, including some gameplay tips (and an open hawking of the NES Advantage joystick) for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the reverse-Konami code to earn 30 ships in Gyruss, an invincibility trick to make Seicross easy along with a difficulty enhancer to make it harder, a shortcut to bypass an annoying boss fight in Rambo, a couple of invisible walls in Zelda II, some opportunities for bonus points in Cobra Triangle, bonus stage locations for Mappy-Land, a simple way to defeat the stage 3 boss in Lifeforce, a way to steal lives from your partner in Jackal (and Lifeforce), a tip to make your overland excursions easier in Legend of Zelda, and a way to gather buttloads of coins in Subspace in Super Mario Bros. 2. Whew!
Video Shorts proves that there's no shortage of great stuff coming down the pipes in the future. Bad Dudes, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Guerrilla War, Defender of the Crown, King's Knight, To The Earth, Shooting Range, Sesame Street ABC, and Adventure of Dino-Riki are all coming soon to an NES near you! God help us all.
NES Achievers continues to show that there are lots of people with entirely too much time on their hands in the gaming world (Alex Fox of Federal Way, Washington and Tony Stevens of Rexburg, Idaho, I'm calling you out: nearly 95 million points on Zanac and close to a billion points in Bomberman? WTF guys, seriously?!). Sometimes it's fun to look at this just to see what the highest possible score on a given game is. Rampage appears to have quite an oddball one at 2,061,900. Girl power representing in Kid Icarus, Mega Man, Super Mario Bros. (three times), Solomon's Key, and Stinger. You go, girls!
Probably the biggest news of all out of Pak Watch this issue is right at the front: Game Boy is coming, baby, and it's gonna be HUGE! The first five games are already lined up, and Nintendo is showcasing its marketing genius by including Tetris as the pack-in cartridge. That fact alone puts Game Boy on millions of Christmas lists all over the United States. Super Mario Land as a launch title doesn't hurt things either. Double Dragon II is the big NES story, and NP is heavily touting the 2-player simultaneous play that was missing from the first game. Bigfoot (the monster truck, not the cryptozoological mystery), Terminator, Ghostbusters II, Super Off-Road and X-Men get brief nods too. A one-page briefing on seven different new NES controllers (six third-party and one Nintendo-brand) gives some highs and lows, and the Gossip Gremlins start dropping rumours about some upcoming titles that have only just been announced, including a sequel to Top Gun an NES conversion of Shadowgate, and NES Play Action Football that will have 4-player simultaneous play.
The First Anniversary is a little retrospective that takes a look at NP's first six issues. The theme is "1-Year, 1-Up" and it shows you how to find extra lives in a dozen different titles. A couple of them are pretty obvious (Mega Man leaves them right out in the open, as does Bionic Commando), but most of them are hidden and have to be found by attacking, shooting, or jumping into otherwise empty areas of the screen. Not a bad idea, but it could have been a lot better. Three pages isn't quite enough for this sort of thing.
NES Journal this issue includes a brief history lesson, as Nintendo celebrates 100 years of existence! It's doubtful anybody under the age of 18 read this at all, but it's a cute little Cliff's Notes version of how Nintendo has changed over the last century, focusing first on playing cards and then electronics. Right after that, though, is the announcement that took the cartoon world by storm: it's the Super Mario Bros. Super Show! It starts in September, and if you were anything like me, it was THE show to watch after you got home from school Monday through Friday, especially Friday, because that was the Legend of Zelda segment.
If the last few celebs they've written up in Celebrity Profile have been mysteries to you (either because you were too young to remember them, or never saw any of the shows/films they were in), then this one should be a real treat because everybody ought to know who Michael Dorn is, or at least recognize his Star Trek alter-ego, Lt. Worf. I got a laugh out of his idea for a Nintendo game that Worf would play (a very serious cross between Legend of Zelda and Punch Out!!). Admittedly, it isn't likely that a Klingon warrior with access to a holodeck would bother with the likes of a centuries-old 8-bit gaming system, but who knows...?
In a final round-up of newsworthy tidbits, Vic Tokai hosted a contest in Los Angeles and Seattle that pitted players against one another in games of Golgo-13 for the chance to win some nifty prizes. More importantly though, Nintendo has installed TDD (Telecommunications Devices for the Deaf) equipment, allowing customer service reps and game counselors alike to assist deaf and hearing-impaired gamers get the most out of their Nintendo experiences. Thumbs up to you, Karl Franz, for making the proposal and helping pave the way for more people to enjoy their games!
Next Issue will see the second half of the Super Mario Bros. 2 tip book, even more info on Dragon Warrior (because twelve pages this issue and four pages the issue before just is not enough for a game this big), DuckTales, Uncle Fester's Quest, Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and more more more! Howard Phillips' letter to everyone touts the fact that Nintendo Power has officially become the fastest-growing subscription-based magazine in the US after only a year. You know, there might be something to this whole "gaming magazine" business after all... He also reminds you to save your tip books (they're collector's items, you know) and drops hints at bigger and better posters yet to come, and if this was your last issue, it's time to re-up!
Bet you thought they forgot about the Player's Poll contest, didn't you? So did I, but it's there in the back. Five grand prize winners get to go to Seattle and tour Nintendo's headquarters with none other than Howard Phillips himself, play games with the counselors, and even beta-test an unnamed game (I'm curious to see if, in a future issue, they provide any further information about who won and how the event went)! Ten lucky second prize winners get their very own Game Boy system for free, and as always, there are 50 lucky third-prize winners who will get the Nintendo Power jersey. I was never lucky enough to win one of these...*sigh*
That's all for this issue, folks! Check back later when we'll reveal what happens in...Nintendo Power #8!
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