Moving on to the Nintendo Power Recaps, we come to issue #33 for February of 1992. Our cover story for this issue is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project. The art is definitely continuing the improvement in the cover art that started last issue. Our letters column features of people with their copies of Nintendo Power while on vacation across the world and by across the world I mean, across the continental US and in Indonesia. What, you couldn’t manage pictures from Canada or Mexico?

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III Guide

The turtles are getting their third game, something similar to the Arcade game, but with a few differences. We get a run-down of the Turtles and their special moves. We get maps of all 6 stages, which will take you to the fight with Shredder. That one you’ll have to handle on your own. This is, currently, the only Turtles game I haven’t played yet. This makes a good qualifier for a Quality Control pick.

G.I. Joe: The Atlantis Factor Guide

Capcom’s now getting their crack at a G.I. Joe game, one that takes a few cues from Bionic Commando. We get advice on the fastest route to beat the game, as well as the best route to beat the game. We get maps of Routes 1-4, and areas A, B, and C.

Rampart Guide

We get a guide for the first Tower Defense Game, one that doesn’t get nearly enough credit, in my opinion. We get a few strategies for success in the game. Since it’s not like you can do level maps for this game.

Bart vs. The World Guide

The guide starts off with notes on the items you can collect, and gives some notes on some of the areas you travel to, but no level maps – specifically the first 3 areas.

The Legend of Zelda – A Link To The Past Comic

So, in our second installment, Link is on the run from the forces of Ganon, and looking for the Seven Sages who in turn will hopefully tell him the location of the Master Sword. This comic also has the best depiction of the Master Sword that I’ve seen to date. That is the modern date. Anyway, Link finds one of the sages, who tells him that, essentially, he needs to collect the three pieces of the Triforce (well, they don’t call it the Triforce, but it’s close enough for government work) in order to unlock the power of the Master Sword. Link is given the Amulet of Courage, which will guide him to the pieces of the Triforce, and also gives him great strength. He’s also told that the pieces of the Tri-Force will each grand him additional powers that will help him defeat Ganon and save both the Princess and Hyrule. With his new powers and an idea of what his next move is going to be. Link sets out to continue his battle against Ganon.

Gradius: The Interstellar Assault Guide

Speaking of good art, the first page of this section has the best depiction of the Vic Viper I’ve ever seen. Anyway, this is the second Gradius game for the Game Boy. We get notes on the various weapons you can unlock in the game, as well as detailed maps, with notes, on 5 of the stages. As a shump fan, this one’s also tempting me to pick it for my Quality Control column.

Super Hunchback Guide

I have no idea what this game is about. From what I can tell, it’s a platformer, and that’s about it. We get maps of the first 3 stages of the game, as well as notes on collectibles.

Terminator 2: Judgement Day Guide

The blockbuster film is getting a licenced Game Boy Game from LJN. We get notes on the first four stages of the game, but not the 5th and final stage – which is fine because it’s not a good game anyway.

Game Boy Arcade Classics

We have notes about the Game Boy ports of Q*Bert and Asteroids. Not much else to say – they’re Q*Bert and Asteroids, except monochrome.

Super Mario Adventures Comic

So, last issue Bowser revealed himself as the root cause of all of the Mushroom Kingdom’s troubles (what else is new). In this chapter, the Koopa Kids emerge, and Bowser (*sigh*) raps. Anyway, Bowser turns much of the people of the Mushroom Kingdom to stone (including Mario), and tells Peach that if she doesn’t agree to marry him, he’ll never turn them back. He leaves, and Peach follows, intending to force him to turn the people of the Mushroom Kingdom back. Luigi manages to get Mario turned back thanks to a member of the Mushroom court who wasn’t transformed who knew a obscure massage/pressure point technique. Mario and Luigi then leap into the pipe that Peach went down, and find themselves in another world–and they find Yoshi.

</p>Behold the anatomically correct tanooki!

Legend of the Mystical Ninja Guide

We’re now in the Super Nintendo section of the magazine, and we have a guide for the first Legend of the Mystical Ninja game. We also get an anatomically correct picture of a Tanooki. No, really. Anyway, As a quick note, apparently our hero, Goemon, got renamed to Kid Yang for the US release. I’m not sure why. Anyway, we get a map of the first zone, as well as notes on the next four zones. Again, this game is another serious contender for Quality Control, as I’ve heard good things about the Legend of the Mystical Ninja series. We also get some very nice village maps.

Ys III: Wanderer from Ys Guide

I think this is the first case where we’ve had an Nintendo system get a sequel to a game that didn’t appear on a Nintendo System. Not only that, but it’s even getting a guide in a Nintendo Power.  So, we get some maps and notes on what level you need to be at to get through what areas of the game. This doesn’t give you precise maps though. Also, the Ys series is more RPG than platformer (though the format of this one is one of a platformer), so the best you can get is the recommended order of places to go.

Super Scope 6 Guide

The SNES now finally has a light gun, and it comes with bundled games, and we’ve got a guide for those games.  Yay! What’s this, it’s just a collection of mini-games? Boo!

Nester’s Adventures

This issue, Nester is teaming up with Simon Belmont in Super Castlevania IV. The strip includes a good one-shot joke in the first panel, with the gates of Dracula’s castle reading “Beware of Everything”. It’s funny because it’s true.

Now Playing

Well, they brought George & Rob back. So, either the 3rd party publishers haven’t had a chance to react or they haven’t pissed them off enough yet. They liked Bart Vs. The World and TMNT III, though they feel that Shredder & Co have become rather tired as villains. Unfortunately, Konami’s limited to the same group of villains that the then-current animated series had. There’s also a review of the fishing game The Blue Marlin which is fairly unfavorable. They also played Cyberball, which is a port of an arcade football game with a futuristic theme which . King’s Quest V was ported to the NES, and while they liked the writing and the puzzle design (who likes Roberta Williams puzzle design?) but the controls for movement are apparently poor. They thought Bucky O’Haire was good for a kids game – and that Blaster Master Boy was a good adaptation of the NES version of Blaster Master to the NES. There’s also a Game Boy Darkman game, which is more of a brawler than the action-platformer the NES version was (which may be for the best). They’re going to hold off on reviews of SNES games though until next issue.

Top 20

This issue the Mario Bros are sweeping all three Nintendo systems, NES, Game Boy and SNES.

Celebrity Profiles

Our profiles this issue are of Darius McCrary and Kellie Williams of Family Matters. I remember the show, I don’t remember the actors. Williams has done various small sitcom projects since Family Matters, Darius is currently on Young and the Restless. As far as mention of video games go, they basically just talk about their favorite games to play when they’re not on set, which is stuff like Super Off Road and that sort of thing.

Pak Watch

This issue’s first title is a semi-doozy, Contra III. I hope you all know what Contra is. EA is also launching their EA Sports Network concept – which is essentially the umbrella label for their sports games.

Finally, we have our preview of next issue, which features more coverage of Link to The Past. We also have coverage of the NES versions of Terminator II and The Empire Strikes Back. The Game Boy is also getting Mega Man II. As for my pick for this issue, I’m going with Legend of the Mystical Ninja. I figured I’d probably want to hold off from another Game Boy game, and while I do want to play Ys III, I want to play Ys I & 2 first, as there is some continuity there.

Filed under: Video games, Where I Read Tagged: Nintendo Power, video game magazines, Video games, Where I Read

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