Alright, our Nintendo Power recaps continue now with issue #24, for May of 1991. Our cover story is Vice: Project Doom, which I’ve previously reviewed, so we can reasonably say in advance that this probably won’t be our Quality Control pick for this week.

Letters: This issue we have an art heavy letters section. Specifically we have a bunch of Mega Man III fan art.

Vice: Project Doom Guide: We get a run-down of the weapons in the game, though they describe vice squad’s signature weapon as a whip, though it looked more like sword in the game. We also get screen shots of the cut-scenes, and gameplay notes of the levels 1 through 9. Scores: Graphics & Sound 4.3, Play Control 4, Challenge & Excitement 4.3, Theme & Fun 3.8.

Howard & Nester: This issue, Howard & Nester are playing Monopoly, and Nester ends up going to jail, and has try to get a Get Out Of Jail Free card.

The Rocketeer Guide: We get a list of the different weapons and power-up items, as well as maps of the all 6 chapters of the game. We also have notes on 3 of the boss fights, though we’re on our own for the last one. Scores: Graphics & Sound 3.1, Play Control 3, Challenge & Excitement 2.9, Theme & Fun 3.3.

The Nintendo Power Awards: The ballots are in and they have been tallied. Let’s see who the winners are.

• Best Graphics & Sound: My Pick: Super Mario Bros. 3. The Winner: Mega Man III:. Though Mario 3 came in 2nd place.
• Best Theme & Fun: My Pick: Super Mario Bros. 3. The Winner: Super Mario Bros. 3. Yay, I got one right.
• Best Challenge: My Pick: Castlevania III. The Winner: Castlevania III. Well, the Castlevania games were known to be hard, so this was a fairly easy pick.
• Best Play Control: My Pick: Mario 3. The Winner: Mario III. It looks like that, except for Graphics & Sound, my “bet on Mario” rule is working.
• Best Hero: My Pick: Mario. The Winner: Mega Man. Huh. I would have thought Mario would have gotten this one. He’s got a running TV show – the Blue Bomber doesn’t.
• Best Villain: My Pick: Dr. Wiley. The Winner: The Shredder. Well, Turtle-mania is running wild, so it’s to be expected.
• Most Innovative: My Pick: Super Glove Ball. The Winner: Shadowgate. I guess it was innovative for the NES, though I’m a little disappointed, as I felt that Super Glove Ball was innovative in general. Unfortunately, Super Glove Ball didn’t place at all.
• Best Similtanious 2-Player: My Pick: Gauntlet 2. The Winner: Turtles 2. Again, Turtlemania is running wild, and I probably shouldn’t have expected a Tengen game to do well.
• Best NES Game: My Pick: Super Mario Bros. 3. The Winner: Super Mario Bros 3. Glad to see I got one right again.
• Best Game Boy Game: My Pick: Dr. Mario. The Winner: TMNT – Fall of the Foot Clan.

Battletoads Comic: We’re getting a short comic to hype up Battletoads.

Classified Information: We get cheats for Sword Master (an unlimited continue cheat, which doesn’t interest me), plus Mega Man III, and TMNT II cheats.

The Lone Ranger Guide: We’ve got a semi-adventure/RPG here. It looks kind of grindy to me, though, as you have to pay for healing and for your ammunition. Score: Graphics & Sound 3.4, Play Control 3.5, Challenge & Excitement 3.9, Theme & Fun 3.9.

Game Boy Coverage: Alright, first up is Mysterium, a Wizardry style RPG from Asmik, with some Adventure game elements as well. There’s also Gauntlet II for the Game boy – I’ve already reviewed that, so I’m not going to review it again. There’s also the mecha action game Battle Unit Zeoth from Jaleco. Being a mecha action fan this does catch my interest. We get notes for all 6 stages. There’s also Nintendo World Cup, Spot (an Othello clone with the 7up licence), and Chessmaster. I’m probably going to go the Game Boy route this issue and pick Battle Unit Zeoth.

Adventures of Lolo 3 Guide: The pretty cutesy puzzler is getting its 3rd installment. Since there are a lot of levels here, they don’t cover every screen, but selected ones from level 3 to the final boss. Scores: Graphics & Sound 3.6, Play Control 4.1, Challenge & Excitement 4.3, Theme & Fun 4.1.

Nintendo Power Top 30:

1. Super Mario Bros 3 (10,918 pts.) – No Change (11 Issues)
2. TMNT 2 (9,589 pts.) – Up 1 (5 issues)
3. Mega Man III (8,846 pts.) – Down 1 (5 issues)
4. Final Fantasy (5,073 pts.) – No Change (6 issues)
5. Dr. Mario (4,675 pts.) – No Change (4 issues)
6. Tetris (4,198 pts.) – Up 3 (10 issues)
7. Crystalis (4,108 pts.) – No Change (4 issues)
8. Dragon Warrior II (3,818 pts.) – Down 2 (5 issues)
9. NES Play Action Football (3,365 pts.) – Up 1 (10 issues)
10. Ultima IV (3,251 pts.) – Up 11 (2 issues)
11. Startropics (2,965 pts) – Up 8 (2 issues)
12. Mega Man II (2,864 pts) – Down 1 (16 issues)
13. Super Mario Bros 2 (2,714 pts) – Returning (18 issues)
14. Legend of Zelda (2,482 pts) – Down 6 (20 issues)
15. Castlevania III (2,231 pts) – No Change (5 issues)
16. Teenage Mutant Ninja Tirtles (2,177 pts) – Down 4 (15 issues)
17. Destiny of an Emperor (1,820 pts) – Down 4 (5 issues)
18. Mega Man (1,780 pts) – Returning (16 issues)
19. The Simpsons: Bart vs. The Space Mutants (1,753 pts) – New!
20. The Immortal (1,550 pts) – Down 6 (2 issues)
21. Zelda II (1,539 pts) – Down 1 (21 issues)
22. Maniac Mansion (1,511 pts) – Down 5 (4 issues)
23. Double Dragon II (1,509 pts) – New!
24. Super C (1,258 pts) – Returning (5 issues)
25. WWF Wrestlemania Challange (1,223 pts) – New!
26. Duck Tales (989 pts) – New!
27. Gremlins 2 (942 pts) – New!
28. Battle of Olympus (920 pts) – Down 5 (7 issues)
29. Batman (912 pts) – New!
30. Shadowgate (904 pts) – Returning (7 issues)

Celebrity Profile: This issue we have a profile of Alex Winter, who is currently co-starring in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure with Keanu Reeves. Keanu goes on to larger and greater roles (including The Matrix). Alex, on the other hand, basically had a 10 year gap between The Borrowers in 1997 and Saul of the Mole Men in 2007, and then he directed some Ben 10 stuff.

Councelor’s Corner: We have questions for StarTropics, Castlevania III, Magician (which I’m starting to suspect I should have played) and other games.

Now Playing: Of note this issue is Nobunaga’s Ambition III and The Bard’s Tale.

Pak Watch: We have Tecmo Super Bowl coming out, Darkman, based on my favorite Sam Raimi movie (no, really – I like it better than Army of Darkness). We also have a look at some upcoming SNES games, including Super R-Type (which looks very nice).

The Letter from Howard: This issue Howard’s hyping the Nintendo Power subscription bonus for the next year. Since the previous year, Nintendo Power gave subscribers a strategy guide every other issue (as I recapped) this year they’re going to be giving out to subscribers – free – 4 strategy guides quarterly. How, if you’re not subscribing you can still get them for $15 a piece, but that’s still a steal for subscribers. Not bad. However, as these guides aren’t game specific, I’m not particularly tending towards recapping them. If I do, I’ll cover the games listed in each guide, and then pick one I haven’t already reviewed to review this time around.

As far as my Quality Control pick goes, I’m doing another Game Boy game this week, with Battle Unit Zeoth. What can I say, I’m in a mecha mood.