The Nintendo Power recaps continue today with Issue #25 for June of 1991, with our cover story of Battletoads. Just to say right now, I’m not picking Battletoads for my Quality Control pick. I’ve played it before, it’s really freaking hard, and it’s a classic – which is all the more reason to check out what came out around the same time. This issue clocks in at 108 pages and the cover art is unfortunately crap. This is doubly unfortunate as this is Howard’s last issue with Nintendo Power. Who will be writing the letters at the end of the issue next? Who will Nester team up with? What will happen at Nintendo of America’s offices without somebody wearing a bow tie?

Letters: This issue it’s all about pets and gaming, particularly cats with a fixation on gaming equipment, and video games themselves. Unfortunatley, we don’t have any particularly Lolcat worthy pictures. Ah well.

Battletoads Guide: In case you don’t know the premise – the evil Dark Queen is threatening the universe, and the Battletoads – Zits, Pimple, and Rash are must save the universe from her incursion. Ratings: Graphics & Sound 4.3, Play Control 4.1, Challenge & Excitement 3.9, Theme & Fun 4.6. We get level maps and strategies for the bosses, as well as information on finding the 1ups (which you will need!) This includes a map of the jet bike stage and the jet ski stage, and the shooter stage, but not information on the timing of the stages, which is definitely everything. This includes strategies for the boss fights. Oh, and there’s a partial underwater stage (ugh) too, complete with precision swimming. The rguide basically takes us just about to the final boss fight with the Black Queen.

SNES Preview: We get another in-depth look at the SNES, including its 6-button controller, a first for consoles. This includes some drawins for oearlier planned designs for the SNES.

Nes Open Tournament Golf Guide: We have a map of the courses, including all the greens. I have to say, though, I prefer real golf to virtual golf. I can judge my power better in real golf. Scores: Graphics & Sound 3.3, Play Control 3.4, Challenge & Excitement 4.0, Theme & Fun 4.2.

Game Boy Coverage: We have a guide/preview of the Hunt for Red October Game Boy game, which is, basically, a submarine shump, and I’ve already gotten into how well (or not) shumps work on the Game Boy. We also get maps of all 8 stages of the game. I’m impressed. This is pretty in-depth. There’s also the Ikari Warriors-meets-Metal Gear shooter Fortified Zone, which we get the first 3 levels of. Finally, we’ve got a guide for R.C. Pro Am, with notes on all the courses, but no actual maps.

Howard & Nester – The Final Chapter: Our last Howard & Nester game is the Lone Ranger. Howard & Nester round up some Bandits in The Lone Ranger, before Howards hands over his bow tie to Nester and rides off into the sunset. To be absolutely honest, none of the games this issue appeal to me in the slightest, and I wouldn’t have played them even when I was a kid. So, I’m probably going to play The Lone Ranger this time, in honor of Howard’s last appearance in Nintendo Power, even though the game (and guide) came out last issue).

Daydreamin’ Davey Buide: This looks like some sort of time traveling adventure game. We get maps of the Medieval Times, Old West, and Ancient Greece zones, as well as notes on some of the quests. Scores: Graphics & Sound 3.2, Play Control 2.9, Challenge & Excitement 3.2, Theme & Fun 3.7.

Now Playing: The other titles we get mention of include Super Spy Hunter, and the RPG Faria.

Councelor’s Corner: We have questions about Robocop 2 (finding NUKE), Dragon Warrior II, and Bart vs. The Space Mutants.

Top 30:

1. TMNT II (9,754 pts.) – Up 1 (6 issues)
2. Super Mario Brothers 3 (9,615 pts.) – Down 1 (12 issues)
3. Mega Man III (7,338 pts.) – No Change (6 issues)
4. Final Fantasy (5,842 pts.) – No Change (7 issues)
5. StarTropics (5,523 pts.) – Up 6 (3 issues)
6. Bart vs. The Space Mutants (4,735 pts.) – Up 13 (2 issues)
7. Crystalis (4,405 pts.) – No Change (5 issues)
8. Dr. Mario (3,371 pts.) – Down 3 (5 issues)
9. Dragon Warrior II (3,229 pts.) – Down 1 (6 issues)
10. Tetris (2,617 pts.) – Down 4 (11 issues)
11. Double Dragon III (2,392 pts.) – New!
12. Legend of Zelda (2,346 pts.) – Up 2 (21 issues)
13. NES Play Action Football (2,233 pts.) – Down 4 (11 issues)
14. Ultima IV (2,111 pts.) – Down 4 (3 issues)
15. Mega Man II (2,027 pts.) – Down 3 (17 issues)
16. Super Mario Bros. 2 (1,969 pts.) – Down 3 (19 issues)
17. G.I. Joe (1,647 pts.) – New!
18. Double Dragon II (1,563 pts.) – Up 5 (2 issues)
19. The Immortal (1,554 pts.) – Up 1 (3 issues)
20. Destiny of an Emperor (1,470 pts.) – Down 3 (6 issues)
21. Maniac Mansion (1,422 pts.) – Up 1 (5 issues)
22. Zelda II (1,280 pts.) – Down 1 (22 issues)
23. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1,288 pts.) – Down 7 (16 issues)
24. Little Nemo (1,140 pts.) – New!
25. Bandit Kings Of Ancient China (977 pts.) – New!
26. Mega Man (965 pts.) – Down 8 (17 issues)
27. Shadowgate (924 pts.) – Up 3 (8 issues)
28. Princess Tomato In The Salad Kingdom (840 pts.) – New!
29. Wizardry (714 pts.) – Returning (2 issues)
30. Tecmo Bowl (645 pts.) – Returning (14 issues)

Celebrity Profile: This issue we’re profiling David Leisure, who was at that time in ads for Izuzu, and who describes himself as a geek (in 1991, before being a geek was chic). He’s done a lot of guest starring stuff, but no major starring roles outside of Soaps (though he was in Airplane! which was, itself, a parody of ensemble disaster films). He’s still active though.

Pak Watch: We have previews of Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, the shump Over Horizon from Hot-B, High Speed Pinball, and Pirates! as designed by Sid Meier and ported by Konami’s Ultra branch.

The Letter From Howard: To paraphrase Styx, off their album Cornerstone (which was just under 20 years old when this issue was published) – “Babe he’s leavin’. He must be on his way. His time is drawing near. His flight is going, he sees it in our eyes. Our love, our need, our tears. He’ll be lonely without us. So he’ll subscribe to keep in touch with us. But please believe him, his heart is in his hands, and he’ll be missing us.” I should probably apologize to Styx, and to Howard, and to you for mangling that.

So, as for my Quality Control pick. I do want to play Lone Ranger, but it looks pretty grind heavy, but I’ll give it a try anyway. I may not get the review up on Wednesday, but I’ll do what I can.