Where I Read – Nintendo Power #44
Where I Read – Electronic Gaming Monthly #121
Where I Read – Nintendo Power #43
Batman Returns Guide
So, this is more of a brawler than a Ninja Gaiden style action-platformer. Oddly enough, we get maps of the whole game. It’s kind of odd – you really don’t need maps for brawlers. Boss strategies, certainly and maybe specific notes for levels, but not maps. Maps are considerably more useful for platformers. Read more
Where I Read – Electronic Gaming Monthly #42
Where I Read – Nintendo Power #42
Joe & Mac Guide
The first major cave man platformer has come out for the NES, and the art on this preview fails anatomy pretty badly. We get maps of the first 4 levels of the game, as well as notes for fighting the various bosses.
Crash & The Boys Street Challenge Guide
This is, essentially, a Track & Field game with a River City Ransom skin. We have Hammer Throw Golf, Water Slaughter (a swimming event, where both competitors can fight underwater if they so choose, and they do choose), Skyline Scramble (pole vault between the roofs of buildings), and Judo (straight-up fight). Read more
Where I Read – Electronic Gaming Monthly #41
In the letters column we get several letters about whether or not there is a boss code for standard Street Fighter II. Capcom says there isn’t, but Capcom also says that there isn’t a character vs. same color character code either, and they’re running that code this issue. That said, I don’t see why you’d want to both be playing characters of the same color, because then it’d be harder to tell which character is yours. We also have a letter hoping for more Star Wars games, and another letter from a reader who figured out, entirely on his own, why the names for Vega, Balrog, and M. Bison were switched around in the American version of Street Fighter II, and he wants to check to see if he was right (he was). Read more
Where I Read – Nintendo Power #41
Adventure Island 3 Guide
Master Higgins is back. We don’t get complete maps of each area, but we get maps of at least half the levels in the first two areas, as well as strategies for beating the final boss (which is part of the important part, as well as notes on Stage 3 through Stage 8. Read more
Where I Read – Electronic Gaming Monthly #120
Our editorial column for this issue reflects on another of the string of school shootings the nation was contending with in 1998 and 1999, and the worst of the shootings at that – the school shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. On the one hand, while this was the worst of all the school shootings, to my knowledge any school shootings after that point either didn’t get any media attention, or they didn’t happen. However, this shooting, being the biggest, and because the shooters listened to heavy metal music and developed custom levels for Doom, brought the anti-video game hysteria to a pitch above that caused by the Night Trap hysteria, and wouldn’t be seen again until the Hot Coffee controversy. Thanks to some poorly informed and in poor taste remarks from Littleton’s sheriff that were jumped upon by the New York Times Magazine, it even threatened to resurrect the anti-D&D hysteria, that had died when Patricia Pulling had been discredited. Read more
Where I Read – Nintendo Power #40
Felix the Cat Guide
We also get complete maps of the first 3 stages, as well as power-up notes and notes on stages 4 through 6.
Prince of Persia Guide
Jordan Mechner’s classic acrobatic game has come out on the NES. For those unfamiliar with the game, are the unnamed prince. You have one hour to rescue the Princess from the evil grand Vizier before he either forces her to marry him or kills her. We get maps of levels 4 through 14 and the end of the game. Read more
Where I Read – Electronic Gaming Monthly #110
The editorial column for this issue is by John Davidson, and addresses the semi-maturing of games, in terms of the sexuality of characters, though not necessarily the maturity of the stories or the character designs. Well, there are some ways to go until we reach some of the more mature stories we have now, in terms of Mass Effect and Dragon Age (particularly their treatment of GLBT characters), but the game industry has to get the Moral Majority to a point that you can show two men kissing in Dragon Age without having congressional hearings. Read more
Where I Read – Nintendo Power #39
Gargoyle’s Quest Guide
So, the spinoff to Ghouls & Ghosts has gotten a sequel. Ghouls & Ghosts, technically, has not. We get maps of the overworld map as well as some of the significant levels (including the training level – yes, there’s a training level to help you get the hang of the controls, which is rather progressive for the time). We also get maps of the areas leading up to the first castle. Read more
Where I Read – Electronic Gaming Monthly Issue 113
Our editorial from John Davidson for this issue is on some of the spectacular games they’ve gotten to play at EGM recently. Aside from Zelda, they’ve also gotten to play more of Metal Gear Solid, and they’ve gotten to play Virtua Fighter 3 on the Dreamcast. Read more
Where I Read – Nintendo Power #38
Where I Read – Electronic Gaming Monthly #107
Letters
So in the several issue gap lay 1997’s April issue, and it’s April Fool’s Day joke, which was one of the most legendary jokes in EGM since the Sheng Long cheat – the All Bonds cheat. For those who are unfamiliar, the cheat was a fake cheat that let you, unlocked a series of skins for Goldeneye 007 for every single prior official James Bond – Connery, Lazenby, Moore, and Dalton. This issue has a series of responses to the “cheat” both positive and negative. Read more
Where I Read – Nintendo Power #37
Where I Read – Electronic Gaming Monthly #98
Our editorial column this issue relates to the fairly heavy coverage that EGM has had of the Tomb Raider games. People are writing to complain because they think they’re, well, under-sexed. However, what Editorial Director Joe Funk brings up is that Lara Croft is one of the first really major video game franchise to feature a female protagonist. Yes, there was Final Fantasy VI – but to be frank that was more of an ensemble piece. I also wouldn’t consider the Valis series for this either, as it’s not a major franchise – as much as I wish it was. Read more
Where I Read – Nintendo Power #36
Where I Read – Electronic Gaming Monthly #97
No, I don’t have their 100th issue right now, so I’m going to have to skip it. Yeah, I feel bad about it to, and trust me, as gaps are filled, I will go back and do write-ups to address the missing issues of the magazine. Anyway, the magazine is evolving, and while Steve Harris is no longer with it, and Ed Semrad is only on board as their Chief Correspondent, and there’s still the matter of being hitched to the potentially debt-ridden mess that is Ziff Davis (I don’t know if it was as debt ridden then as it was at the end of the first generation of EGM). That said, Ziff Davis still has ZDTV at this time. That has to account for something right? No, it doesn’t. Thought it would be absolutely awesome if Ziff Davis had still had ZDTV around the time they launched the 1up Brand, and the 1up Show could have been an actual TV program. Ah well, such is life. Read more
Where I Read – Nintendo Power #35
Where I Read – Electronic Gaming Monthly #90
Press Start
Sony has given gamers their first look at the PlayStation Dual-Shock controller, their response to the single-analog stick on the Nintendo 64 controller. Frankly, I liked the design of the Dual Shock over the design for the N64 controller. However, I feel that the stick positioning on the later Xbox controller was superior, with the Xbox 360 being on top of the game in terms of controller design. That said, I have not had an opportunity to use the Wii yet, so I can’t compare the Wiimote and Nunchuck with the Xbox 360 controller at this time. Sony’s also putting out a new design for the PlayStation that uses the unified proprietary graphics connector that Sony has continued to use to this day. Read more
Nintendo Power Then & Now
For the issues of Nintendo Power I’ve covered thus far, the magazine is, essentially, advertising for Nintendo, but very good advertising. Rather then simply spouting marketing ad copy at the gamers (who were generally children–though the letters column has shown some adults as well), the magazine takes a different tack. Since video games are a visual medium, the magazine is a visual guide. Each featured game gets a strategy guide, often with fairly comprehensive level maps (which were no doubt expensive to make at the time), advice for beating the bosses and information on the power-ups and so on. The idea behind this, ultimately, is that you get a certain degree of familiarity with the game before you get it, and once you’ve gotten it, you have the guide to fall back on in case you get stuck and are frustrated. Read more
Where I Read – Nintendo Power #34
Yes, that’s right. I just referenced the Spice Girls.
Anyway, kids being rather selfish beings, they want lots of games or candy or cash, all that sort of thing. However, one reader can be trusted to be inventive – he wants Nintendo Power boxer shorts, he even came up with a design, which he sent with the letter. Read more
Where I Read – Electronic Gaming Monthly #84
Where I Read – Nintendo Power #33
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. Read more