Where I Read – Nintendo Power #13 (Strategy Guide #1)

This week, as the next issue of Nintendo Power I’m covering is a strategy guide, I’m going to do a review of the guide and then a review for that game. Now, I’m not going to necessarily do full playthroughs of all these games, particularly since some of these are RPGs (and thus entail grinding), or are just really long. I’ll do what I can, though. Usually these games are classics as well, so the reviews will more be my impressions about the game and general remberances. Due to length issues, I probably won’t have YouTube videos for these reviews, as I suspect my coverage will be longer than YouTube’s 10 minute time limit. We’ll see.

Well, the guide itself is shorter than we normally consider strategy guides to be – only 85 pages long. However, considering the length of the game and the size of the levels, this isn’t too unreasonable. The guide starts off with techniques first, before moving on to the level maps. We get information on Mario’s various moves & power-ups. The guide poo-poos the over-world items of the Anchor (which makes the Koopa’s airship stand still) & Music Box (which makes the Hammer Brothers stand still) though, which I disagree with. I’d spent a few occasions desperately chasing down the Koopa airship after having beaten all the levels, unable to catch the bloody thing. Similarly, I’ve had a few occasions where I really didn’t want to fight the Hammer Brothers, and found the Music Box very useful at avoiding them (or getting them to hold still so I could catch them if I wanted to take them on.) Continue reading →

Video games, Where I Read

Where I Read – Electronic Gaming Monthly #50

The EGM recaps continue with isue #50, for September of 1993. Oh, what a cover story we have this issue! In this corner, we have Street Fighter II Turbo. In the other corner, we have Mortal Kombat – the two franchises that will define fighting games in the United States for the next few years. Once again, as a reminder, this issue is rather long at approximately 197 pages. So let’s begin, or, rather (considering the fighting game cover) – Fight!

Editorial: This issue’s editorial from Ed Semrad covers the differences between the SNES and Genesis versions of Mortal Kombat – the SNES version has all the good stuff (blood, some of the fatalities, etc.) removed, while the Genesis version is as close as possible to an arcade quality port for a home console system. Unfortunately, what is the gamer to do – shut up and take it. Unfortunately, the kind of multiple-console releases we see a lot of in the modern generation of gaming (and the one prior) had significantly more titles getting multi-platform releases than the 16-bit era, where, at this point in the generation, multi-platform releases were relatively new – not to mention the problems with Nintendo penalizing developers and publishers who went multi-platform. Now, this might be a good place to say that censorship places artistic restrictions on games – but at this point in gaming’s history the “Games as Art” movement didn’t exist particularly, so if you wanted to reference a title where content restrictions would restrict the kind of stories that could be told, you’d have to go to import games – for example, the Shin Megami Tensei series of games (which most US gamers wouldn’t know about anyway). So, we have a dilemma. Continue reading →

Video games, Where I Read

Where I Read – GamePro #35

So, onwards with our GamePro recaps. Our next issue is #35 for June of 1992. This issue is at a semi-average length of 117 pages long, and it’s cover story is Taz-Mania for the Genesis. That’s right, it’s the early 90s, and now the Tazmanian Devil has the most marketing muscle of the Looney Toones. Not Bugs, not Daffy, not Tweety, not Sylvester, not Porky, not Elmer.

Editorial: Well, they’ve changed the rating system again, from a 5 point system to a 10 point system. Sort of. It’s more a 5 point system with half-points in-between. I’m more of a integer guy myself. To make things a little easier, they’ve also stopped giving a “point” score for difficulty, instead giving a brief descriptor – which is good, because on the number system difficulty was working on an entirely different scale from everything else. Well, we’ll see how the new system works out. Oh, and they’ve also added a new sports section, instead of doing semi-annual sports issues.

Mail: Our first letter is related to cross compatability between Phillips CD-I system and Nintendo’s “upcoming” SNES disk system, and rumors of plans for a color GameBoy. I suspect Nintendo is working on a Color Game Boy, though I know we don’t get it until around 1998-ish, and Sushi-X wants one even more than he wants a ninja pony. Also, they get called on a slight goof on their April issue, when they billed Jordan Vs. Bird as being for the SNES instead of being for the Genesis. We also get a letter bitching about Nintendo not putting out a 8-Bit converter for bringing NES games to the SNES (speaking of a pony), and a letter wanting to contact some of the “GamePros”. I still find obfuscating the reviewers identies through the use of false identites a little questionable – it feels like they’re trying to build popular identities for various writers and get readers to follow them, but to do it in such a way that the writers are disposable, and possibly making it difficult for writers to find work elsewhere, because the writers themselves aren’t actually getting credited for their work. Now, I could be (and I hope I am) totally wrong, but that’s the impression that editorial decision gives me. Continue reading →

Video games, Where I Read

Where I Read – Nintendo Power #12

Well, we have now come to the end of Nintendo Power’s second year, with significant changes to come in the magazines’s second year (with it basically becoming a monthly magazine – sort of). This issue (#12 for May-June of 1990) is, as it’s almost always been, of average length for a magazine about 100 pages long, and our cover story is Super C. Once again, we also get some of Nintendo Power’s great cover art. I just want to stress this again – Nintendo Power, when it brings it’s A-Game (as it’s doing right now) puts out better cover art than any contemporanious video game magazine.

Letters: We get a question about why a game costs $40-50 when it only takes 10% of that to manufacture the game (basically, it’s because of all the work that goes into the programming of the game, and the game testing needed to make sure the game works). We also get questions about getting the magazine in a French language edition for Quebec (the person writing the letter reads, speaks and writes french fluently, but his English isn’t nearly as good). Well, considering the small size of the market in Quebec, it’s not economical for Nintendo Power to produce a French edition for just that market and they a similar thing for Spanish. Something tells me that might change in the modern US. While the US isn’t actually a bi-lingual nation, there are enough people who learned Spanish before they learned any other languages to make it feasable. Continue reading →

Video games, Where I Read

Where I Read – Electronic Gaming Monthly #49

Now we continue onwards with our EGM recaps, with EGM #49 for August of 1993. Our cover story for this issue is the mascot platformer Aero the Acrobat, and the issue is 181 pages long.

Editorial: Summer CES is coming, and with it our first glimpses at everyone’s christmas lineups (though Tokyo Game Show and E3 have taken this niche more recently, with game content kind of disappearing from CES, after CES went to one show a year, instead of two).

Letters: We get a letter talking about how great the last CES was, and how awesome EGM’s booth was (flattery will get you everywhere). Also, we get a question about Street Fighter II: Championship Edition for the Genesis becoming the Special Championship Edition instead (short version, they’re getting the extra content from the SNES version, like Cammy, Thunder Hawk, and Dee-Jay. We also have a guy complaining about Sega’s upcoming game rating system – they’re not censoring the games you dolt, they’re just putting ratings on them, like there are on movies. Oh, and get used to ratings on games, because Sega’s rating system, with a few alterations, is the rating system we have today. Tough rocks, pal. Also, it’s likely that the Turbo Duo version of Street Fighter II won’t be coming out in the states, which is unfortunate. If it had gotten Street Fighter II (and possibly Mortal Kombat), it might have helped help keep the system going longer (particularly if it was a good port of the game) Continue reading →

Video games, Where I Read

Where I Read – GamePro #34

Well, we continue with the GamePro recaps with issue 34, for May of 1992. Our cover story is Splatterhouse II for the Genesis (though they forget the Roman numeral). The issue is pretty short, about 100 pages long.

Editorial: actually has some content, in this case regarding Nintendo’s decision to increase the amount of carts they’re letting their licencees put out for the SNES, with, basically, GamePro’s editorial staff saying this doesn’t matter, because it’s still not providing variety, with multiple, for example Golf carts coming out the same time (which is, by the way, a horrible example – these different golf carts often have a variety of courses with no overlap between them. Frankly, in my opinion, different genres of games have different thresholds for overkill. For example, you can probably get away with 2-3 different football (or soccer, for that matter) series, and I’d say that having that variety is a good thing. By having multiple football franchises, the developers have to work to make their game different, and generally work on improving their game, and working to build a better football game. When that happens, everyone wins. On the other hand, I’d say that the games market can support 7-8 ninja based action-platformers, because there’s a lot of different ways you can use ninja in your games. You can tell a post-apocalypic story, you can have the modern vigilante ninja, the urban fantasy demon-hunting ninja, the Sengoku/Jidagaki period ninja, etc. I’m not saying all these games will be good, but I am saying that the market can handle this many games without hitting saturation. Continue reading →

Video games, Where I Read

Where I Read – Nintendo Power #11

So, our Nintendo Power recaps continue and, since yesterday’s recap of EGM was filling a gap in the issues I’ve reviewed, I’d say I’m catching up. The fact that Nintendo Power is, at this point in it’s life, bi-monthly helps make it easier for it to catch up. This issue of Nintendo Power, for example (#11), is the second-to-last issue of it’s second year, and brings us into 1990. I’m still 2-3 years behind everyone else, but if it stays as bi-monthly for a few more years of the magazine’s life, I’ll be able to catch up more quickly. Anyway, this issue is about 102 pages long, and features Super Mario Bros 3 on the cover. No, the game isn’t going to be my Quality Control pick. It’s Super Mario Bros 3, of course it’s going to be good. Nor will Silent Service be my pick – I played the crap out of it when I was a kid and I loved it. So, maybe something else will be my pick.

(Opens the magazine) I just had to open my big mouth. Nintendo Power is now, essentially, going monthly. They magazine proper is now going monthly, but now they’re doing special strategy guide issues in the down months. Being that the magazine already is heavy on the strategy guides, which thus basically serve as marketing by showing how cool the games are… things just got busy. Unless I can’t find copies of the strategy guide issues, then it’s business as usual. (Looks online) Yep, I can find the strategy guides. Well then, I’ll be recapping those. Depending on how the strategy guides work out, I may have to adjust my criteria for the Quality Control columns then. We’ll see. Continue reading →

Video games, Where I Read

Where I Read – Electronic Gaming Monthly #12

Well, we’ve got another slight break in my unbroken streak of EGM. Alas, alack, the world is lost… er, no, not really. The reason we’re doing the break in the series of more recent issues is because I now have EGM #12 for July of 1990, which will fill some of that gap I’ve got between issues 6 and 16 (or at the very least, wrap up the first volume of the magazine. Just to give you a reminder of where we are, chronologically, the first ad of the magazine is from Tengen, with a 2 page spread, advertising releases (on the black, unlicenced cartridges) of NES versions of first party (and classic 3rd party) Sega games, like Shinobi, After Burner, Rolling Thunder, and Fantasy Zone. This amuses me to no end. Anyway, this issue is actually pretty short, only 82 pages long (shorter than some Nintendo Power issues).

Editorial: We’re starting off with further discussion by Steve Harris of the article they ran 4 issues ago (which would be issue 8, which I don’t have yet) comparing the Genesis and TurboGrafx-16, and explaining why they published the article. Now, I need to hunt down issue #8 so I can find out what all the fuss was about. Continue reading →

Video games, Where I Read

Where I Read – GamePro #33

Well, the streak of GamePro issues continues unabated. The next issue of GamePro is issue 33 for April of 1992, featuring Michael Jordan (who is not wearing a number on his uniform in this picture) on the cover. This issue is, again, fairly short – about 100 pages long.

Editorial: Finally we get some actual journalism in the editorial, relating to responses to questions posed to Nintendo of America regarding the SNES. First, related to the lack of backwards compatability, and whether or not an adapter will be shipped to allow older NES games to be played – they consider it inappropriate to sell an add-on adapter, instead we include all the cables necessary to play both (thus, if you sold your NES to upgrade to the SNES, and hoped for backwards compatibilty like the Genesis or TurboGrafx systems, we can make more money off you when you buy a new NES.) Also, some SNES games around launch have been experiencing slowdown and other framerate drops – this is because of the systems 4 CPUs working togeather to provide a superior graphical experience (in other words, it’s not a bug, it’s a feature – I thought Nintendo had actually learned something from the last video game crash, and all the crappy, buggy games being put out by companies like Intellivision, which is the company that coined the phrase). They also hype their CD-ROM add-on, which never comes out. Now, they don’t do the next step here, which is draw the necessary conclusions (Nintendo of America is an asshole), and respond as appropriate – Nintendo hasn’t changed their tune, in spite of their settlement with the FTC. However, from what I understand, the Debug systems that they use to review the pre-release code for games are basically property of Nintendo, so if they do say thing negative, in theory Nintendo could pull the consoles, and they wouldn’t be able to review games until months after they’d hit shelves, potentially killing them. Continue reading →

Video games, Where I Read

Where I Read – Nintendo Power #10

We’re on to issue #10 of Nintendo Power, for January of 1990. It’s a new year, a new decade, but not a new volume, though we’ve got a new hand-held system coming out. Our cover story for this issue is for the Batman game, featuring The Dark Knight small and in the background, and Jack Nichelson’s Clown Prince Of Crime large and in the foreground. Well, much like in The Dark Knight, it’s the Joker who steals the show. This issue’s a little longer than the last one, about 100 pages long.

Letters: We’re starting off with letters about the changes to Mario’s nose – and accusations of plastic surgery? *headdesk*

Batman Strategy Guide: Excuse me for a minute while I break out my Danny Elfman playlist (a track by Mystic Knights of The Oingo Boingo starts playing) No, the other Danny Elfman playlist! (Elfman’s main title for Batman starts playing). Much better! Anyway, we get maps of some if the first few stages (1 through 3), as well as notes on the last two episodes (4 and 5). Not much else here. They don’t even have any notes on what the power-ups do. Admittedly, often times these notes will be included in the manual, but it’s still useful to have that information in the magazine article, as the magazine is physically larger than the manual, making it a little more difficult to lose the magazine. Continue reading →

Video games, Where I Read

Where I Read – Electronic Gaming Monthly #48

Well, we’re starting off this issue of EGM, number 48 (we have continuity again!) for July of 1993, off with one of the magazine’s first gatefold covers, featuring the sequel to Desert Strike – Jungle Strike, as well as the upcoming Jurassic Park games, with the cover opening up to reveal basically a 2-page spread of Jungle Strike art. By the way, after the rather small last issue of GamePro, this issue of EGM is absolutely gargantuan, weighing in at 183 pages.

Editorial: This issue Steve basically has a discussoion of what he seeas as the state of the industry, commenting that bigger and better thigns are to come, and giving his thanks to the people who have helped the magazine get this far. If I didn’t know better, I’d say that Steve was moving on or something, from the tone of the editorial column – but I know better. Continue reading →

Video games, Where I Read

Where I Read – GamePro #32

The Cover of GamePro #32

Well, while our EGM Recaps are getting broken up, our GamePro streak is, fortunately, continuing unbroken and unabated with issue 32, covering March of 1992. Our cover story is, not surprisingly for this period in game history, Street Fighter II. Unsurprisingly for this magazine, their cover art of Ryu, Guile, and Chun Li, which is done in-house, is god-freaking-awful. I’m looking forward to when Nintendo Power covers this period, as their in-house art has been, thus far, excellent, and I’m looking forward to their coverage of Street Fighter II (if there is any – I hope there is). This issue’s actually pretty short for gaming mags of the early 90s, only 98 pages long.

Letters to the Editor: We start off with a letter asking if there are plans to put out something similar to the Game Genie for the Genesis. Why yes, there is, it’s called the Pro Action Replay which, unlike the Game Genie, is still around. The Game Genie, on the other hand, didn’t survive the 16-bit generation, and was replaced by the GameShark – both of which are now obsolete, with now replacements, meaning that if you can’t beat a controller-breakingly hard game – tough rocks. We also have questions about what you can spend the $5 rebate you’re getting (as part of the weak-sauce damages that Nintendo has to pay out) on – you can only spend it on games. Which makes it even more pathetic. I’d bet that the $5 damages would probably cover not the licencing fees that Nintendo gets from the publishers, but rather the cut the publishers would be making on the game sales. We also get a letter asking when any winter sports games will be coming out for the Genesis or TG-16, mentioning specifically snowboarding. I don’t think we get a Snowboarding game at all until the 21st century. Continue reading →

Video games, Where I Read

Where I Read – Nintendo Power #9

The cover of Nintendo Power #9

Alrighty then. Our Nintendo Power recaps take us to November & December of 1989 and issue #9 – the halfway point of Nintendo Power’s 2nd year. Their cover story is one heckuva title, and one which I’ve already talked about previously, at least the history of it – Tetris. Again, Nintendo Power is, at this point in its life (and I think in general), rather small, only about 100 pages long.

Letters: Of note this issue is a letter from a 75-year old retiree, with a poem about playing Legend of Zelda. We also get letters about the NES not recognizing that a cartridge is in it, or not reading the cartridge properly – thus the power light is flickering on and on. Fortunately, Nintendo makes cleaning kits to help you clean out the dust. Well… that’s part of it. There’s one other little thing… because the NES basically decided to design the system so it looks like a VCR (or a Betamax player), instead of using the top loading model of the Famicom, the system has problems with pins getting bent on it. This is something Nintendo doesn’t go into in this letter, and I don’t think it’s anything they ever acknowledge in the pages of Nintendo Power, except maybe when they launch the later top loading NES later. Continue reading →

Video games, Where I Read

Where I Read – Electronic Gaming Monthly #47

Alas, we have another gap in our EGM reviews for this week, as we move on to EGM #47 for June of 1993. But, fear not, this issue has one heck of a cover story – Mortal Kombat. The cover art itself could be a little better though, but we’ll leave that aside. This issue’s a big one too – almost 197 pages long.

Editorial: The editorial this issue is about probably one of the biggest stories of the console wars, at least with regards to third party publishers – Capcom has signed on with Sega, specifically to publish Street Fighter II: Championship Edition (the current build in arcades) for the Genesis before putting it out for the SNES. However, just to convolute things further, Capcom also announced they’d be putting out the next version of Street Fighter 2, titled Super Street Fighter II: Turbo on the SNES exclusively – which could potentially undermine the Genesis version of the game. Well, we’ll see how this turns out, ultimately. Oh, and there’s still the matter of the difference between the home versions of Mortal Kombat, the red, wet version… Continue reading →

Video games, Where I Read

Where I Read – GamePro #31

The Cover of GamePro #31

We continue with our GamePro recaps with issue 31 for February of 1992. Finally, we get 3 consecutive issues in a row. Hurray! May the streak be long and fruitful. This issue is fairly short – about 140 pages long, with a cover story of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III for the NES, which will hopefully get a bit more coverage than Hook got last issue (as a reminder, Hook got about 2 pages last issue). We also get an ad for Golden Axe II featuring a painting by Boris Vallejo, which is nice looking.

Editorial: No specific topic for the editorial column this issue, just a list of things that are to come and may be to come in 1992. They don’t really go into too many specifics, just a list. Meh. Continue reading →

Video games, Where I Read

Where I Read – Nintendo Power #8

Our Nintendo Power recaps continue with issue #8, for September of 1989. Our cover story is Duck Tales. I must admit that I haven’t played any of the Disney platformers, and I’ve heard very good things about this one, so which gives this high marks early on for my Quality Control game. Now, we could get other games this issue which interest me even more. We don’t have a lot to cover this issue, as it’s only about 100 pages long. So, let’s move on, shall we?

Letters: We start out with a letter from a family who ran over their NES with their ’84 Cadillac, but was able to open it up, and the system still worked. Unfortunately, that doesn’t settle those problems with the pins getting bent, a problem that the top-loding systems didn’t have.

Duck Tales Strategy Guide: Well, after a very small letters column, we move on to our strategy guide for Duck Tales, and get maps for the Amazon Jungle, Transylvania, the African Mines (presumably meant to be King Solomon’s mines with the Serial Numbers filed off). We also get strategies for beating the Inca king (the boss of the Amazon level), the King of the Terra-Fermies (from the Himayalas stage – which we don’t get a map for), and Magica De Spell (from the Transylvania stage). Continue reading →

Video games, Where I Read

Where I Read – Electronic Gaming Monthly #44

Cover of EGM #44

With this installment of my EGM recaps, I encounter yet another gap in my archive, 3 issues long this time, bringing me to issue #44 for March of 1993, and we’ve got one heck of a cover story – Starfox, which I would say is number 5 on Nintendo’s top 5 first party franchises. The others, would, by the way, be Mario, Zelda, Metroid, and Pokemon, in no particular order. Oh, and this little fighting game from the arcades called Mortal Kombat has come to home consoles, but that franchise isn’t going any where, is it? (That was, by the way, sarcasm.) This issue is 163 pages long, which is down a fair bit from the previous issues that were nearly 200 pages long.

Insert Coin – Editorial: Well, CES has come and gone, and Nintendo won. Sega didn’t particularly have any playable demos of their games there (particularly for the Sega CD), and the ones they did were ones with cartridge graphics but CD music (not that there’s anything wrong with that – I’m playing Suikoden right now on the PS1, and that description sums up that game fairly well). Further, their existing peripherals (the Menacer) isn’t getting any new games, and they didn’t have any games to go with their Activator motion controller (though, to be fair, the Activator is probably up there with the Power Glove in terms of ambitious motion controllers that didn’t quite work). Continue reading →

Video games, Where I Read

Where I Read – GamePro #30

The Cover for GamePro #30

Alright then, on to our next issue of GamePro – issue 30 for January of 1992. Our cover story is for the Hook licenced game. Being that movie licenced games tend to suck, I’m wondering about this game more than a little bit. I also recall that GamePro also did a cover story for Enter The Matrix. Hopefully, if the game sucks, they’ll have the guts to give it an appropriate score. Anyway, this issue is about 178 pages long.

Advertising wise, we start off with a 4-page gatefold ad for Konami games. Whew, there’s something you don’t see in gaming magazines anymore. Maybe a 2-page gatefold, but not a 4-page gatefold – which is actually a bit of a shame, because in this era of gaming magazines, we had a lot of decent ads, at least, jus t going from memory they had a lot of decent ads. We also get an Genesis vs. SNES ad, hyping the Genesis’ larger game library, compared to the SNES’ game library – which isn’t entirely fair, as the Genesis has been out significantly longer than the SNES. Continue reading →

Uncategorized, Video games, Where I Read

Where I Read: Nintendo Power #7

The Cover of Nintendo Power #7

Well, Nintendo Power has begun its second year, and it’s starting off rather nicely, with a Mega Man II cover story, with some rather nice sculpture work on the cover. The magazine is still bi-monthly though, and it’s also significantly shorter than the past few issues, with it only being 100 pages long-ish.

Mailbag: Of note this issue is a leter about hard working gamer who put built his own arcade cabinet using at TV, a NES, two NES Advantage sticks, and, of course, his own arcade cabinet framework. He even painted the sides. Very nice. They’ve also moved their Power Players spotlight to the front, but as it’s basically people hyping how awesome a gamer they are, I’m skippingthis. I really don’t need to cover people showing of their E-Wangs (which is the same reason, basically, why I don’t cover high score lists as well). Continue reading →

Video games, Where I Read

Where I Read: Electronic Gaming Monthly #40

The Cover of EGM #40

Next up on the EGM Recaps is issue #40, for November of 1992. The cover story for this issue takes us a long time ago, to a galaxy far, far away, meaning Super Star Wars for the SNES. This issue is pretty big, weighing in at (approximately) a whopping 277 pages long (not including Electronic Boutique’s catalog, which I’m skipping). Ellis Peters’ Brother Cadfael novel The Summer of the Danes is shorter than that (224 pages). Our first ad of note in the issue is for Contra Force, the last NES Contra game.

Insert Coin – Editorial: Well, the topic of the issue this time is Video Game Piracy. Thanks to new accessories that allow you to copy game information right off the cartridge, piracy has moved form the PC realm to the Console realm as well. However, EGM is taking a stand against piracy, and if you come across a retailer selling the hardware used to pirate games, send the information to EGM at a certain address, and they’ll do something unspecified. Now, as I’ve mentioned, most of my Quality Controls are recorded using an Emulator. Basically, my stance on emulation is this – if you can get the game legally, at a price you can afford, then do it. I don’t have a Wii, so Virtual Console is not an option for me. If I did have a Wii, I’d be using Virtual Console for any game on Quality Control that’s listed on Virtual Console, and I’d be recording the video using a capture card. But I don’t have a Wii, so I can’t. So, that said, buy the cartridge, if you can find it. You’ll be supporting your fellow gamer in this tough economic times, and it will also (hopefully) build the market for 3rd party retro console machines like this baby from Think Geek, that lets you play both NES and SNES games. Who knows – if this sells well, once the patents expire we might get a similar gadget for the TurboGrafx-16 (& CD-ROM), and Sega Genesis (and Sega CD, and 32X). Continue reading →

Video games, Where I Read

Where I Read – GamePro #29

Continuing with our GamePro recaps, I’ve got another substantial gap in the archive, this one 11 issues wide, taking me from issue 18, to issue 29, for December of 1991. Our cover stories this issue are GamePro’s upcoming TV show and Bart vs. The World for the NES. This issue’s also 173 pages long (approximately), shorter than contemporary issues of EGM. Though, if I keep getting gaps like this, I’ll end up risking getting ahead of EGM. Well, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. So, as quick historical note – over the course of this 11 issue gap, the SNES came out, taking the 16-bit console war from a 1-on-1 competition between NEC’s TurboGrafx 16 and the Sega Genesis to a 3-way dance. Further Tengen and Nintendo’s differences had become irreconcilable, with Atari/Tengen leaving Nintendo forever, in favor of the Genesis and Game Gear. Continue reading →

Video games, Where I Read

Where I Read – Nintendo Power Issue #6

Nintendo Power #6 Cover

Moving on to our next issue of Nintendo Power, issue number 6, for May and June of 1989, bringing the magazine’s first year to a close. Our cover story is a 10 page feature on the first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle game. Being that this issue is 119 pages long, that’s not insignificant. We’re also getting additional coverage of Bayou Billy, more coverage of Ninja Gaiden, and the results of the Nester Awards voting.

Letters: Not as much of interest this time, though we do get a compliment for the excellent service from the Nintendo Game Councelors. Continue reading →

Where I Read

Where I Read – Electronic Gaming Monthly Issue #39

Cover for EGM #39

We’ve got a 1 issue gap in my EGM issue count. Specifically we’re missing issue 38. No biggie. Unlike this issue, which is over 200 pages long! (You see what I did there?) Our cover story is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV – except now it’s coming to the Genesis. The FTC said “Mr. Lincoln tear down this wall!” and (though it was to avoid major financial damages) he did. This issue was published October of 1992. Our first ad of the issue is for Konami’s port of King’s Quest V for the NES. That’s right we’re still getting NES games even though the SNES has been out for quite some time.

Insert Coin – Editorial: EGM has done it’s second major re-structuring of it’s run, particularly with some new columns and so forth, as well as changing some of the look of the magazine. However, they’re still committed to provide the best of games journalism. Continue reading →

Where I Read

Where I Read – GamePro #18

Cover for GamePro #18

Well, I’ve got another gap in my GamePro issues, with our next issue being 8 months ahead, with issue 18 (or rather Volume 2 Issue 6). This issue was published in January of 1991, and weighs in at about 148 pages long. This is their annual sports issue, though their last one was about 11 months ago. I guess they either didn’t want to wait until February and possibly miss the super-bowl, or all the big sports games were coming out this month, and they didn’t want to be behind the curve – reasonable.

We get a pair of similar ads for a couple of fantasy RPGs for the NES – Dungeon Magic: Sword of the Elements from Taito, and Swords & Serpents from Acclaim.

Editorial: GamePro’s looking for a few good critics, and by a few I mean 250 new staff members. These staff members will be asked several times a year to evaluate games based on their rating system of Gameplay, Graphics, Sound, Challenge, and Fun Factor. In return – you get GamePro swag. Uh-huh. Continue reading →

Breaking it all Down

Dissecting Everything Since 2008

Category Archives: Where I Read

Where I Read – Nintendo Power #13 (Strategy Guide #1)

Where I Read – Electronic Gaming Monthly #50

Where I Read – GamePro #35

Where I Read – Nintendo Power #12

Where I Read – Electronic Gaming Monthly #49

Where I Read – GamePro #34

Where I Read – Nintendo Power #11

Where I Read – Electronic Gaming Monthly #12

Where I Read – GamePro #33

Where I Read – Nintendo Power #10

Where I Read – Electronic Gaming Monthly #48

Where I Read – GamePro #32

Where I Read – Nintendo Power #9

Where I Read – Electronic Gaming Monthly #47

Where I Read – GamePro #31

Where I Read – Nintendo Power #8

Where I Read – Electronic Gaming Monthly #44

Where I Read – GamePro #30

Where I Read: Nintendo Power #7

Where I Read: Electronic Gaming Monthly #40

Where I Read – GamePro #29

Where I Read – Nintendo Power Issue #6

Where I Read – Electronic Gaming Monthly Issue #39

Where I Read – GamePro #18