Playing With Power

Playing With Power – Nintendo Power #6

T-U-R-T-L-E POWER!  By the middle of 1989, we were in the middle of a turtle craze that would last for arguably the next 10+ years.  Originally seen in an ad in the last issue of the Nintendo Fun Club News, the first video game based on the Teenage Muntant Ninja Turtles had released and was the cover feature of the magazine.  Looking back now it is definately the most unique of the games bsaed on the licence but at the time this was the only way to play out the characters we watched every Saturday morning.

In the last issue we saw the nominees for the first annual Nester awards and this issue has the results! Not surprisingly, the awards are dominated by Mario and Zelda, with Castlevania 2 sneaking in with a win for sound and graphics, but who can argue with the results when the games selected are all excellent?!  After a few other game features, we get to see the first look at a Mega Man game.  While the first game saw some mild success, the second game and third games got the full Nintendo Power treatment in the first few years of the magazine which I think helped the franchise reach the popularity that it did.

Something new this issue is a fan fiction story about a kid who can climb in to his TV and live out his video games.  I remember reading this story as a kid and dreaming it could be a reality.  Sure, it’s not a great story now but to 8 year old me it was a grand adventure I could only wish for.

Something I haven’t mentioned so far in this series is the contest the magazine would hold each month.  As the magazine would continue and the popularity of Nintendo would grow, the prizes would be more elaborate but this issue’s contest always made me laugh.  The third place prize was Nintendo Power jersey like as it was most months and second place was an autographed copy of WWF Wrestlmania so first place must be something really great if it is the prize over a new game right?  Nope, first place price is a 10-speed bike.  I always wanted to know who decided that a kid reading this magazine would want a bike over a new Nintendo game!

Finally, way in the back of the magazine is a small preview of the thing that would help keep Nintendo going for the next 20 years….the Game Boy.  It is a preview written along side the U-Force and the Power Glove so I do wonder if Nintendo had any idea just how much of a revolution their little system would be or if they were intending on it being a new thing that would run it’s course in the next few years and fade out like so many other handheld consoles.

Next time, we celebrate the 1st anniversary of the magazine with a few fun additions to the regular magazine.  Look for it soon but until then……

Play with power!