Nintendo Power - August 2008 (V231) - 20th Anniversary

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botticus

CAGiversary!
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Long ass NP summary incoming!

Cover
Mad World (Wii)

...Comic?
Nester returns, older than ever. With a son.

News
Japan July releases
- Wario Land (Wii), Fatal Frame (Wii), Rhythm Tengoku (DS), Fire Emblem (DS)
Tenchu 4 (Wii)
- Ubisoft :(, developed by Acquire (first two Tenchu games)
Rune Factory Frontiers (Wii)
- 2008 Japan, US TBA
Spyborgs (Wii)
Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure (DS)
- September 2008
A Witch's Tale (DS)
- October 2008
Neopets Puzzle Adventure (Wii/DS)
- Infinite Interactive (Puzzle Quest), Wi-Fi on DS
SimCity Creator (Wii/DS)
- September 2008; Wii uses pointer, DS takes you from ancient times to present
Dokapon Kingdom (Wii)
- Fall 2008
DDR Hottest Party 2 (Wii)
- Fall 2008; Mii support
Rock Revolution (Wii/DS)
- Fall 2008
Guitar Hero: World Tour (Wii)

Wii Channels (WiiWare/VC coverage) - now with ratings (good, bad, meh)
WiiWare
Mega Man 9
- leaderboards, DLC
Critter Round-Up (meh)
Defend Your Castle (good)
Dr. Mario Online RX (good)
Family Table Tennis (good)
Protothea (bad)
Star Soldier R (meh)
Toki Tori (good)
TV Show King (good)
V.I.P. Casino: Blackjack (meh)
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King (good)
LostWinds (good)
Pop (bad)

VC
City Connection (bad)
Metal Slug (good)
Ninja Combat (meh)
SkyKid (good)

Previews
Mario Super Sluggers (Wii) - TBA [8/25, right?]
Ghostbusters (Wii/DS) - Fall 2008
- shares design (i.e. levels, I think) and voice over with HD games, cartoon visuals (looks decent, 16:9)
- Walter Peck (has no dick) is their government liason
- competitive multiplayer for up to 4 players
- DS game will be a top-down action game where you control all 4 characters and the Ecto-1
Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff (DS) - September 2008
- touch screen controls work fine, but traditional controls available, Wi-Fi
New International Track and Field (DS) - Summer 2008
Major Minor's Majestic March (Wi) - Fall 2008
Lost in Blue: Shipwrecked (Wii) - Fall 2008
MLB Power Pros 2008 (Wii/DS) - July 2008

Features
Mad World
Star Wars The Clone Wars: Lightsaber Duels (Wii)
- 1-on-1 fighting game
Star Wars The Clone Wars: Jedi Alliance (DS)
- 3rd person action-adventure
Prince of Persia: Fallen King (DS)
Tomb Raider: Underworld (Wii/DS)
Castlevania Judgment (Wii)
Shaun White Snowboarding (Wii)
WWE Smackdownn 2009 (Wii/DS)
Sonic Unleashed (Wii)
- Interview with Yoshihisa Hashimoto - producer
Best of the Best
- top 20 games for every Nintendo platform
Power Profiles - Masahiro Sakurai

Reviews
Final Fantasy IV (DS) - 9.0
Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness (DS) - 7.0
Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 (DS) - 8.5
We Love Golf! (Wi) - 8.5
Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon (Wii) - 7.5
The Incredible Hulk (DS) - 7.5
Civilization Revolution (DS) - 7.5
Rock Band (Wii) - 8.0
Carnival Games (DS) - 4.5
The Incredible Hulk (Wii) - 3.5



Mad World
Violence is so over-the-top as to be hilarious
Primarily developed for an American audience, so they've done research as to accomplish the above ^
A button for basic chainsaw attacks
B button to start finishing attacks - follow on-screen motion prompts
Additional weapons can be purchased (daggers described), with unique movesets
No puzzle stages; intended to be a game you can play for short bursts if you want
Bloodbath Challenges - minigames like Man Darts and Death Press - gambling aspect
Boss battles will be even more extravagant than the usual combat
B&W styling used to lessen the realism of the violence rather than going cartoony
Rock soundtrack
Color commentary
Looking to change the stereotype that the Wii controller isn't suited to action games

Sonic Unleashed
-2 goals: entertain with trademark spee and more-refined gameplay in 2D and 3D; new actions for Sonic
-Wii stages share the same themes with PS360 version, but different designs to take advantage of the remote. Helped by Sonic Advance 2 and Sonic Rush teams
-Same actions in different versions (I guess that means tackled on waggle): buttons for basic actions, certain actions involve motion control
-Interactive combat sequences using motion sensing in remote and nunchuk
-Quick Step (evade obstacles without slowing), Sonic Boosts (hyperaccelerate/blow up objects)
- Action-Chaining: earn more energy by stringing together actions leading to special moves and shortcuts
- QTE for branching paths like PS360
- No passage of time during levels - day and night cycles are fixed to certain events/locations
- Originally envisioned as Sonic Adventure 3
- No multiplayer or online modes


BEST OF THE BEST

Nice to see some love for DuckTales, TWEWY and NMH.

NES
1. Legend of Zelda
2. Super Mario Bros. 3
3. Mega Man 2
4. Super Mario Bros.
5. Metroid
6. Mike Tyson's Punch-Out
7. Contra
8. Super Mario Bros. 2
9. Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse
10. Ninja Gaiden
11. Mega Man 3
12. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
13. DuckTales
14. Castlevania
15. Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
16. Maniac Mansion
17. Bionic Commando
18. Dragon Warrior IV
19. Final Fantasy
20. Kid Icarus

Game Boy
1. Tetris DX
2. Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
3. Pokemon Red/Blue
4. Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons
5. Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages
6. Pokemon Gold/Silver
7. Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins
8. Donkey Kong
9. Wario Land 3
10. Kirby's Dream Land 2
11. Metal Gear Solid
12. Metroid II: Return of Samus
13. Pokemon Puzzle Challenge
14. Mega Man V
15. TMNT: Fall of the Foot Clan
16. Mario's Picross
17. Dr. Mario
18. Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters
19. Shantae
20. Operation C

SNES
1. Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past
2. Super Mario World
3. final Fantasy III
4. Super Metroid
5. Chrono Trigger
6. Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting
7. Contra III: The Alien Wars
8. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
9. Super Mario Kart
10. Super Castlevania IV
11. Mega Man X
12. Actraiser
13. TMNT IV: Turtles in Time
14. Super Punch-Out
15. Secret of Mana
16. Final Fantasy II
17. F-Zero
18. Axelay
19. Earthworm Jim
20. Pilotwings

N64
1. Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
2. Super Mario 64
3. Mario Kart 64
4. Goldeneye 007
5. Star Fox 64
6. Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
7. WWF No Mercy
8. Jet Force Gemini
9. Wave Race 64
10. Conker's Bad Fur Day
11. F-Zero X
12. Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
13. Paper Mario
14. Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber
15. Super Smash Bros.
16. Rayman 2: The Great Escape
17. Mario Golf
18. Rocket: Robot on Wheels
19. Pokemon Snap
20. Blast Corps

Game Boy Advance
1. Metroid: Zero Mission
2. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
3. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
4. Astro Boy: Omega Factor
5. Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap
6. WarioWare Inc.: Mega Microgames
7. Gunstar Super Heroes
8. Drill Dozer
9. Metroid Fusion
10. Advance Wars
11. Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire
12. Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
13. Golden Sun
14. Mega Man & Bass
15. Fire Emblem
16. Mega Man Zero 2
17. Golden Sun: The Lost Age
18. Mario Golf: Advance Tour
19. Mario vs. Donkey Kong
20. Wario Land 4

GameCube
1. Resident Evil 4
2. Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker
3. Super Smash Bros. Melee
4. Metroid Prime
5. Soul Calibur II
6. Super Mario Sunshine
7. Pikmin
8. Paper Mario: TTYD
9. Resident Evil
10. Viewtiful Joe
11. Beyond Good & Evil
12. Mario Kart: Double Dash
13. Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg
14. Luigi's Mansion
15. Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes
16. Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
17. Skies of Arcadia Legends
18. Donkey Kong Jungle Beat
19. Animal Crossing
20. Super Monkey Ball

DS
1. Elite Beat Agents
2. New Super Mario Bros.
3. Mario Kart DS
4. The World Ends With You
5. Tetris DS
6. Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
7. Contra 4
8. Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
9. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice For All
10. Sonic Rush Adventure
11. Trauma Center: Under the Knife
12. Professor Layton
13. Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
14. Advance Wars: Dual Strike
15. Pokemon Diamond/Pearl
16. Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword
17. WarioWare: Touched
18. Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
19 .Animal Crossing: World World
20. Cooking Mama

Wii
1. Super Mario Galaxy
2. Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
3. Super Smash Bros. Brawl
4. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
5. Mario Kart Wii
6. Nights: Journey of Dreams
7. Zack & Wiki
8. Wii Sports
9. No More Heroes
10. Super Paper Mario
11. Resident Evil: UC
12. WarioWare: Smooth Moves
13. Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
14. Sonic and the Secret Rings
15. Boom Blox
16. Bully: Scholarship Edition
17. Okami
18. Wii Fit
19. Trauma Center: New Blood
20. Guitar Hero III
 
So essentially Mad World is trying to become the next No More Heroes? I am in :D.

No date on Megaman 9? That stinks :cry:.

Any more info on Rhapsody for the DS? Seems interesting that they are bringing that game to the DS.
 
I need to resubscribe too, seems once my subscription lapsed, they start coming out with exclusive content...

And why is the price for Canada still 27.95 when our money is almost 1:1 with US dollar, and you don't even get to pick your choice of guides anymore
 
[quote name='DoCoMo']I need to resubscribe too, seems once my subscription lapsed, they start coming out with exclusive content...

And why is the price for Canada still 27.95 when our money is almost 1:1 with US dollar, and you don't even get to pick your choice of guides anymore[/QUOTE]

Probably because of shipping costs from the U.S. ...
 
[quote name='Travelsized']Is that saying that MM9 is going to have leaderboards and DLC (which would be weird), or is that just a generic point about WiiWare in general?[/quote]
MM9 will apparently have leaderboards and DLC.
 
[quote name='Friend of Sonic']? You don't think they've improved?[/QUOTE]

Well, I guess I don't know about the more recent years... but the GameCube and early Wii era mags have been HORRIBLE.

[quote name='pete5883']Let me guess... you were 10 years old at the time?[/QUOTE]

:lol: Yeah, those early years... but even going back to read them now, the mag was much better. The last few I read seemed full of Nintendo worshiping.
 
[quote name='Vinny']The last few I read seemed full of Nintendo worshiping.[/QUOTE]
:whistle2:k

It's the official company magazine; what'd you expect?

That said, even given the magazine's inherent bias, I find it to be a fairly decent source of information for the most part. While the previews praise everything under the sun, that's not any different than what I'd find in other magazines, and the reviews IMO don't give overinflated scores to titles. NP is certainly a better source for Nintendo news and reviews than most of the other magazines out there, some of which overtly wave their anti-Nintendo fanboy biases every chance they get (*cough*EGM*ahem*).

--R.J.
 
[quote name='anomynous']All I know is when Nintendo Power stated they weren't biased at all towards any console I stopped reading[/quote]What exactly would their bias impact in a Nintendo-specific magazine? Hell, they even recommended you buy the PS2 Okami instead of the Wii version. Not sure how much less biased you can get than that.

In the meantime they've had quite the string of nice exclusives lately, so feel free to read them in my summaries rather than the magazine itself!
 
[quote name='rjung']:whistle2:k

It's the official company magazine; what'd you expect?

--R.J.[/QUOTE]

Because during the pre-GC days, they weren't actually handing out any piece of shit game 70%-90% scores. I remember when Ocarina of Time got a 9.5 and I was all "Holy shit! This'll be one of the greatest games ever!".

And they had coverage in those days too...
 
[quote name='Vinny']Because during the pre-GC days, they weren't actually handing out any piece of shit game 70%-90% scores. I remember when Ocarina of Time got a 9.5 and I was all "Holy shit! This'll be one of the greatest games ever!".

And they had coverage in those days too...[/QUOTE]

Whoa now, I seem to recall them using pillow gloves reviewing games from the NES era. Nothing was ever 'bad'. It wasnt until the GC era that I saw a bad review. We seem to be recalling things differently.

The new NP is OK, for what it is, a Nintendo love magazine. The move to Fusion has injected more snark though.
 
Anyone who thinks Nintendo Power soft-peddles bad games and/or first-party games needs to go read their review of Donkey Kong Barrel Blast. A well-deserved evisceration IMO...

--R.J.
 
That top 20 GC list is like the worst ever. There are so many things wrong I don't even know where to start, but here are a few:

-Pikmin is on there, but Pikmin 2 is nowhere to be found
-No Baten Kaitos or Baten Kaitos 2
-No Tales of Symphonia

There are are other huge problems, like Donkey Kong Jungle Beat being lower than... most of the rest of the list.

I'm not really sure how they got the GC list so wrong, when I can at least see the other systems lists as being reasonable choices.
 
You guys realize those lists are based on opinions? Of course they will differ from what you like. They can't get the list "wrong" when it's based on opinion. It's opinion. Maybe Justice For All is on instead of Trials and Tribulations because they like JFA more. Who knows.

And for everyone saying magazine used to be better or is better now, don't forget that the internet changed/ruined game magazines. EGM and GamePro used to be A LOT better back in the early-mid 90's, and now they suck. Part of it could be because they don't cover as much anymore, like news and more game previews because everything is available right away online. Kinda sucks. NP was pretty decent in the SNES era, and right now it's my favourite among the game magazines since I own a Wii and DS. I guess it depends on the style or writing and magazine layout you prefer that will decide whom gets your money each month.

I'll have to pick up this issue asap. I tried buying a dirt cheap sub from a magazine dealer online, but I don't know if it will go through, though my $10 sub for 3 years of Maximum PC went through (same publisher). :)
 
I'm fairly certain I read Nintendo Power from the first issue and I always found it to be fairly useless for its reviews (big surprise), but very useful for its previews, hints, and walk-throughs (this back in the NES/SNES days).

Of course, as someone above pointed out, the Internet has killed most of its usefulness, sadly.
 
All you people complaining about the reviews need to actually pick up a magazine from the last year (especially since the Future US takeover) and read it. This is not your Father's Nintendo Power. They have no problem handing out mediocre scores to games that deserve them.

Ever since the re-launch, Nintendo Power has consistently been great. I wish people would actually read the damn magazine before they get on the internet and whine about it...
 
my question is when did Chris Slate sign on as Editor-in-Chief for NP? I consider it a good thing, but am surprised that he left PSM (after 10+years) for this...
 
[quote name='ddp72984']my question is when did Chris Slate sign on as Editor-in-Chief for NP? I consider it a good thing, but am surprised that he left PSM (after 10+years) for this...[/QUOTE]

I believe he took over when the magazine became the property of Future US.

That's right, if you didn't know, it's no longer published by Nintendo.
 
[quote name='Vinny']Because during the pre-GC days, they weren't actually handing out any piece of shit game 70%-90% scores. I remember when Ocarina of Time got a 9.5 and I was all "Holy shit! This'll be one of the greatest games ever!".

And they had coverage in those days too...[/QUOTE]
There's tons of games in the last year, or two years, where they've been more harsh on the games than some other multiplatform reviewers. IIRC, some Pokemon game got a 6.5. I think that's worth mentioning as evidence that NP isn't always suckling Nintendo games.
 
Let see how many nintendo games i owned :)

Game Boy Advance
1. Metroid: Zero Mission
2. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
3. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
4. Astro Boy: Omega Factor
5. Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap
6. WarioWare Inc.: Mega Microgames
7. Gunstar Super Heroes
8. Drill Dozer
9.
10. Advance Wars
11. Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire
12. Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance
13. Golden Sun
14. Mega Man & Bass
15. Fire Emblem
16. Mega Man Zero 2
17. Golden Sun: The Lost Age
18. Mario Golf: Advance Tour
19. Mario vs. Donkey Kong
20. Wario Land 4

GameCube
1.
2. Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker
3. Super Smash Bros. Melee
4. Metroid Prime
5. Soul Calibur II
6. Super Mario Sunshine
7. Pikmin
8. Paper Mario: TTYD
9.
10. Viewtiful Joe
11.
12. Mario Kart: Double Dash
13. Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg
14. Luigi's Mansion
15. Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes
16.
17.
18. Donkey Kong Jungle Beat
19. Animal Crossing
20. Super Monkey Ball

DS
1. Elite Beat Agents
2. New Super Mario Bros.
3. Mario Kart DS
4. The World Ends With You
5.
6. Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
7.
8. Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
9. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice For All
10.
11. Trauma Center: Under the Knife
12. Professor Layton
13. Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
14. Advance Wars: Dual Strike
15. Pokemon Diamond/Pearl
16. Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword
17. WarioWare: Touched
18. Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
19 .Animal Crossing: World World
20.

Wii
1. Super Mario Galaxy
2. Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
3. Super Smash Bros. Brawl
4.
5. Mario Kart Wii
6.
7. Zack & Wiki
8. Wii Sports
9.
10. Super Paper Mario
11.
12.
13. Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
14. Sonic and the Secret Rings
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.

Still need to buy more Wii games ;)
 
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