Issue 1 - July-August 1988 - Super Mario Bros. 2
Nintendo was a few years old by this point. Super Mario Bros. was 3 years old, Zelda 1 had been out a while and Punch-Out!! was fresh. Mario 2 was set to come out that fall and Nintendo Power had the scoop.
Table of Contents -
If anyone wants me to talk about anything in specific in here, let me know and I'll do my best.
The Mario 2 section goes into very specific detail about how to beat the first two worlds. I always thought this game got a bad rap - it had some really unique and novel ideas for its time. Different characters, lots of secrets, shadow world, unique and classic enemies -- I liked this game a lot. There's nothing really noteworthy about this section though.
The real star of issue 1? dat map
This map. This map. This was like my bible back in the day.
Top 30 -
Even at 8 years old, I was obsessed with video game popularity. One time I took all my Nintendo Powers and cut out the Top 30s and made a book. Yeah. Notable stuff - Castlevania and Mega Man so low, Ice Hockey and Rad Racer so high. Zelda will be #1 or #2 for like 400 issues in a row. When Character Battles came around and Link beat Mario, it never surprised me because of this magazine. Zelda was always more popular than Mario.
Counselor's Corner -
These hints are so useless. I love it.
Classified Information -
The Konami Code was unleashed to the world on this day. Talk about a seminal moment. Also in this issue - Punch-Out!!'s Another World Circuit, Arkanoid's Continue and Stage Select,
This was a seminal first issue. Nostalgia? Definitely.
--
xyzzy