Nintendo Power magazine, the official monthly publication of Nintendo of America, was discontinued to the disappointment of fans across the U.S. in 2012. Since then, loyal readers have reminisced about the magazine's history, and avid collectors have sought to compile their own library of Nintendo Power history.
In the video above we take a look back at some of our favourite and most memorable issues of Nintendo Power, which spanned over more than two decades and covered every Nintendo system launch from the Super Nintendo Entertainment System to the Wii U. We hope you enjoy this trip through gaming history!
Video: The Most Memorable Issues of Nintendo Power
Now you're playing with power
Comments 24
The intro to the video confused me for a second. lol
I really miss Nintendo Power. It represented a lot of my childhood.
I prefer my NL videos to be hosted by people with pet snakes.
@flapjackashley2 I miss it too. And I'm still pissed at them for giving Fragile Dreams a 5.5.
The best NP cover goes to issue #2 with Castlevania II on the cover.
A NL VIDEO WITHOUT ALEX? WHAT HAS THIS WORLD COME TO?
Jokes aside, I wish things like this were still done..
Nice video!
It be cool if you guys did the same thing with the old Nintendo Fun Club and its covers. Some are quite cool. I got my NES in the summer of 1988, right when NP launched, at the age of 12, so I have mostly the earlier ones, but the last issue looks very cool too.
Now I need to go on Ebay and get me the last issue!
Why does Andrew look so much like Chadtronic's evil brother?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0SQEZB8A1E
I wish that Nintendo Power was still around to cover the best years of the 3DS and the new Switch today.Oh well, Nintendo Force makes up for some of that.
@RupeeClock Evil??
Being from the UK, I was a NOM and then ONM man. Been trying to find where my NOM collection is this past week, they had better be in the attic somewhere! Otherwise, I have complete ONM, NGamer and nRevolution mag collections. Miss the Nintendo Mag days.
Always looked forward to opening up the mailbox and seeing the newest issue of Nintendo Power, wish it would come back. Nintendo Force is at least a pretty decent substitute.
I was a subscriber from issue 1. As a kid, it my first magazine subscription. I kept all of them in pristine condition, which made learning my dad had thrown them out years ago a whopping bummer. The most memorable for me were those first handful of issues with photographed images on the cover, like models and clay sculptures and even actors in iffy Simon Belmont and Ryu wardrobes.
Someone needs to put all of the issues into a collectible book series not unlike the Hyrule Historia books.
Disapointing list. The best issue of Nintendo Power, for my money, is January 1992 #32. 1992 was the year of the Super Nintendo and NP kicked itself up about 200 notches to really push the system. Issue 32 was when the comic selection in NP took a huge jump, with Super Mario Adventures and Zelda a Link to the Past (by the legendary Shotaro Ishinomori) joining Nester's Adventures. The overall format change of the title would remain mostly consistent until about 1995. With further Star Fox, Metroid, and various Mario one-shot comics running.
Your list also lacks some of the coolest issues, like the massive January 1993 issue with that great Mickey Mouse cover, and tons of extra inserts (like a cardboard Arwing Model kit!), the golden Link's Awakening issue for issue 50 (July 1993), and that amazing Subscribers Only January 1994 brushed metal Mega Man X cover. What I'm saying is, a top 10 list that lacks any issues from 1992 - 1994 is no top list at all! And anything from after Future took over... ugg. Though the final issue was a nice throwback for what it was worth.
@Jim_Purcell To be fair, it seems to be more of a personal list than anything official.
@Nintendrew Nice video!
I still own every issue, as I was a subscriber from the very beginning, even getting all of the 'what are now' collectible player's guides that went along with it...even more weird in my collection is even the pamphlets that were in store shelves featuring Gameboy games, NES games, Dr. Mario fixing the machines and more. Still miss this magazine greatly, as looking at the fan arts and still looking back at the interview with Freddy Krueger (robert englund on the Freddy's Dead movie and the power glove scene) was just fun to look at. None of the other gaming magazines compared to the fun that was Nintendo Power, and I really wish they would bring it back. Playstation Magazine sort of came back, even though it's only in the UK and the US subscription to it is unbelievably high in cost (I think it would be $80 for a years worth...12 issues). Come on, nintendo, bring it back to life!
Also, does anyone else remember all of the other video game magazines that were around during the time period? I still have a few, Electronics Gaming Monthly, Game Pro and more. Sega was another good one!
Fond memories. How would I have ever made it through half the NES games without that magazine! I never subscribed but bought a few issues off the stand. The complete Zelda guide special edition was a simple necessity back then. And wasn't there an ultimate guide to NES that had hints for a bunch of games? I can't remember if that was Nintendo Power associated or not. Such a shame I don't think I have any copies anymore except for the zelda guide, and some I bought when they were shutting down.
I doubt we'll ever see print magazines like this again. Online sites like NL have replaced them, and even the games themselves are going cloud-only. The more we "improve" things, the more unhappy we seem to be.
@RupeeClock I thought he was Chadtronic at first!
Also....the Final Fantasy Nintendo Power Strategy Guide will forever hold a special place in my heart.
For me, it was the Mario 3 Nintendo Power guide. As a kid, that was the issue that everybody wanted, the one that everybody was always borrowing and lending, until everybody's copy of the issue was falling apart. Mario 3 was THE game for the NES back then, and that Nintendo Power guide had complete maps of every single level...
The guys in this thread make fun of the condition of one copy of it, but really, most of the copies I saw as a kid weren't in much better shape than that due to so much use!
http://nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=6&threadid=51818
I don't have almost any of these, and I have a very sizable collection of Nintendo Powers. All I have off the list are #47, #85, and the last one. All of the "retro" Nintendo Powers are worth looking at though! (I hate realizing that ALL of Nintendo Power is retro now. Shhhh.) It is always fascinating to see what games were popular back in the day, and the letters are a hoot! I'm currently reading #73 and there is a guy in there saying they need to be more vicious against Sega, and stop printing kiddy letters like people baking Nintendo cakes. "People baking Nintendo cakes?" I thought to myself, "That sounds like an article that would be posted on NintendoLife!" I agree with @Jim_Purcell, the early 90s really need representation here.
My first Nintendo Power issue was 20 (Jan 91), with Mega Man III on the cover. That issue was probably a lot of people's 'first' as I think it was the free issue you got for registering your NES. And tempt you to subscribe to Nintendo Power. My first subscriber issue was 31 (December 91) which was a pretty cool issue with Metroid II as the main feature. And of course next issue was Jan 1992 and we were off to the races. I was a subscriber consistently until about.... mid 2001? Around when the GBA premiered. Its pretty crazy that I subbed for almost 10 whole years. Damn.
@bezerker99 That was actually issue 17 of Nintendo Power. Their early strat guides were a part of their regular releases haha.
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