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The 1998 Nintendo Power Awards was the 11th annual Awards published in the May 1999 issue (volume 120) of Nintendo Power magazine. Its nominees were listed in volume 118.
As The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time had been recently released during this awards period, it (unsurprisingly) won Best Release of 1998 and dominated nearly every other category. However, a there were other games managed to secure a top spot. Most notably among these, the original versions of Pokemon Red and Blue jointly won Best Game Boy Game, setting a trend that would occur again repeatedly in the future. Other winners included WCW/nWo Revenge, F-Zero X, Space Station Silicon Valley, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, NFL Blitz, and South Park, each of these winning in a single category.
Winners and Runners-Up[]
The following is the list of winners, runners-up, and other nominees.
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Other Nominees: |
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| Best Graphics | |
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| Best Music | |
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Best Sound |
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| Most Innovative | |
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| Best Game Play Variety | |
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| Best Cinema Scenes | |
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| Best Multiplayer Game | |
Other Nominees:
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| Best Racing Game | |
Other Nominees:
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| Best Sports Game | |
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Other Nominees:
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| Funniest Game | |
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Other Nominees:
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| Best Action Game | |
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Other Nominees:
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| Best Adventure Game | |
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| Best Accessory/Development | |
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| Sleeper Hit of the Year | |
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Other Nominees:
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| Best Game Boy Game | |
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Other Nominees:
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| Best N64 Game | |
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Other Nominees:
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| Best Release of 1998 | |
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Total number of nominations[]
The following lists the number of nominations for each game.
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - 9 nominations
- Star Wars: Rogue Squadron - 9 nominations
- Pokemon Red and Blue - 5 nominations
- Banjo-Kazooie - 4 nominations
- Turok 2: Seeds of Evil - 4 nominations
- South Park - 3 nominations
- WCW/nWo Revenge - 3 nominations
- F-Zero X - 2 nominations
- 1080° Snowboarding - 2 nominations
- Space Station Silicon Valley - 1 nomination
- NFL Blitz - 1 nomination
- The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX - 1 nomination
- Body Harvest - 1 nomination
- Major League Baseball Featuring Ken Griffey Jr. - 1 nomination
- James Bond 007 - 1 nomination
- Snowboard Kids - 1 nomination
- Gex 64: Enter the Gecko - 1 nomination
- NFL Quarterback Club '99 - 1 nomination
- Cruis'n World - 1 nomination
Total number of awards[]
The following lists the number of awards for each game.
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - 9 awards
- Star Wars: Rogue Squadron - 1 award
- Pokemon Red and Blue - 1 award
- Space Station Silicon Valley - 1 award
- F-Zero X - 1 award
- NFL Blitz - 1 award
- WCW/nWo Revenge - 1 award
- South Park - 1 award
Voting[]
Readers of the magazine were presented with the list of nominees in Nintendo Power volume 118. Votes could be cast by subscribers either by email or "snail" mail. The votes were then tallied and announced in the pages of Nintendo Power volume 120.
Trivia[]
- The magazine joking awarded The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time its "Golden Broom Prize" for "sweeping" virtually every category it was a contender in.
- For this year, Nintendo Power invited readers to write-in their own award categories. Some of these "bonus" categories were included below the regular awards. The write-in categories were as follows:
- "The FAQ Award" - "Is there a secret level/sequel for Banjo-Kazooie? - submitted by Chris Katz, via the Internet
- "The Rodney Dangerfield Award for the Game that Deserves More Respect" - BioFreaks - submitted by Ragnarok76, via the Internet
- "Most Annoying Dance (Move Over, Macarena!) - Darunia's dance (The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time) - submitted by Sean Barrett, via the Internet
- "Guiltiest Pleasure" - Stomping on humans (Rampage World Tour) - submitted by Steven Murphy, via the Internet
- "Most Annoying Quote" - "Rogue Squadron, where's our cover?" -- General Rieekan (Star Wars: Rogue Squadron) - submitted by Chris Hood, via the Internet
- "Best Individual Cinema Sequence" - Gruntilda's transformation during the game-over sequence (Banjo-Kazooie) - submitted by Rob Canton, Portland, OR
- "Best Candidate for a Movie Adaptation" - Castlevania - submitted by Victor Chen, via the Internet
- "Biggest Smart Aleck" - Kazooie (Banjo-Kazooie) - submitted by Keith Brady, via the Internet
- "Best New Hero" - Buck Bumble (Buck Bumble) - submitted by Robbie Brown, Rochester, IN
- "Coolest Weapon" - Your own body (NFL Blitz) - submitted by Jeffrey Malone, Yardley, PA
- "Best Pet" - Richard the dog (The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time) - submitted by Richard Rhinebolt, Owosso, MI
- In addition to the write-in categories above, the magazine noted that, as the result of "hundreds of e-mail and snail mail votes (later), Navi (The Legend of Zelda: Ocarian of Time) secured a spot as most annoying character with her frequent yelps of 'Listen!'"