2003 Nintendo Power Awards

The 2003 Nintendo Power Awards were the 17th annual awards published in the May 2005 issue (Volume 180) after listing the nominees in Volume 178,

Unsurprisingly, most of the awards went to The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, although, Soulcalibur II and Mario Kart: Double Dash‼ gave it some competition, especially for the GameCube.

Awards, Winners, and other Nominees

Overall Game of the Year: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Best GameCube Game
Winner: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker Runners-up: Mario Kart: Double Dash‼ Soulcalibur II Other Nominees: Beyond Good & Evil F-Zero GX Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 Viewtiful Joe
Best GameBoy Advance Game
Winner: Mario and Luigi: Super Star Saga Runners-up: Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire Final Fantasy Tactics Advance Other Nominees: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow Fire Emblem Golden Sun: The Lost Age Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town Sword of Mana WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!
Best GameCube Graphics
Winner: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker Runners-up: Soulcalibur II The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Other Nominees: F-Zero GX Madden NFL 2004 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike Viewtiful Joe XIII
Best GameBoy Advance Graphics
Winner: Golden Sun: The Lost Age Runners-up: Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga Final Fantasy Tactics Advance Other Nominees: Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow Gekido Advance: Kintaro's Revenge Max Payne Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc Sword of Mana WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!
Best Sound (GameCube)
Winner: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Runners-up: Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike Viewtiful Joe Other Nominees: 1080° Avalanche Medal of Honor: Rising Sun NCAA Football 2004 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell XIII
Best Original Music (GameCube)
Winner: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker Runners-up: Wario World Skies of Arcadia Legends Other Nominees: Beyond Good & Evil Freedom Fighters Hitman 2: Silent Assassin Ikaruga XGRA: Extreme-G Racing Association XIII
Best Music & Sound (GameBoy Advance)
Winner: Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga Runners-up: Golden Sun: The Lost Age Fire Emblem Other Nominees: American Idol Bruce Lee: Return of the Legend Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow Max Payne Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!
Best RPG/Strategy Game (GameCube)
Winner: Skies of Arcadia Legends Runners-up: The Sims Bustin' Out Yu-Gi-Oh! The Falsebound Kingdom Other Nominees: Gladius Goblin Commander: Unleash the Horde Lost Kingdoms II Medabots Infinity Summoner: A Goddess Reborn The Sims
Best RPG/Strategy Game (GameBoy Advance)
Winner: Final Fantasy Tactics Advance Runners-up: Fire Emblem Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire Other Nominees: Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising Golden Sun: The Lost Age Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga Shining Soul Sword of Mana
Best Connectivity
Winner: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker Runners-up: Pac-Man Vs. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Other Nominees: Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup Medal of Honor: Rising Sun Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc The Sims Bustin' Out
Best Adventure/Platformer
Winner: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker Runners-up: Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Other Nominees: Beyond Good & Evil Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow I-Ninja Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy
Best Action Game/Shooter
Winner: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Runners-up: Viewtiful Joe True Crime: Streets of LA Other Nominees: Freedom Fighters Hitman 2: Silent Assassin Ikaruga Medal of Honor: Rising Sun P.N.03 XIII
Best Fighter/Beat-'Em-Up
Winner: Soulcalibur II Runners-up: Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (GameCube) Other Nominees: Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu Def Jam Vendetta Double Dragon Advance The King of Fighters EX2: Howling Blood Ultimate Muscle: Legends vs. New Generation WWE WrestleMania XIX
Best Racing Game
Winner: Mario Kart: Double Dash!! Runners-up: F-Zero GX Need for Speed: Underground Other Nominees: Auto Modellista Burnout 2: Point of Impact Dakar 2: The World's Ultimate Rally Kirby Air Ride R: Racing Evolution XGRA: Extreme G Racing Association
Best Sports Game
Winner: Tony Hawk's Underground Runners-up: Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour Madden NFL 2004 Other Nominees: 1080° Avalanche FIFA Soccer 2004 NBA Street Vol. 2 NCAA Football 2004 SSX 3 Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004
Best Multiplayer
Winner: Mario Party 5 Runners-up: Soulcalibur II Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike Other Nominees: Burnout 2: Point of Impact Goblin Commander: Unleash the Horde Mario Kart: Double Dash!! NBA Street Vol. 2 Pac-Man Vs. XIII
Best Cut Scenes
Winner: Enter the Matrix Runners-up: F-Zero GX Viewtiful Joe Other Nominees: Black & Bruised Freaky Flyers Go! Go! Hypergrind R: Racing Evolution Skies of Arcadia Legends XIII
Best Intro
Winner: Soulcalibur II Runners-up: Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour Other Nominees: Beyond Good & Evil Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg F-Zero GX Spawn: Armageddon XIII
Most Pleasant Surprise
Winner: The Simpsons: Hit & Run Runners-up: Medal of Honor: Infiltrator Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Game Boy Advance) Other Nominees: Bruce Lee: Return of the Legend Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds Freedom Fighters Gekido Advance: Kintaro's Revenge Metal Arms: Glitch in the System Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo
Most Overlooked
Winner: Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg Runners-up: Beyond Good & Evil Ikaruga Other Nominees: CIMA: The Enemy Goblin Commander: Unleash the Horde Hulk Ninja Five-O Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc Ultimate Muscle: Legends vs. New Generation
The Guilty Pleasure
Winner:Tossing pigs into the water in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker Runners-up: Tormenting your Sims in The Sims Bustin' Out Driving very, very badly in True Crime: Streets of LA Other Nominees: Smashing things in Hulk Hitting Cars in Burnout 2's Crash Mode Creating really ugly people in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 Causing havoc with the Titans in Goblin Commander Hauling trash in Tonka: Rescue Patrol Screwing up in American Idol
Best Mullets
Winner: Aquaman: Battle for Atlantis Runners-up: Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Big Mutha Truckers Other Nominees: Black & Bruised Dinotopia: The Sunstone Odyssey Double Dragon Advance Monster 4x4: Masters of Metal Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004 WWE Crush Hour
Best New Character
Winner:Aryll (The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker) Runners-up: Joe (Viewtiful Joe) Hector (Fire Emblem) Other Nominees: Billy Hatcher (Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg) Jade (Beyond Good & Evil) Jimmy (WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!) Ninja (I-Ninja) The TV (Pokémon Channel) Vanessa Schneider (P.N.03)
Best Villain
Winner:Ganondorf (The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker) Runners-up: Alex (Golden Sun: The Lost Age) Fawful (Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga) Other Nominees: Hulk Davidson (Viewtiful Joe) The Mongoose (XIII) Sonia (Fire Emblem) Spat (Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak) Team Magma and Team Aqua (Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire) The Communists (Freedom Fighters)
The Greatest Challenge
Winner:Clearing the 100-Level Dungeon in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker Runners-up: Beating Fire Emblem without losing a character Beating Story Mode in F-Zero GX Other Nominees: Beating Dullahan in Golden Sun: The Lost Age Clearing the Palentier of Sauron in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Trying to steer the car in Enter the Matrix Getting a Silent Assassin rating in every level of Hitman 2: Silent Assassin Beating the last level of Ikaruga Beating any level in Mega Man Zero 2
Most Memorable Moment
Winner:Striking the final blow against Ganondorf in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker Runners-up: Discovering the fate of Ninian in Fire Emblem Making the cute dog cry in WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! Other Nominees: Seeing Rhaknam's last moment in Skies of Arcadia Legends Uncovering Mewt's plight in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance Watching your mullet sway in the waves in Aquaman: Battle for Atlantis Getting the Butterfly Suit in P.N.03 Donning the snazzy black suit in Hitman 2: Silent Assassin
Strangest Concept
Winner:Teaching Pikachu to watch TV in Pokémon Channel Runners-up: Wearing a chicken suit and using eggs to save the world in Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg Learning to speak Hamster in Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Heartbreak Other Nominees: Becoming a champion in the action-packed world of competitive top racing in Beyblade Battling the evil CEO of a video game company whose games all last three seconds or less in WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! Going on the payroll of an eccentric millionaire who wants to see monster truck races in Monster 4x4: Masters of Metal Living in a future in which deadly race car drivers rock out to classic metal songs in Rock n' Roll Racing Trying to destroy your former boss's business by beating up his rental security guards in WWE WrestleMania XIX
The "Living in the '80s" Award (Online)
Winner: The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition Runners-up: The Star Wars arcade game in Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike Captain Falcon's outfit in F-Zero GX
Best Use of a Horse (Online)
Winner: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Master Quest Runners-up: Fire Emblem Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life
Worst Fashion Sense (Online)
Winner:Everyone (Big Mutha Truckers) Runners-up: The platform shoes (Bratz: Formal Funk) Bilbo's ritual attire (The Hobbit)
Best Writing/Story (Online)
Winner: Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga Runners-up: Golden Sun: The Lost Age Fire Emblem Other Nominees: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Best Licensed Music (Online)
Winner: Tony Hawk's Underground Runners-up: 1080° Avalanche SSX 3
Best Part of a Title That Comes After a Colon (Online)
Winner: Black Hole Rising Runners-up: Battle for Bikini Bottom Stairway to the Destined Duel Other Nominees: The Wind Waker
Cheesiest Quote or Tag Line on a Box (Online)
Winner:"Prepare for ninja kick-butt fighting!" (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) Runners-up: "Dag done it! Truck Jackers!" (Big Mutha Truckers) "Our frothing demand for this game increases!" (Ikaruga)
Most Innovative Game Design (Online)
Winner: Viewtiful Joe Runners-up: WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! Pokémon Channel
Best Voice Acting (Online)
Winner: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Runners-up: The Simpsons: Hit & Run Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Other Nominees: Viewtiful Joe
Best Bad Dancing (Online)
Winner:The Dance Floor (The Sims Bustin' Out) Runners-up: The disco intro (Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike) Jimmy (WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!)
Are you Hot or Not? (Online)
Winner (Hot): Vanessa (P.N.03) Runners-up: Lyn (Fire Emblem) Jade (Beyond Good & Evil) Other Nominees: Any of the ladies from Soulcalibur II
Winner (Not): Nergal (Fire Emblem) Runners-up: Eliwood (Fire Emblem) Wario (Wario World) Other Nominees: Nemesis (Resident Evil 3: Nemesis)
Oddest Character Name (Online)
Winner:Dorcas (Fire Emblem) Runners-up: Tetra (The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker) Mewt (Final Fantasy Tactics Advance)