Nintendo Power V2

Nintendo Power V2
Date	September/October 1988
Cover	Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
Other Games	Bionic Commando, Super Mario Bros. 2, R.C. Pro-Am, Blaster Master
Contest	1. 10 games of winner's choice 2. Remote controlled car 3. Copy of R.C. Pro-Am
Poster	Bionic Commando

Nintendo Power V2 is the second issue of Nintendo Power. It featured Castlevania II: Simon's Quest with a controversial cover. Within the magazine is a strategy guide for Bionic Commando along with a fold out poster for the game. Simon's Quest, the cover game, is featured heavily in the magazine with a strategy guide, tips and tricks and maps. Other features include guides for the NES games Super Mario Bros. 2 (featured on the cover of Nintendo Power V1), Blaster Master and R.C. Pro-Am.

According to the editors of the magazine, many angry parents contacted Nintendo of America complaining about the graphic cover that featured Simon from Castlevania II with the decapitated head of Dracula in his hands.

Bionic Commando

Contents page for Volume 2.

The first game featured in this magazine was Bionic Commando. The article had some maps and gave special tactics on how to successfully find your way through the different levels. The game is also featured on the poster included in this issue. The artwork is done by Kaz Aizawa.

Life Force

The next featured game was Life Force, a sci-fi fantasy game where the player sets out to save the universe from evil. The article gave strategies on how to defeat certain enemies and how to get through difficult spots in the levels.

Simon's Quest

The cover story focuses on Castlevania II: Simon's Quest. The article gives an in-depth look at weapons, enemies and maps. There is also a lot of official Konami game art printed throughout the article.

Super Mario Bros. 2

The article on Super Mario Bros. 2 picks up where the game article in the previous volume of Nintendo Power left off. It contains maps and strategies from World 3-1 through 3-3.

Renegade

This brief article gives readers a quick look at a new game from Taito called Renegade.

R.C. Pro-Am

This is another brief article that gives a look at the game R.C. Pro-Am and maps of the race tracks within the game.

Classified Information

The Classified Information section revealed codes and hidden secrets in certain games. Games featured in this section included:

Game	Secrets
Kid-Niki Radical Ninja	Defeat the Stone Buddha, Shortcut to Green Grub, Hidden stage
Renegade	Round select, Get a burger boost, Extra hearts, P-Marks provide power
Kid Icarus	Crack the code of the treasure rooms

Howard & Nester

As in the previous issue, another one-page Howard & Nester comic is featured here.

Counselor's Corner

Counselor's Corner was a feature in which the writers of the magazine would respond to game-related questions in the hope of getting the player out of a tough spot. The games featured in this issue are The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros., Metroid, and Kid Icarus.

Now Playing

The Now Playing section of the magazine gave brief looks at games that had already been released. The games included in this issue were Golgo 13 and Blaster Master.

Video Shorts and Pak Watch

Both the Video Shorts and Pak Watch sections showcased games that were scheduled for release. It gave the reader a quick glance at future games. Some of the games seen in these sections included Superman, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, 1943: The Battle of Midway, Adventure Island, Donkey Kong Classics, Ghostbusters, Mickey Mousecapade, Paperboy, Tecmo Bowl, Bubble Bobble, Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Player's Forum

Mailbox

George Ward

A young, nine-year old reader named George Ward from Austin, Texas sent Nintendo Power an article he created for the Highland Park Elementary School newspaper. Nintendo Power included an excerpt of the article in the magazine, which can be read below:

"Austin, Tx. - At Highland Park School you can hear lots of kids talking about Nintendos, Ataris, and Segas. What in the world are they talking about! These are the names of three popular home video entertainment systems. A questionnaire was passed around to find out more about them. It was given to all of the third graders the week of March 21st. Here are the results.

"Forty-eight students answered the questionnaire. Of those forty-eight, thirty-five have played on a home entertainment system. Of the famous name brands, Nintendo was by far the most popular with sixteen votes. Various brands of computers were second (11 votes), Atari was third (7), and Sega was fourth with only two votes."

Paul Woods

Paul Woods of Janesville, Wisconsin created a poem about Punch-Out!! which was included in the issue. The following is what he wrote:

"Mike Tyson's great, the man in black; he's got more power than Little Mac. He can really go, when he gets in the ring; he starts his moves when the bell goes ding.

"To get in the ring to play the best; First, you have to beat the rest. You think Mike Tyson can't be beat; But if you have the strength, You can knock him off his feet."

Top 30

The following are the top 30 games as ranked by the readers followed by how many points each game received.

1. The Legend of Zelda, 2,090 points
2. Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!, 1,807 points
3. Metroid, 1,139 points
4. Super Mario Bros., 1,139 points
5. Kid Icarus, 986 points
6. Double Dragon, 732 points
7. Ice Hockey, 686 points
8. R.C. Pro-Am, 611 points
9. Rad Racer, 567 points
10. R.B.I. Baseball, 486 points
11. Contra, 435 points
12. Castlevania, 332 points
13. Goonies II, 282 points
14. Mega Man, 276 points
15. Pro Wrestling, 231 points
16. Double Dribble, 230 points
17. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, 225 points
18. Top Gun, 192 points
19. Rambo, 190 points
20. Renegade, 173 points
21. Wizards & Warriors, 170 points
22. Ikari Warriors, 167 points
23. Baseball, 163 points
24. Rygar, 161 points
25. Excitebike, 125 points
26. Kung Fu, 115 points
27. Kid Niki, 109 points
28. Super Mario Bros. 2, 94 points
29. Zanac, 76 points
30. Pinball', 26 points

Players Poll

The Player's Poll contest featured three different prizes, including:

1. Grand prize (one winner): 10 games of the winner's choice.
2. Second prize (five winners): 14-inch scale quick drive radio control model car.
3. Third price (10 winners): A copy of R.C. Pro-Am

The following were the questions in the Players Poll:

A. Of the game reviews listed below, which did you enjoy the most?

1. Bionic Commando
2. Simon's Quest
3. Super Mario Bros. 2
4. Life Force
5. Renegade
6. R.C. Pro-Am
7. Golgo 13
8. Blaster Master

After reading the in-depth game reviews, did you find:

B. Reviews are easy to read

1. Yes
2. No

C. Game Play instructions are

1. Easy
2. Too complicated

D. Reviews provide

1. Too much information
2. Just the right amount of information
3. Not enough information

E. How old are you? (Please indicate age group)

1. Under 6
2. 6-11
3. 12-14
4. 15-17
5. 18-24
6. 25 or older

F. (no question provided)

1. Male
2. Female

Please use the list of game titles (109) on the next page to answer the following questions

G. What two games would you most like to see reviewed in a future issue of Nintendo Power?

H. What three games are you planning to purchase next?

I. Please indicate, in order of preference, your five favorite games.

Magazine

• Nintendo Power V2 (Cover).png

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Interviewees

• Chris Stamper, of Rare Ltd. (R.C. Pro-Am)
• Tim Stamper, of Rare Ltd. (R.C. Pro-Am)

Next issue

On the "next issue" page, Nintendo Power announced that Nintendo Power V3 would feature Track & Field II, Blaster Master, and a massive holiday giveaway. Howard Phillips also included a letter to the readers on this page, which can be read below:

"Dear Readers,

"We've learned a lot about the magazine publishing business while making the first two issues of Nintendo Power. It can be a lot of hard work, but it's also a lot of fun. We had to chase down pro football players enroute to training camp, and track down the package with photos of the Lamborghini, hoping they would arrive from England in time. We spent a week in 110 degree weather in a very small town in the middle of California for a printing press check, and then had the satisfaction of carrying the first finished copies back to Nintendo. We all celebrated with a Pacific Northwest salmon barbeque!

"We got into some scraps over whether or not the game tips were all presented correctly (we think they are now), as well as over who was going to pay a $200 taxi cab fare on one of our trips (OUCH! I lost). One night we stayed up until 4:00 a.m. working on Pak Watch copy. The next morning, though, we took a much needed break and went to Disneyland!

"It can get a little hectic racking up hundreds of thousands of miles traveling around the world trying to put together a world class magazine. But it's all worthwhile when we see the results, and hear from the hundreds of thousands of NES fans like you who believe in the power of Nintendo Power.

"See you in November"

-Howard Phillips