Rygar and the Nintendo Power Mystery

I've got some spare time because my NES is auto-leveling Rygar, which I'm going to attempt to play through tonight. I've never beaten the first boss, though I have played the game many times. Of course I won't be using any FAQs. One could look the maps up at The Video Game Atlus, a great site upon which I recently stumbled. Another useful site, if you have any old Nintendo Power magazines (The first few years are the best gaming magazines ever), is the Nintendo Power Index. I'll be using it to look up a few games in this post.



It's found in the first issue of Nintendo Power, so let's open it up to get some tips!



It has a great Zelda spread, and good maps of the levels. But notice the only entry Rygar receives in Nintendo Power (ever).



Note the early use of "ftw" in the not-obvious Kid Icarus tip.

The game is very difficult, but they only give one small blurb to Rygar? It's very strange, older games often got reviewed years later. Most popular games got covered, and it's a really decent title. I wonder if gamers would think that maybe Rygar looked more fun than the original Zelda. Not all gamers, but Americans might be drawn to this Captain-America adventure game, which combines aspects of Mario and Zelda. Similar to Kid Icarus, but much, much better. Placed lowest on the page, smallest. Juxtaposed; size confirming worth.

Super Mario Bros. was featured in issues 2, 3, and 12. It was again featured in the Lost Levels issue, and again for Super Mario Bros. Deluxe, for the GBA.

Kid Icarus was featured in issues 2 (twice), 10,12, and 45. I'm not sure if contemporary Nintendo Power reviews VC games, but if so I'm sure it's in there somewhere.

Of course it's the official Nintendo-sponsored magazine, but they purport objectivity like most periodicals. Looking at the title page for the first issue we see SMB2, the game designed specifically for stupid Americans who couldn't play games with the fury of the Japanese spirit. Jerks. Second, Zelda, the most blinging NES cartridge. What else do Americans like? Baseball, and therefore 3 baseball game reviews. The other features fade into meaningless over-excited magazine talk. At least SMB2 was a pretty fun game, even though I would have preferred the real SMB2. And Zelda was definitely worthy of a gold cartridge. But baseball games are boring. Why the hell do we need three baseball games, just because we are American? I guarantee that 2 baseball games are plenty for me, though Mario Strikers looked really fun if it were a present from a distant relative who couldn't expect to know what video game I would enjoy, a raffle prize, or perhaps found in a fast food coffee shop. However, Wii Baseball suffices for any baseball-related gaming activity in the 21st century.



It's time to see who is behind this racist madness. The following is a transcription of the Editor's letter (huh, he's American) with my commentary applied as footnotes.

Dear Player,

We hope you enjoyed reading the first issue of Nintendo Power as much as we enjoyed making it. We spent many hours doing research (playing games) in order to bring you the most complete reviews, the best tricks, and the raddest reading ever! (1) I even jetted (2) to Japan for a week(3) to work with Nintendo Power staff over there(4). You try to explain Wheel of Fortune to someone who doesn't speak English (5)! It was great to make new friends and to meet some pretty hot game players too (6)! Maybe we'll even profile a few of them in a future issue (7).

Nintendo Power will come out every other month, and we want to provide you the very best in video journalism (8) (We've discontinued the Fun Club News(9), so that we can devote all our energy to making Nintendo Power the best magazine you could ever subscribe to(10)). What could be more fun? (11) So, if you have an opinion about something (12), or a hot tip you want to share(13), we'd like to hear about it.

See you in September,
H-------------------

P.S. I'm working real hard on Zelda II (14). Look for it. It's going to be great!


1. The letter begins well enough. It's 1988, so rad is acceptable.
2. More lingo emphasizes the cool. Too busy being to cool to play Rygar.
3. A whole week!?
4. The guys that actually make this magazine?
5. Exciting statements end in exclamation points!
6. Palis Hirton?
7. See Nintendo Power Sluts XXX, Erotic Electronic Publishing, 1989.
8. With your leadership this magazine rocks!
9. Who cares!
10. Most of the time National Geographic is boring.
11.What indeed!
12. How convient!
13. "Which library bathroom should I haunt?"
14. No way! Zelda 2 was released in 1987. The coverage, however, was great.