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This is the September 1997 issue of Nintendo Power, labeled as Volume 100. The magazine celebrated its 100th issue with a look back into the magazine's history, previews of some upcoming Nintendo 64 games, and numerous top 100 lists.

Cover Story[]

Nintendo Power devoted about half of the 100th issue to N64 previews, while definitive lists made up much of the rest of the issue. The most notable list is the 100 Best Games of All Time, which was voted and organized by the staff. Other top 100 lists included the "100 Best Codes Ever", "First 100 Games for the N64", the "100 Best Ambushes" in GoldenEye 007, and "100 Things That Equal 100". There was the "100 All Time Best Scores" that listed the highest scores and best times from readers of the magazine, and there was even a display of past Nintendo Power covers on both sides of the poster pull-out sheet.

100 Best Ambushes for Goldeneye 007[]

The "100 Best Ambushes" for Goldeneye 007 was essentially a strategy section for the game's multiplayer mode. There were maps for eleven stages with picture icons that showed the best ambushes, ammo locations and other useful data. This section also had general info about available characters, stages and multiplayer scenarios, as well as a few helpful hints.

100 Things That Equal 100[]

The "100 Things That Equal 100" list mostly documented certain attributes and statistics like "Number of levels in Bust-A-Move" and "Rupees you must pay to quadruple your bomb carrying capacity in The Legend of Zelda". Other entries to the list were more random, like "Length in yards of an American football field", "Number of times you've accidentally walked off a cliff in Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire", and "Number of people who saw the Super Mario Bros. movie".

Player's Polls[]

The Player's Poll Contest was set up to give away "100's of prizes!" to "100's of winners!". 100 first prize winners received N64 games. Second prize were 100 N64 controllers, third prize were 100 N64 Rumble Paks, and fourth prize were 100 Nintendo Power limited edition anniversary t-shirts.

100 Best Games of All Time[]

Nintendo Power staff compiled a list of the 100 Best Games of All Time on both Nintendo consoles and handheld systems. The top ten games were:

  1. Super Mario 64
  2. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
  3. Tetris (GB)
  4. Mario Kart 64
  5. Super Mario Bros. 3
  6. Super Metroid
  7. Goldeneye
  8. Final Fantasy III
  9. Final Fantasy II
  10. Street Fighter II Turbo

First 100 Games for the N64[]

"First 100 Games for the N64" section was meant to list the current games on the Nintendo 64 and forecast upcoming games for that system. Some games, however, were never released on the N64. Some notable examples include Kirby's Air Ride (released on GameCube), Sim City 64 (released only in Japan for the 64DD) and Super Mario RPG 2 (which became Paper Mario).

Other Highlights[]

  • Much of the magazine's history was discussed in a two page section at the end of Players Pulse. It contained misadventures of the Nintendo Power Staff, the discontinued NES Journal section that had both gaming and non-gaming news, and a controversy (that being the complaints over the cover of Volume 2). It also mentioned Nester, Nintendo Power's official comic strip character from 1988 to 1993, and included an updated comic strip just for this issue. The strip features Nester, now a college student, visiting a friend and playing Star Fox 64 with the Rumble Pak, and after being literally shook up by the experience, looking through Nintendo Power to learn what's been going on his absence.

The magazine claims that Super Mario 64 turned up at #64 on the list.

  • The pullout poster for this issue showed almost every cover that had been designed for Nintendo Power since 1988. The one cover that was missing was Volume 47, featuring Star Fox for the SNES (in its place was an illustration of Donkey Kong on a go-kart). The magazine also placed each past cover design next to its corresponding page number. The cover for Volume 47 was included, this time, on page 47.
  • Now Playing: A new review system was introduced this issue which was meant to be all around more informative. The new reviews include game data, screen shots, critiques, category scores, overall and individual scores. This review system would remain in use until Volume 193's visual overhaul. The games reviewed were Goldeneye 007, Star Fox 64, Tetrisphere and Tetris Plus.
  • Coming Next Issue.....: The games slated for next month were Major League Baseball featuring Ken Griffey Jr., Mace 64, Extreme-G, and F1 Pole Position.

See also[]

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