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Nintendo Power V259 is the 259th issue of Nintendo Power. It featured Epic Mickey on the cover and had several features pertaining to then-upcoming Wii titles such as Kirby's Epic Yarn and Metroid: Other M, including a few pages dedicated to the entire Metroid series.

Power Up[]

In this issue of Power Up:

  • The Gust Jar from The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap is placed in the middle of the "O" in Power Up.
  • Bowser is this issue's "Star Power" character.
  • Ryo Hazuki, three Street Fighter characters, and two Mega Man character figurines are presented in Collector's Corner.
  • The Power Quiz features questions pertaining to Mickey Mouse games.
  • Interviewees include Yuji Horii, creator of the Dragon Quest series, and four WWE superstars, who talk about the Wii video game WWE All Stars.
  • In Game Forecast, the following games were ranked as the Reader's Most Wanted:

Wii

  1. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
  2. Kirby's Epic Yarn
  3. Donkey Kong Country Returns
  4. Mario Sports Mix
  5. Sonic Colors

Nintendo DS

  1. Pokémon Black and White (in the previous issue, these two games were featured separately)
  2. Super Scribblenauts
  3. Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-land Mayhem
  4. Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs
  5. Sonic Colors

Nintendo 3DS

  1. Paper Mario
  2. Mario Kart 7
  3. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D
  4. Kid Icarus: Uprising
  5. Star Fox 64 3D

Download[]

Evaluation Station[]

The following reviews are for download-able games for the Wii and the Nintendo DSi. "Recommended" is a critic's positive response, "Hmmm..." is a lukewarm response, and "Grumble Grumble" is a poor response.

Virtual Console
WiiWare DSiWare

Previews[]

KirbysEpicArtwork

The other epic game this month, Kirby's Epic Yarn got a spotlight preview.

Games featured in previews include Kirby's Epic Yarn (2 pages), Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II (2 pages), Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock (1 page, including a complete track list), Professor Layton and the Unwound Future (1 page), FIFA Soccer 11 (half a page), Rock Band 3 (half a page), Super Scribblenauts (2 pages, including a feature where the writers re-create game scenes from Super Mario Bros., Metal Gear Solid and Sonic the Hedgehog), Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs (1 page), NBA Jam (2 pages), Samurai Warriors 3 (1 page), Shaun White Skateboarding (1 page), Etrian Odyssey III: The Drowned City (two pages, including a look at six of the game's classes as well as the art book that comes with pre-orders of the game), DJ Hero 2 (1 page with a track list), Tron: Evolution - Battle Grids (half a page), Babysitting Mama (half a page), Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes (1 page), and Wii Party (1 page along with four mini-game examples).

Features[]

"The Forgotten World of Disney": Epic Mckey[]

This is a ten page special feature for Epic Mickey, this issue's cover game. The Nintendo Power team went down to Austin, Texas to get exclusive hands on time with the game and interview the creator Warren Spector, who provided the team with lots of information including two full pages worth of info regarding the game's primary villains, the Mad Doctor and the Phantom Blot. This article was written by long-time Nintendo Power editor Steve Thomason. While the entire article featured tidbits from a massive Warren Spector interview, the second to last page featured three questions they asked him that couldn't fit anywhere else including queries regarding the game's composer, the possible inclusion of Mickey's friends in the game, and the inspiration of the cinematics.

"Ultimate Metroid"[]

In this feature, Nintendo Power listed the best entries in the Metroid series, as well as several other "best of" moments, weapons and enemies from the games. The following were the top ranked games in order:

Super Metroid (Samus Varia Suit)

The Varia Suit from Super Metoid (shown above) was picked as the best armor.

  1. Super Metroid
  2. Metroid Prime
  3. Metroid: Zero Mission
  4. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
  5. Metroid Fusion
  6. Metroid
  7. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
  8. Metroid II: Return of Samus
  9. Metroid Prime Hunters

Other awards given included:

  • Best weapon: Ice Beam, several titles
  • Most dramatic moment: The Baby Metroid's sacrifice, Super Metroid
  • Best enemy: Metroid, several titles
  • Best secret: Samus is a woman!, Metroid
  • Best armor: Varia Suit, Super Metroid
  • Best Ridley: Meta Ridley, Metroid Prime series
  • Best ability: Spider Ball, Metroid Prime series
  • Best self-destruct escape: Finale of Super Metroid
  • Best ship: Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
  • Best tune: Main theme, Metroid
  • Best ending: Eight different endings, Metroid: Zero Mission

"Rise from the Ashes": Lufia: Curse of the Sinistrals[]

CurseoftheSinistrals01

Lufia: Curse of the Sinistrals

Lufia: Curse of the Sinistrals, developed by Neverland and published by Square Enix, is perhaps the quirkiest of remakes in the RPG world. It's based on Lufia: Rise of the Sinistrals, released in the mid-1990's for the Super NES. Curse of the Sinistrals, set for release on October 2010 for Nintendo DS, is not a true remake of Rise of the Sinistrals because some major elements have been completely changed for the new game. For example, the setting in Curse of the Sinistrals has less of a fantastical, medieval feel like in the previous game and more of a modern, steampunk setting. Also the turn-based battle scheme was dropped for a real-time battle system. While there are some prominent new features, Lufia: Curse of the Sinistrals isn't exactly an original game, either, since it maintains many of the same characters and plot elements from Rise of the Sinistrals. In both games a young man named Maxim leads a team of people against the Sinistrals, powerful beings who seem bent on wiping out the human race. Some plot elements were added or removed in order to have a more consistent and well-paced storyline.

The characters that join Maxim's entourage will have unique abilities that will prove helpful while exploring and dungeon crawling. For example, one character might be needed for their hook shot while another could be called for their projectile ability. These abilities will likely translate over to the battle system, though the characters won't be able to fight side by side. When fighting enemies only one character can be used at a time. You can switch characters by tapping their icon at the bottom of the screen. In the event that a character dies in battle, you can choose to re-enter the game with all of the characters' levels raised by five. Other aspects to the gameplay and battle scheme include a basic combo system and a whole slew of new weapons. Meanwhile, the IP gauge from the original game controls when someone can unleash a special attack. The mix of old and new elements will hopefully attract Lufia fans and curious gamers when the game drops this Fall.

Reviews[]

Five Wii games and one solitary DS game (the other half of the Ivy the Kiwi? multiplatform set) were reviewed. Metroid: Other M was the featured review and the highest rated game this month with a score of 8.5 despite being a steaming pile of misogynistic dog vomit.

Title Score Console Reviewer ESRB Rating
Guilty Party 7.0 Wii Justin C. 03
Everyone
Gunblade NY & L.A. Machineguns Arcade Hits Pack 5.5 Wii Justin C. 05
Teen
Ivy the Kiwi? 7.5 Wii Steve T. 03
Everyone
Ivy the Kiwi? 7.0 DS Randy N. 03
Everyone
Metroid: Other M 8.5 Wii Chris S. 05
Teen
NHL Slapshot 6.0 Wii Steve T. 03
Everyone

Departments[]

  • Pulse: Chris Slate wrote about his growing anticipation from Epic Mickey. He also threw this question at readers: "What's the hardest, craziest, or silliest thing you've ever done to get a game?". On the next page people explained how they would turn heroes into villains and vice versa.
  • Power Profiles #43: Interview with Jun Senoue, a composer and sound director at Sega. Senoue was responsible for a lot of the music in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, starting with Sonic the Hedgehog 3. He is currently working on Sonic Colors and Sonic the Hedgehog 4.
  • Playback: A look back at the Guardian Legend, an action-adventure/shooter hybrid for the NES, released in April 1989.
  • Community: This month readers got to read the story of a young woman named Michelle Morse who did an amazing reproduction of one of Princess Zelda's dress. While it has been a hit at conventions, the creation of the outfit was no cakewalk; the whole thing took around 16 months with the total cost up to $400. Michael Wootton and Jenna Cook, meanwhile, enjoy sewing up fabric to make custom plush toy versions of some of gaming's most popular characters like Link and Pac-Man. Another person who likes doing custom creations is Rick Dries, who takes iconic characters and settings recreates them using clay, paint, wood and lots of action figure body parts. Finally, the article ends on Kimberly Young, who created the image of a Metroid on a batik (a process of dyeing fabric while parts not to dyed are covered by wax).
  • Next Month: Nintendo Power will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Nintendo Entertainment System!

Interviewees[]

  • Yuji Hori, Square Enix (on Dragon Quest IX)
  • Dusty Rhodes, Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase and Ted DiBiase Jr., WWE (on WWE All Stars)
  • Antti Ilvessuo, RedLynx (on MotoHeroz)
  • Makoto Yamamoto, Capcom (on Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes)
  • Warren Spector, JunctionPoint (on Disney Epic Mickey)
  • Jun Senoue, Sega (Power Profile interview)
  • Michelle Morse, Princess Zelda cosplayer from Salt Lake City, Utah
  • Michael Wootton and Jenna Cook, plush toy creators from Roseville, California
  • Rick Dries, custom figurine maker from Cherry Hill, New Jersey
  • Kimberly Young, artist from Sarasota, Florida

Images[]

Staff (Space Pirates)[]

  • Editor in Chief: Chris Slate
  • Executive Editor: Steve Thomason
  • Senior Editor: Chris Hoffman
  • Associate Editor: Justin Cheng
  • Art Director: John Seeger Gilman
  • Contributing Editors: Patrick Cunningham, Carolyn Gudmundson, Andrew Hayward, Casey Loe, Nathan Meunier, Randy Nelson, George Sinfield, David F. Smith, Phil Theobald
  • Copy Editor: Candace Cunningham
  • Licensing Manager: Frances Wall Jha

See also[]

External links[]

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