I had the first ~100 issues of Nintendo Power, starting when I was 6 or so. At the time I found it really interesting. As I grew older, I couldn't tell if the magazines were simply getting worse or I was just getting older and realizing they were worse. Then I realized they were always bad in a special way, because it was essentially a huge advertisement for Nintendo.

One thing I do remember rather enjoying (and being of high quality) were their special edition game-specific guides. The one for Link To the Past was great if I remember right.

Anyway, I think its fun that they used essentially the same covers for their first and last issues. Fitting and well done.

  > Anyway, I think its fun that they used
  > essentially the same covers for their first
  > and last issues.

Just like Seinfeld[1]? (first joke of first episode as the last joke of the series finale)

[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Finale_(Seinfeld)#Part_two

I had a Nintendo Power subscription for most of elementary school. To me, that era of video games seems nostalgically arcane -- when games weren't just intended to be finished as a function of time, and there wasn't an abundance of information available on the internet. I remember being "stuck" on countless games, until an issue of Nintendo Power finally told me that the way to beat Asura was to use the 'Wall' spell on herself in Final Fantasy 2 (or IV, or whatever the cool kids call it).

Nintendo Power's maps and tips weren't always that helpful, but they almost always covered good games. Most video games didn't have huge mainstream media marketing budgets back then, and without Nintendo Power I would have never discovered lesser known games like Shadowgate, Faxanadu, and Duck Tales. As other commenters have indicated, the magazine was basically essentially a vehicle for Nintendo direct mail advertising -- but one that actually worked pretty well for the era.

Hmm, might be time to find some emulators and ROMs...

Faxanadu was really great, but nobody has heard of it. My first RPG, depending on how you want to classify Zelda.

I find it slightly disturbing that I was able to picture in my mind the exact cover image before clicking the link.

I certainly hope that if I had been alive back then I would have had the front page of the paper the day after the moon landing similarly etched into my brain.

Here's to wasted youth!