Mega Man III
Mega Man III led the January issue with a new sidekick in Rush, alongside Déjà Vu, The Immortal and Gremlins 2. Special reports explained how Game Paks save games, covering ROM, RAM and batteries, and the Miracle Piano Teaching System got a look. The Game Boy section covered Dragon's Lair, Mercenary Force, Burai Fighter Deluxe, F-1 Race and Super Scrabble.
They worship ties? What is this? A joke?
Nester finding the aliens' treasure
Power Profile
Celebrity profile · Volume 20
This issue featured an interview with New Kids on the Block — American vocal group.
The biggest pop act in America in 1990, interviewed backstage in Seattle by Nintendo Power's own Howard Phillips, who could relate to their travel schedule. Their tour buses had NES decks under the satellite dishes, who rode where was settled by video-game skill, and Joey, Danny and Donnie were the serious players while Jordan and Jon watched videos. Nintendo had brought along Mega Man 3, Final Fantasy and Dr. Mario; the Kids had brought news of their own game, then in development, in which cassette tapes of their songs are the weapons. The group split in 1994 and reunited in 2008; they have toured nearly every year since, run an annual fan cruise, and played a Las Vegas residency. Donnie Wahlberg spent fourteen seasons as Danny Reagan on Blue Bloods along the way.
Game Boy really saved us in Europe.
Danny Wood, Nintendo Power #20
Sweepstakes
The winner would be drawn into a Valiant comic book as a character, with a portion of that issue's proceeds going to Reading Is Fundamental. Story, title and publication date were left to Valiant and Nintendo to work out, and any winner under 14 needed a parent's written consent to appear.
Comics
Howard & Nester · Volume 20Howard & Nester
2-page strip · from p. 72
Howard Phillips, Nintendo of America's bow-tied Game Master, and Nester, the know-it-all kid who never took his advice. Two pages an issue from the first volume on, with a different game's world to get lost in each month.
Nester pilots the pod from Solar Jetman down to the nearest planet, sure it's full of alien artifacts he can sell for a fortune, while Howard reads him the rules from the mothership: gravity pulls you into the rocks, don't use the boosters unless you must, and don't take radioactive treasure from tall green strangers. Killer aliens swarm the pod and Howard's tip saves him — throw all your multi-warhead missiles at once and they circle the pod blowing up everything but you. The treasure the aliens were guarding turns out to be a chest of bow ties; they worship them, which Howard calls excellent taste.
Classified Information
The codes and secrets this issue gave away.
- Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse
- Bonus Belmonts
- Heavy Shreddin
- Extra shredders
- Final Fantasy
- Invisible man
- Dungeon Magic: Sword of the Elements
- Bonus coins
- Dragon Spirit: The New Legend
- Sound and stage selects, 20-Up
- Dash Galaxy in the Alien Asylum
- Stage select
- Image Fight
- Stage select
- Skate or Die 2: The Search for Double Trouble
- Unlimited boards, Hot dog bonus, Level select, Change of plans
- Swords and Serpents
- Build up in a hurry
- Thunderbirds
- Option select
Counselor's Corner
Game Counselors on callReaders wrote in to ask Nintendo Game Counselors questions about the following games: Destiny of an Emperor, Dungeon Magic: Sword of the Elements, Crystalis and Swords and Serpents.
Top 30
These were the top Nintendo games in Jan 1991, as voted by Nintendo Power readers. Arrows show the move since the previous issue's chart; the peak is the best position the game had reached by then.
| # | NES |
|---|---|
| 1 | |
| 2 | |
| 3 | ▲8 Crystalis |
| 4 | ▼1 Mega Man 2 |
| 5 | |
| 6 | |
| 7 | ▼3 Tetris |
| 8 | |
| 9 | |
| 10 | |
| 11 | NEW Blaster Master |
| 12 | |
| 13 | |
| 14 | NEW Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge |
| 15 | — Batman |
| 16 | |
| 17 | |
| 18 | ▼2 Tecmo Bowl |
| 19 | NEW Fester's Quest |
| 20 | ▼6 Super C |
| 21 | |
| 22 | |
| 23 | |
| 24 | NEW Operation Wolf |
| 25 | NEW Shooting Range |
| 26 | |
| 27 | NEW Knight Rider |
| 28 | |
| 29 | |
| 30 |