Topic: Nintendo Power - 1988-1996 cover games

[JonLeung]

Thanks to zagato blackfist we have a few more off the list!  And these are some interesting ones...

First, he's mapped out Tetris (the Nintendo version, and while he was at it he also did the Tengen version, too)!  Not only does this complete the first full calendar year of Nintendo Power, 1989 (the only one with six issues), but if I'm reading this correctly it's also completed all of the NES games featured on the covers (though in this list we are still hoping for two more NES games featured in the "4-Player Extra" issue at the end of 1990)...  That's got to count for something, right?  I didn't know that the Nintendo version of the game had a two-player mode within its code; that was really neat to point out!

We also have some stuff from the creativity game on the Super NES that was bundled with a mouse...yep, I'm talking about Mario Paint!  They're not maps, but what can you do here, really?  We've got the Coloring Book, the mini-game Gnat Attack, and some Sheet Music...why not?  That's another one for 1992!

One of the last games on my initial list is 1996's Tetris Attack.  Thorough as he is, zagato also mapped the original Japanese version, Panel de Pon (J).  Notice how in the World maps, the fifth and ninth areas are different between these two games, but everything else is about the same?

I've noticed this past day trending on Facebook (even though it's not entirely new) that archive.org's got Nintendo Power issues, the first thirteen years' worth, so you can see what this magazine was all about, if you missed out.  Man, I could spend forever rereading those...especially, like I said, the pre-Internet era issues.  You should definitely check it out, at least the first few years, up to 1994...that was when it was at its best, for sure.  And the comics in 1992!  Good times.

EDIT: Never mind, archive.org's archive of Nintendo Power has been taken down.  Anyone else know of any sources?  Next time they're up I should download them all...

[dark_lord_zagato@yahoo.co]

Panel de Pon starts in the upper right corner so it's the first level that gets changed into, i'm assuming, Yoshi's Island? Nintendo should have left it alone though, i think it would have sold better in the US with it's original graphics. :p

I've been playing around with the Ken Griffey Jr. games lately. I can't achieve freedom of movement in Major League Baseball so there's no progress there yet. The maps in Winning Run can be ripped in one shot with the VSNES hacking tool, which also kills mode7. The only problem here is i'm not sure how many different baseball fields there are yet, or how to get them. So far it looks like two basic maps, each with several small variations.

[JonLeung]

Oh whoops, forgot that it goes down and left instead of up and right.  It's been a while.  But I remember I loved the game at the time.

Kind of weird that they can't be consistent with the releases though.  They probably thought Panel de Pon (J) wouldn't sell, so they slapped the Tetris name and the Yoshi's Island characters in it to become "Tetris Attack".  Then they made the N64 game Pokémon-themed and called it "Pokémon Puzzle League", no mention of "Tetris" or "Attack".  Now "Leagues" kind of fit with the Pokémon world but then I guess they didn't want to change it up anymore, so on the GBA it was bundled alongside Dr. Mario in "Dr. Mario / Puzzle League" but without the Pokémon, and then on the DS as "Planet Puzzle League" and DSiWare as "Puzzle League Express".  What's with the "League", sheesh, now its just odd-sounding.  And aside from the puzzle mechanics, all we got from the original are the "Lip's Stick" item and probably some other item or trophy or sticker or mention in some Super Smash Bros. games and that's probably it.

Anyway, I'm excited that you are keen on helping with these requests, zagato! 

[JonLeung]

Oops!  Forgot to mention over a week ago that zagato mapped out Ken Griffey Jr.'s Winning Run!  1996 is almost complete - if only we had the Revenge Of Meta-Knight portion of Kirby: Super Star...

And today, more submissions from zagato... thanks for the backgrounds from Star Fox!  I put it down as a green "O" signifying "complete", since that's the best we can get right now, even though I believe that one day, even if it's at best an approximation, someone will find a creative way to fully map it.

Ah, not many are left...

[Trop]

The only way I could finish the KSS maps is if I had a camera scroll freeze code and it's not gonna happen.  That game is hell to hack.   But it's just two areas of meta knight that do that so If you don't mind it missing big chunks of those maps then you'll find all you need to finish KSS here:
 http://gamehacking.org/game/43469
 https://tcrf.net/Kirby_Super_Star

Just use the Brighten background colors codes to separate the BG levels, and use the TCRF code that's specifically for revenge of meta knight

[JonLeung]

We've now got Swords And Serpents maps thanks to mechaskrom!  While upon close inspection I believe these are originally-designed maps as opposed to using directly-ripped graphics of the persistent in-game map, it is still practically the same for most intents and purposes so I would say that's another one off the list!  Even if it's only on the list because the generic "4-Player Extra" Volume 19 issue covers it, as opposed to it primarily featured on a cover...

Well, in any case, if you get lost in the game, you won't any longer!  Thanks, mechaskrom!

[LTIan]

The 1992 section looks nearly complete.

Aside from the one Star Wars Game, there is that OTHER GAME that I won't mention that stills needs to be completed.

[JonLeung]

Aside from the one Star Wars Game that needs mapped, there is that OTHER GAME that I won't mention but still needs to be completed.

Except that by pointing it out in capital letters, and that not mentioning something but saying that you're not mentioning it actually draws more attention to it, it's pretty obvious what you're getting at.

Look, I would like Road Runner's Death Valley Rally maps too, though maybe not as apparently urgently as you, but eventually, yes.  However, as has been explained, many times before, that particular game is not that easy to map, as said so even by a few of our most seasoned mappers.

However, I am of the belief that nothing of this sort is totally impossible, and so, LTIan, perhaps if you had put in some effort into learning how to map, instead of repeatedly asking for someone else to attempt to make them, maybe between your first request and now, you could have fully mapped the game yourself, a few times over, even.  At this point that seems to be your best option, since your undying desire for these maps seems unrivaled by no other's - so put it to good use!

[LTIan]

So why not put a symbol next to it that means "Impossible to Rip".

Like a "!" or a "?" or something.

If you're saying that game is impossible to rip, then I think you should have a symbol next to the game that considers it to be impossible to rip.

[JonLeung]

As I said, I don't believe anything is impossible.  But stop getting your hopes up for Road Runner's Death Valley Rally, please.  And I don't see what coming up with another symbol is going to accomplish here.

[Will]

"Kirby's Dream Land 2" is finally complete. The maze was a difficult one to cover, but I got it done in the end.

[JonLeung]

Thanks, Will Mallia.  Wow, it's been a long time since I updated the list.

Can we get some Gauntlet II done?  I know it's not "really" a cover game since it was only alluded to in the title of the "4-Player Extra" special issue, but it is heavily featured inside.  But it would make it undoubtedly clear that we've covered all of 1990 and all the NES games.

[JonLeung]

Some Batman Returns for the Super NES (and just a few days after its sequel was put up, both by G.E.R.), and that's another one for 1993.

[G.E.R.]

Do we have statistics on all NES/SNES games? I mean how many NES/SNES games (from the total games) presented on this atlas?

[JonLeung]

That's a bit of a different topic, but anyway, for the Americas, there are 677 official NES games and 718 Super NES (up to 721 if you count the Mexico/Brazil ones).  Again, that's just for the Americas...  Europe and Japan have their exclusives too, and we do also have maps of unlicensed games, which I've been wondering about if I should somehow indicate those.

While the NES and Super NES sections are definitely the most popular, I know we are still not close at all to having mapped everything.  Many of the obvious ones are, sure, like the popular games that the consoles are particularly remembered for.

That's part of what this topic fulfills - if a game was good enough to get on the cover of a then-popular magazine, then it should be worth mapping.  Nintendo Power was known for having screenshot maps, so if we complete this topic's request, it sort of "obsoletes" those magazines... (well, no, I kid... it's hard to replace the feeling of finding a new issue of Nintendo Power in the mail, especially in the pre-Internet age.)  Okay, each magazine featured multiple games, so maps of just these wouldn't be enough to replace all those mags... but knocking out the covers is a start.