The wife here recently got me a subscription to Nintendo Power as part of my Christmas present. I’ve always been a fan of the mag as it’s not *too* fanboyish (they actually are pretty good with the reviews) and it’s not cluttered with 1,000,000 ads. It’s also fun to read compared to other reading material given the amount of “little things” they toss into the magazine. Here’s something new I’m going to start doing, posting about what’s inside the magazine as far as news and previews goes each month as I check out the magazine. Here’s what’s in this month’s Nintendo Power magazine for the February 2007 issue:

From the News Section:
- Mario Party 8 news with some screens. Looks great and better than any GC version I’ve seen. Not by leaps and bounds, but the graphics aren’t the reason the game is fun. Shows a bit of a game map itself, a mini-game that features Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, and Wario crossing a HUGE canyon over tightropes, and another mini-game showing what appears to be a 4 player split screen, each player cleaning off a Chomp-Chomp with a sponge bath. Coming this Spring to the US, Mario Party 8 will feature 6 game boards and 14 different Mushroom Kingdom characters including the new additions of Blooper and Hammer Bro. Earn coins and battle for Stars as you make your way around the interactive boards chock full of mini-games. The Wii remote is used heavily with it’s motion sensing abilities and the speaker will announce when it’s your turn. No mention of the Nunchuck attachment. We’ve been fans of Mario Party since the N64, so much fun contained for multiple players.

- Alien Syndrome from Sega and Totally Games is coming to the Wii and will offer around 30 levels of play in which you control a new heroine, Aileen. She will be able to use an assortment of weapons that you can upgrade to battle the baddies while you play. You can also purchase items from shops and learn new abilities, adding a slight RPG twist to the game. The single player game sounds fun enough but there is also a four player co-op mode that will allow you and your buddies to go through the game together. A screenshot is also present and shows our heroine in a darkened hallway from 3rd person perspective. Organic growth appears to meld with the metallic hallways and glows in the blue light shining through various openings.

- Small, tiny blurb on how Activision is planning on making a Transformers Wii (and DS) game that will coincide with the movie. Play as the Autobots or the Decepticons, “each bot comes equipped with different weapons, moves, and transformations.”

- h.a.n.d Inc. has announced Tamagotchi: Party On! for the Wii which will attempt to get it’s share of the multiplayer party game pie. Up to four players compete to become the mayor of Tamagotchi City on game boards that allow you to play for popularity or for more funds you can use to buy items that will help you in your run for mayor. An interesting twist on the multiplayer party game adding in a bit of political gameplay.

From the Previews Section:
- Wii Play is coming to the US and will offer more minigames you can enjoy by yourself or with others. Shooting Range, Find Mii, Table Tennis, Pose Mii, Laser Hockey, Billiards, Fishing, Charge!, and Tanks are easy to pick up and play and just as addicting. Some games are more in depth than others with Wii Billiards offering more complexity than first thought. Looks to be something for everyone in the package, can’t wait till it hits US stores! The game also comes with a Wii remote. Bonus!

After the previews, there’s a nice 7 page article covering Wario Ware: Smooth Moves showing screens from many of the minigames and pictures of various people having fun playing. Featuring a single player and multiplayer mode, Wario Ware for the Wii is going to be a hit for anyone that enjoyed the GC version or anyone looking for some multiplayer goodness. I remember spending what amounts to hours playing the multiplayer jump rope game of all things on the GC version with pals, never mind the hours we spent playing the more involved games. The Wii rendition looks to extend the fun even farther offering not only the same gameplay but a new way to get into the game itself with the unique controls.

Also included in the magazine as a special feature is a 4 page tips and tricks article showing some helpful hints on making it through what is called the “Cave of Ordeals” in Zelda: TP for the Wii. It describes all 50 floors, what you should bring, and how to use various tactics to your benefit while journeying through the caves. This will definitely prove handy for those playing the game.

Next up you will find a 5 page Channels guide focusing mainly on the Virtual Console games, showing screens for each one available now, what the game is and why you should give the game a go. The “Staff Picks” from the current offerings were Gunstar Heroes from the Genesis, Zelda for NES, and SimCity from the SNES. This portion of the magazine also shows how you can get into the shop, add points, find a game you’d like and then how to go about downloading it, and how to apply parental controls if needed.

There is also a guide on Wii Sports covering the games included in the package and how they play. There are also tips included for each game as well as safety pointers to help you not poke your sisters eyeballs out with the Wii Remote while playing.

A couple of pages later, we get to see some of the first screenshots from Prince of Persia that is coming to the Wii complete with illustrations showing how you can use the remote and nunchuk to play the game. Dagger plants, speed kills, and free form fighting is covered as well as how you can use the Daggertail to manipulate various objects to help make your way through the levels. Some great looking shots here and unique controls should make this a very fun game of Prince of Persia.

Codemasters has a nice 4 page article showing off their upcoming offering which features jets, missiles, and lots of explosions named Heatseeker which promises to be the “greatest air combat game since Afterburner”. Some great looking screens show off the various jet fighters in the air on different missions throughout the game. F-22 Raptors and SR-71 Blackbirds are included as available aircraft and the game appears to make great use of the remote and nunchuk. 18 missions will take you from the Carribean to the Antartic carrying out orders to protect carrier fleets or bombing targets. Set to be released in March, we’ll keep an eye on this one.

From the Reviews Section:
Here’s a list of the games they reviews along with the scores.

- Wario Ware: Smooth Moves - 9/10
- Far Cry: Vengeance - 4/10
- Elebits - 7.5/10
- Super Swing Golf - 7.5/10
- Chicken Little: Ace in Action - 7/10
- Tony Hawk’s Downhill Ham - 7.5/10
- Not a Wii game, but Zelda:TP for GC - 9/5/10
- Need for Speed: Carbon - 6/10

And that should cover it for this issue of Nintendo Power, I hope you found a bit of that interesting! There’s more in the mag of course, tons of DS news, fan art and screens, letters, and more so be sure to get your subscription if you enjoyed it so far. A cool thing you can do is go to Nintendo.com, register three Nintendo games and as far as we know, you can get a *free* 3 month subscription to Nintendo Power. Register more and you will soon qualify for a 12 month subscription for only $12. That’s a steal! See you next issue with more coverage of what’s “In This Month’s Nintendo Power”!