video game
A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...
strategy guide
Strategy guides are instruction books that contain hints or complete solutions to specific video games. The line between strategy guides and video game walkthroughs is somewhat blurred, with the former often containing or being written around the ...
s from
Nintendo
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles.
The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...
based on ''
Nintendo Power
''Nintendo Power'' was a video game news and strategy magazine from Nintendo of America, first published in July/August 1988 as Nintendo's official print magazine for North America. The magazine's publication was initially done monthly by Ninte ...
'' magazine.
Original format
The first ''Player's Guide'' was simply named ''The Official Nintendo Player's Guide'', featuring dozens of different NES games. The following 22 games were covered in depth, with enemy descriptions, level maps, and strategy tips.
* ''
The Legend of Zelda
is a media franchise, video game series created by the Japanese game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. It is primarily developed and published by Nintendo; some portable installments and re-releases have been outsourced to Flags ...
Commando
A commando is a combatant, or operative of an elite light infantry or special operations force, specially trained for carrying out raids and operating in small teams behind enemy lines.
Originally, "a commando" was a type of combat unit, as oppo ...
''
* ''
Super Mario Bros.
is a 1985 Platformer, platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It is the successor to the 1983 arcade game ''Mario Bros.'' and the first game in the ''Super Mario'' series. It was origi ...
''
* ''
Top Gun
''Top Gun'' is a 1986 American action drama film directed by Tony Scott and produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, with distribution by Paramount Pictures. The screenplay was written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr., and was inspired ...
''
* ''
Ghosts and Goblins
''Ghosts 'n Goblins'', known in Japan as , is a series of run-and-gun platform video games developed and owned by Capcom. The first entry in the series was ''Ghosts 'n Goblins'', released in arcades on July 7, 1985. The series has subsequent ...
''
* ''
Double Dribble
In basketball, an illegal dribble (colloquially called a double dribble or dribbling violation) occurs when a player ends their dribble by catching or causing the ball to come to rest in one or both hands and then dribbles it again with one hand ...
Metroid
is an action-adventure game franchise created by Nintendo. The player controls the bounty hunter Samus Aran, who protects the galaxy from Space Pirates and other malevolent forces and their attempts to harness the power of the parasitic M ...
''
* ''
Rad Racer
''Rad Racer'', known as in Japan, is a racing video game developed and published by Square for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1987. In this game, players drive a Ferrari 328 or a generic Formula One racing machine through a ...
Kid Icarus
''Kid Icarus'' is a platform video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Family Computer Disk System in Japan and the Nintendo Entertainment System in Europe and North America. It was released in Japan in December 1986, in Europe ...
''
* ''
Pro Wrestling
Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...
''
* ''
Castlevania
''Castlevania'' (), known in Japan as is a gothic horror action-adventure video game series and media franchise created by Konami. The series is largely set in the castle of Count Dracula, the arch-enemy of the Belmont clan of vampire hunters. ...
''
* ''
Excitebike
is a 1984 racing video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was ported to arcades for the Nintendo VS. System later that year and Famicom Disk System in 1988. In North America, it became one of the ...
''
* ''
Arkanoid
is a 1986 Block kuzushi, block breaker arcade game developed and published by Taito. In North America, it was published by Romstar. Controlling a paddle-like craft known as the Vaus, the player is tasked with clearing a formation of colorful blo ...
Ikari Warriors
''Ikari Warriors'', known as in Japan, is a vertically scrolling run and gun video game released for arcades by SNK in 1986. It was published in North America by Tradewest. At the time there were many ''Commando'' clones on the market. What d ...
''
* ''
Spy Hunter
''Spy Hunter'' is a vehicular combat game developed by Bally Midway and released for arcades in 1983. The game draws inspiration from the James Bond films and was originally supposed to carry the James Bond brand. The object of the game is t ...
''
* ''
The Goonies 2
is an adventure platform video game developed and published by Konami for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was released on March 18, 1987 in Japan, November in North America, and on December 19, 1988 in Europe. It is a sequel to a prior '' ...
''
* ''
Kung Fu
Chinese martial arts, commonly referred to with umbrella terms Kung fu (term), kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (sport), wushu (), are Styles of Chinese martial arts, multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater Ch ...
''
Screenshots and short descriptions of other games were also included. As an early published Nintendo work, it featured some errors, including referring to ''Metroid'' heroine
Samus Aran
is the protagonist of the video game series ''Metroid'' by Nintendo. She was created by the Japanese video game designer Makoto Kano (video game designer), Makoto Kano and introduced in the first ''Metroid (video game), Metroid'' (1986) for th ...
as a male, and referring to the playable bar in ''Arkanoid'' as "Bowse" instead of the proper "Vaus," most likely the result of a translation mistake.
''The Official Nintendo Player's Guide'' was followed in the early 1990s by a number of publications, which were produced under the slightly different moniker of ''Nintendo Power Strategy Guides''. These were sent between the then
bi-monthly
{{Short pages monitorimpending switch from in-house publication of ''NP'' to publication by
Future US
Future US, Inc. (formerly known as Imagine Media and The Future Network USA) is an American mass media, media company, corporation specializing in targeted advertising, targeted magazines and websites in the video games, music, and technology ...
, which occurred in November 2007.
In an issue of ''Nintendo Power'', an ''NP'' subscriber wrote to Nintendo, asking about the status of the ''Player's Guide'' series. Nintendo replied that the series is indeed discontinued indefinitely. They also pointed out that Prima Games was their official partner for making strategy guides, which they have been making for the aforementioned recent releases. Additionally, Prima made special strategy guides for '' The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass'' and ''
Mario Kart Wii
is a 2008 kart racing game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii. It is the sixth installment in the ''Mario Kart'' series, and was released in April 2008. In ''Mario Kart Wii,'' the player takes control of one of 24 ''Mario'' series c ...
''. These guides were released exclusively as bonuses for Nintendo Power subscriptions or renewals. These guides even carry the label "Special Digest Version: Supplement to Nintendo Power Magazine".
See also
*
Game Boy line
The Japanese multinational consumer electronics company Nintendo has developed seven home video game consoles and multiple portable consoles for use with external media, as well as dedicated consoles and other hardware for their consoles. , N ...
*
Nintendo DS
The is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens worki ...
*
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...
*
Nintendo GameCube
The is a PowerPC-based home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, in Europe on May 3, 2002, and in Australia on May 17, 2002. It is the su ...
*
Nintendo 64
The (N64) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on June 23, 1996, in North America on September 29, 1996, and in Europe and Australia on March 1, 1997. As the successor to the Super Nintendo E ...
*
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a Fourth generation of video game consoles, 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan, 1991 in No ...
*
Wii
The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America, and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, f ...
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...