If you’re like me, chances are you were a subscriber to a little known gaming magazine called Nintendo Power. While it doesn’t seem like much now in this age of the smartphones and tablets, at the time it was a huge deal, as it was the closest many Nintendo fans such as myself could get first looks, reviews, and the all important walkthroughs of some of out favorite games. Sadly, the era of gaming magazines seems to have passed, as the Internet has made it possible now to find walkthroughs, previews, reviews, etc. at a much faster and frequent rate then we’ve ever been able to in the past. But in an ironic twist of fate, the very thing that ultimately ended magazines such as Nintendo Power is now helping to revive it and keep it alive, as the Internet Archive has over 100 issues of Nintendo Power on their archive that you can read right now.
The best part about all of this is that these aren’t just snippets of the magazine either. No, these are full blown issues that you can browse through to your liking, ranging from the very first issue to some of the later ones found in the 2000s, and even a couple of strategy guides (called Player’s Guides) for games like Super Mario Bros. 3 and the original Final Fantasy. Of course, it doesn’t have ever single issue, as the archive is missing quite a few, and they are out of order, but considering how many issues of the magazine there were and how they’re so hard to find, this is still rather impressive.
You can find the entire archive here. I highly recommend you look at if you have the time, whether you’re a longtime fan or a newcomer, these issues are an important part of gaming history, and while looking at them like this doesn’t compare to the same feeling as opening up a physical copy of the issue itself, it’s definitely a great substitute.
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