Nintendo Power V44

Nintendo Power V44 is the January 1993 issue of Nintendo Power magazine. It featured The Magical Quest starring Mickey Mouse on it's cover. This volume had a "Mega Man Spectacular", meaning it had 16 pages just devoted to the Mega Man franchise. And, for those readers who subscribed to the magazine (as opposed to buying it on the news stand), got an extra "Super Power Club Bonus". The contents of the issue are as follows.

The Magical Quest starring Mickey Mouse
The first SNES game featured in the magazine is the cover story, The Magical Quest starring Mickey Mouse. The article includes maps for all 6 Stages in the game.

Shanghai II: Dragon's Eye
The next featured game is Shanghai II: Dragon's Eye. The short article describes the game of mahjong.

Sonic Blast Man
Sonic Blast Man is the next SNES game featured. The article discusses the main character's moves and what to expect in each Stage of the game.

Equinox
The next article discusses Equinox. The brief article has an Overworld map and the room layout for three different areas.

Super NES Sports Games
The next SNES article was an overview of many of the upcoming sports games for the Super NES. Some of the games reviewed in this section are NBA All-Star Challenge, Super Play Action Football, NHLPA Hockey '93, Hit the Ice, and Super Batter Up.

Firepower 2000
The next featured SNES game is Firepower 2000. The article describes the advantages of both the Jeep and the Helicopter, and also gives brief descriptions of each level.

Classified Information
The Classified Information section reveals codes and hidden secrets in certain games. Games featured in this section include:

Counselor's Corner
Counselor's Corner is a feature in which the writers of the magazine would respond to game-related questions in the hope of getting the player out of a tough spot in various games. The games featured in this issue are Final Fantasy II (SNES), Soul Blazer (SNES), Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (NES), and ''The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (GB).

Mario vs. Wario comic
This is a 10-page comic featuring Mario and Wario. In the story, Mario is invited to Wario's place to catch-up after having been apart for 20 years. Mario, being happy-go-lucky, doesn't realize that Wario is actually trying to get revenge for his troubled childhood.

The Incredible Crash Dummies
The first Game Boy article takes a look at The Incredible Crash Dummies. It contains maps for the first three Stages.

Battleship
The next article reviews Battleship. It brief 2-page article describes the ships and their weapons.

The Humans
The next Game Boy article reviews The Humans. The short article talks about a few different aspects of the game.

Mega Man III
The last Game Boy article discusses Mega Man III. It very briefly gives a preview of each Stage.

Mega Man Robot Contest
These four pages showcased results from a contest announced in a previews Nintendo Power volume. Readers sent in entries or their own Robot Master designs.

Mega Man 5
The first featured NES game is Mega Man 5. The article has maps for each of the Robot Masters' Stages.

R.C. Pro-Am II
R.C. Pro-Am II is the next game featured. The article lists information for different Tracks.

The Jetsons: Cogswell's Caper!
The next NES game is The Jetsons: Cogswell's Caper!. The article has maps for Stages 1, 2 and 4.

Nester's Adventures
As in previous issues, a Nester's Adventures comic is featured here. This one puts Nester in a Desert Strike: Return to the Gulf setting.

Super Power Club Special
This next section was only available to subscribers. There was a 16-page insert specifically for Mario Paint. The rest of the Club bonus includes the Top 10 Games of 1992 for each gaming system, Future Technologies in which the Super FX chip was showcased, Behind the Scenes at Nintendo of America, The Best of "Classified Information", and a reveal of secret stages in Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins.

Top 20
The "Top 20" section of the magazine lists the top 20 NES, Game Boy, and Super NES games as ranked by the readers. The following are the first 5 for each game system from this issue.


 * Super NES
 * Street Fighter II: The World Warrior
 * The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
 * Super Mario Kart
 * Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time
 * Final Fantasy II


 * Game Boy
 * Kirby's Dream Land
 * Super Mario Land
 * Metroid II: Return of Samus
 * Dr. Mario
 * Battletoads


 * NES
 * Super Mario Bros. 3
 * Tecmo Super Bowl
 * The Legend of Zelda
 * Battletoads
 * Final Fantasy

Now Playing
This article lists new game releases and ratings for those games. It also has a very brief overview of a few of them. Some of the top-rated games here include (in alphabetical order):
 * Super NES:
 * Equinox, The Magical Quest starring Mickey Mouse, NHLPA Hockey '93, Sonic Blast Man
 * NES:
 * Mega Man 5, R.C. Pro-Am II
 * Game Boy:
 * Battleship, The Incredible Crash Dummies

Pak Watch
The Pak Watch section showcased games that were scheduled for release. It gave the reader a quick glance at future games. Some of the games seen in this section include The Lost Vikings (SNES), The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (GB) and Brett Hull Hockey (SNES).