Nintendo Power V5

Nintendo Power V5 is the fifth issue of Nintendo Power. It featured Ninja Gaiden on it's cover and continued the article on Zelda II: The Adventure of Link that started in the previous issue. This volume also contained a "Game Pak Directory" that listed all NES games that had been released up to that time.

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
The first game featured in the magazine was the second part of the article on Zelda II: The Adventure of Link which started in the previous volume. It had 7 pages detailing maps, treasures and enemies.

C.E.S. Report
This article explained what took place at the 1989 International Winter Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The convention ran from Saturday January 7th through Tuesday January 10th. Nintendo Power had a booth set up in the video game portion of the show. New games were showcased, and the Power Glove made it's debut.

Ninja Gaiden
The next featured game, which was the cover story, was Ninja Gaiden. It had maps and gave information about the story for each level.

Hudson's Adventure Island
This article featured the game Hudson's Adventure Island (also known as Adventure Island). It had maps and gave information on items and enemies. It also had more maps on the back of the fold-out poster insert.

Previews
In this article, the crew from Nintendo Power give readers a quick overview of some of the best games that were soon-to-be-released. This volume was the first to have this feature. Games previewed were Strider, Cobra Triangle, The Adventures of Bayou Billy, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Counselor's Corner
Counselor's Corner was 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. The games featured in this issue are Bionic Commando, Castlevania II: Simon's Quest, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, and Mickey Mousecapade.

Howard & Nester
As in previous issues, a Howard & Nester comic is featured here. It was a two-page comic that showed Nester imagining he was Link in the land of Hyrule.

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

Power Pad Party
This article featured a group of young Nintendo fans competing in a challenge using the Power Pad. They played against each other in the games World Class Track Meet, Dance Aerobics and Super Team Games.

Video Shorts and Pak Watch
Both the Video Shorts and Pak Watch sections showcased games that were scheduled for release. It gave the reader a quick glance at future games. Some of the games seen in these sections included California Games, Airwolf, Predator, Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers, DuckTales, Batman, Bad Dudes, Super Dodgeball, and Dragon Warrior.

Nintendo Power Awards '88
This issue had the very first Nintendo Power Awards. Fans could vote in various game-related categories and the results would be printed in a later issue. The categories for the first annual Nintendo Power Awards included Best Graphics and Sound, Best Challenge, Best Theme/Fun, Best Play Control, Best Character, Best Ending, Best Player vs. Player,and Best Game Overall.

Top 30
The "Top 30" section of the magazine listed the top 30 games as ranked by the readers. As in the previous volume, this one also showed Super Mario Bros. 2 blowing every other game away in the polls. The hockey game Blades of Steel was a brand new addition to the "Top 30" list. The following are the first 10 from that list of 30.


 * 1) Super Mario Bros. 2
 * 2) Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
 * 3) The Legend of Zelda
 * 4) Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!
 * 5) Contra
 * 6) ''Castlevania II: Simon's Quest
 * 7) Bionic Commando
 * 8) Blades of Steel
 * 9) Double Dragon
 * 10) Metroid