Nintendo Power V81

Nintendo Power V81 is the February 1996 issue of Nintendo Power magazine. It features the arcade game Killer Instinct 2 on it's cover.

Power Charts
The "Power Charts" section of the magazine lists the top 20 Super NES games and only the top 10 Game Boy games and top 5 Virtual Boy games as ranked by the readers. The following are the first 5 for each game system from this issue.


 * Super NES
 * Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
 * Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
 * Donkey Kong Country
 * Killer Instinct
 * Chrono Trigger


 * Game Boy
 * Donkey Kong Land
 * The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
 * Tetris
 * Killer Instinct
 * Mortal Kombat 3


 * Virtual Boy
 * Virtual Boy Wario Land
 * Galactic Pinball
 * Mario's Tennis
 * Nester's Funky Bowling
 * Red Alarm

Killer Instinct 2
The first featured article is about the cover story, the arcade game Killer Instinct 2. The 8-page article lists the main fighters and some of their moves.

Mega Man X3
The first Super NES article is about Mega Man X3. The 10-page article provides maps for the stages of each of the eight bosses.

MechWarrior 3050
The next featured game is MechWarrior 3050. The article provides maps for three different areas.

Toy Story
The next SNES game featured in the magazine is Toy Story, based on the popular film of the same name. The article has maps for ten different levels.

Syndicate
This article reviews Syndicate. It has a map for the first area and only brief glimpses of a few others.

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
The next game reviewed is Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. It provides tips for getting 102%.

What's Up at Titus
This article talks briefly about upcoming games from Titus Software. The games included are Prehistorik Man, Ardy Lightfoot and Sink or Swim.

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

Epic Center
This article would give strategies for certain role-playing games. Some of the games listed here included Breath of Fire II (SNES) and Secret of Evermore.

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 Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island (SNES), Rise of the Phoenix (SNES), Secret of Evermore (SNES), and Donkey Kong Land (GB).

Nester's Funky Bowling
The Virtual Boy article talks about Nester's Funky Bowling. The brief article gives a few tips.

Sports Scene
This article has a closer look at some of the upcoming sports games, which includes PGA European Tour (SNES), NBA Live 96 (GB) and FIFA Soccer 96 (GB).

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 in this section include (in alphabetical order):
 * Ardy Lightfoot (SNES), Nester's Funky Bowling (VB) and Toy Story (SNES).

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 Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey (N64), Olympic Summer Games (GB) and Toy Story (GB).