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Nintendo Power Volume 153 is an issue of Nintendo Power released in February of 2002. On the cover of the magazine was the GameCube video game NBA Courtside 2002 .

Power Charts[]

Nintendo 64 games were no longer being added to the list of the Top Selling Games or the Player's Choice.  All of the console attention was focused specifically on the then brand-new Nintendo GameCube.

Top selling games[]

Nintendo GameCubeGames games[]

  1. Luigi's Mansion
  2. Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader
  3. Wave Race: Blue Storm
  4. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
  5. Madden NFL 2002
  6. Super Monkey Ball
  7. NFL Hitz 20-02
  8. All-Star Baseball 2002
  9. Batman Vengeance
  10. Crazy Taxi

Handheld games[]

  1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone  - Game Boy Color
  2. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone  - Game Boy Advance
  3. Mario Kart: Super Circuit  - Game Boy Advance
  4. Pokémon Crystal - Game Boy Color
  5. Shrek: Fairy Tale Freakdown - Game Boy Advance
  6. Super Mario Advance - Game Boy Advance
  7. Monsters, Inc. - Game Boy Color
  8. Monsters, Inc. - Game Boy Advance
  9. Spyro: Season of Ice  - Game Boy Advance
  10. Golden Sun  - Game Boy Advance

Player's Choice and Most Wanted[]

GameCube games (Player's choice)[]

  1. Super Monkey Ball
  2.  Super Smash Bros. Melee 
  3. Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader
  4. SSX Tricky 
  5. Pikmin
  6. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 ​​​​​​
  7. The Simpsons: Road Rage
  8. Luigi's Mansion' 
  9. Wave Race: Blue Storm
  10. Batman Vengeance

Handheld games (Player's choice)[]

  1. Golden Sun - Game Boy Advance
  2. Advance Wars - Game Boy Advance
  3. Wario Land 4 - Game Boy Advance
  4. Pac-Man Collection - Game Boy Advance
  5. Mario Kart: Super Circuit - Game Boy Advance
  6. Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2  - Game Boy Advance
  7. Castlevania: Circle of the Moon - Game Boy Advance
  8. Super Dodge Ball Advance - Game Boy Advance
  9. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - Game Boy Advance
  10. Shantae  - Game Boy Color

Most wanted[]

  1. The Legend of Zelda GC (Soon to be The Wind Waker)
  2. Animal Crossing (Referred to as Animal Forest)
  3. Super Mario Sunshine - GameCube
  4. Metroid Prime - GameCube
  5. Eternal Darkness  - GameCube

GameWatch[]

Games included in the GameWatch for this month included NBA Street, Bloody Roar: Priman Fury, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 on GBA, Peter Pan: Return to Never Land, 18 Wheeler: American Pro Trucker, Sega Soccer Slam, Star Fox Adventures, Animal Forest Plus, Legend of the Stafi, and Doshin the Giant.

Power On and Nintendo Online[]

This was the last Nintendo Power magazine to feature a Game and Game Over segment, and from the next issue onward, it would be replaced with the image from volume 152 and some submitted fan captions.  

  • Game: Classic Game Revival
  • Game Over: Illegal Emulators
  • Game: Button Mashers
  • Game Over: Mutton Bashers
  • Game: Code Cop
  • Game Over: Code Cretin
  • Game: GCN
  • Game Over: NGC
  • Game: Taxi-driver games
  • Game Over: "You talkin' to me?" jokes

As well as that, due to this issue being released in February, NP celebrated Valentines day with personal ads that are actually meant to allude to six specific games.  The answer key was The Legend of Zelda: Majora's mask, Pikmin, Goldeneye 007, Crazy Taxi, Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, and Tetris.  On the next page, we were given pictures of hearts from various games with most of each picture besides the heart being blurred out and captions hinting at the game that the heart is from.  The games were Catlevania, Super Mario Advance, Harvest Moon, Bomberman: the Second Attack, Kid Icarus, Luigi's Mansion, Golden Sun, Ms. Pac-Man: Maze Madness, Popeye, Super Star Wars, The Legend of Zelda, and The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland.

In the monthly column known as Nintendo Online, the writers of Nintendo Power explain the new websites of popular Nintendo games. This time, it featured updates on smashbros.com on Super Smash Bros Melee, unveiling unlockable characters and stages.

Game strategies[]

Video games that featured strategies included:

Special Features[]

The volume included preview of...

Classified Information[]

The first page of this month's Classified Information contained cheatcodes for NFL Hitz 20-02.  The next page had a cheatcode for Wave Race Blue Storm that allowed you to ride on a dolphin, codes for unlocking minigames in Lego Bionicle, The more basic variation of Tetris in Tetris Worlds, Codes for unlimited ammo, all weapons, and invincibility in Back Track, and cheat codes for Doom on Game Boy Advance, plus the Trash Can Tip that holding down the Z button on the GCN title screen would activate squeaky toy sound effects.

The next two pages were dedicated to secret info for Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader. On the first page, you were given advice on what to accomplish on Tatooine Training as well as what to find and where and when to find them and that accomplishing these tasks will unlock the Naboo Starfighter. It also presents cheat codes for unlocking commentary as well as playing the game in black and white. It also comments on how homing weapons let you score gold medals on levels that require 100% targeting computer efficiency. The second page focuses on where to find the tech upgrades throughout the game's ten levels, though one of them has two tech upgrades. You'll acquire one playing that stage during the day and the other playing it at night.

The next two pages from there give you advice on where to find the CDs in Wario Land 4.and how to access them. And the final page is dedicated to finding the video tapes in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3.

Pokécenter[]

This was dedicated to Pokémon Center New York which contains a lot of shelves and stores filled with Pokémon merchandise like video games, plush toys, VHS tapes and the like.

Epic Center[]

The first page of this feature in this issue featured previews of a Game Boy Advance Zone of the Enders game, a Robotech game for the GBA and GCN, Tactice Ogre Gaiden and Robopon Advance for the GBA, and Evolution Worlds for the GCN. The second page pointed out the location of each Djinn in Golden Sun with the next eight pages giving you advice on how to obtain them.

Title Wave[]

Title Wave was another new feature that didn't last very long. The slogan for the article was "Look what's making a splash this month!", and featured information on various titles that were released during the month of the magazine's release. The games included were:

  • ESPN Great Outdoor Games: Bass 2002 (GBA)
  • Inspector Gadget: Advance Mission
  • Monsters, Inc. (GBA)
  • NBA Jam 2002 (GBA)
  • Planet Monsters
  • Salt Lake 2002
  • Sheep
  • Resident Evil Gaiden
  • Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters: Dark Duel Story

Title Wave was unique in that it featured information on games that the magazine wouldn't normally devote full articles to. It infamously praised each of the games but then mystersiously gave some terrible grades in the review section of the same issue. For example, in this issue, Army Men for the GBA received three 2/5's and even a 1 1/2/5.

Now Playing[]

Now Playing reviews multiple video games each month, with five writers giving it a grade. After a description of the video game, which normally was praiseworthy, some of the reviewers put their own input into the comments section of the most prominent titles, which was followed by the review scores on the right. The games and their scores this month include (with the highest possible score being a five):

  • NBA Courtside 2002 - 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
  • Batman Vengance - 3.5, 3.5, 4, 3.5, 4
  • Cel Damge - 2, 4.5, 3, 3, 3.5
  • ESPN International Winter Sports 2002 - 2.5, 3.5, 3.5, 2.5, 2
  • Smashing Drive - 4, 3.5, 4, 3, 3.5
  • Dark Summit - 3, 3, 3.5, 3, 4
  • NFL QB Club 2002 - 2, 3.5, 3.5, 2.5, 3
  • Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 - 4.5, 4.5, 4.5, 4.5, 4.5
  • Sonic Advance - 4, 4, 4.5, 4, 4.5
  • Shantae - 4, 4, 5, 5, 4
  • ESPN Great Outdoor Games: Bass 2002 - 3, 3, 3, 3.5, 3
  • Inspector Gadget: Advance Mission - 4, 3.5, 4, 4, 4
  • Monsters, Inc. (GBA) - 2, 3.5, 2.5, 2.5, 2
  • NBA Jam 2002 - 3.5, 3, 3, 3, 4
  • Planet Monsters - 3.5, 3, 4, 4, 4
  • Salt Lake 2002 - 2, 2, 2, 2, 2
  • Sheep - 5, 4, 4.5, 4.5, 4
  • Dokapon - 4, 3.5, 3.5, 3.5, 3
  • No Rules: Get Phat - 1, 2.5, 2.5, 3, 2
  • Razor Freestyle Scooter - 2, 2.5, 3, 2.5, 3
  • SpongeBob SquarePants: Supersponge - 2.5, 3, 2, 2.5, 2
  • Resident Evil Gaiden - 3, 2, 3.5, 3, 3.5
  • Yu-Gi-Oh! Dark Duel Stories - 2.5, 2.5, 2.5, 2.5, 3
  • Monsters, Inc. (GBC) - 2.5, 2.5, 3, 3, 3
  • Sabrina The Animated Series: Spooked - 2.5, 4, 3, 4, 4

They also featured a "Casting Call" section containing fan reviews of various games:

  • Batman Vengance - 4
  • Crazy Taxi - 4
  • Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - 4.5
  • Golden Sun 5

Player's Poll Contest[]

This contest's grand prize was a trip to Los Angeles, where you get to meet the cast of the movie and catch a special screening of the then brand-new Spider-Man movie. When you go back home, you'll bring home a Nintendo GameCube and a copy of the video-game based on Spider-Man released for it. Second Prize winners received a copy of both the GameCube Spider-Man and the Game Boy Advance Spider-Man game. Third Prize winners got a Nintendo Power T-shirt.

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