Nintendo Power V154

Nintendo Power V154
Date	March 2002
Cover	Sonic Adventure 2 Battle

Nintendo Power Volume 154 is an issue of Nintendo Power released in March of 2002. On the cover of the magazine was the GameCube video game Sonic Adventure 2: Battle. This issue was the first to include screen test captions that have been suggested by readers, featuring the image that Nintendo Power used a screen test caption for two issues prior and displaying other captions submitted by fans. It also featured the 2001 Nintendo Power Award Nominations, inviting readers to vote for the awards that were to be given out two issues later.

Power Charts

Top selling games

GameCube games

1. Super Smash Bros. Melee
2. Pikmin
3. Luigi's Mansion
4. Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader
5. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
6. Madden NFL 2002
7. Wave Race: Blue Storm
8. SSX Tricky
9. Super Monkey Ball
10. The Simpsons: Road Rage

Handheld games

1. Pokémon Crystal - Game Boy Color
2. Super Mario Advance - Game Boy Advance
3. Mario Kart: Super Circuit - Game Boy Advance
4. Spyro: Season of Ice - Game Boy Advance
5. Wario Land 4 - Game Boy Advance
6. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - Game Boy Color
7. Shrek: Fairy Tale Freakdown - Game Boy Color
8. Super Mario Bros. Deluxe - Game Boy Color
9. Monsters Inc. - Game Boy Advance
10. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 - Game Boy Color

Player's Choice and Most Wanted

GameCube games (Player's choice)

1. NBA Street
2. Super Monkey Ball
3. Pikmin
4. Super Smash Bros. Melee
5. Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader
6. The Simpsons: Road Rage
7. Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
8. FIFA 2002
9. SSX Tricky
10. NBA Courtside 2002

Game Boy Advance games (Player's choice)

1. Golden Sun
2. Advance Wars
3. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear
4. Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars
5. Sonic Advance
6. Sheep
7. Chuchu Rocket!
8. Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2
9. Ecks Vs. Sever
10. Castlevania: Circle of the Moon

Most Wanted

1. Metroid Prime - GameCube
2. Super Mario Sunshine - GameCube
3. The Legend of Zelda GC
4. Turok: Evolution - GameCube
5. Phantasy Star Online Ver. 2 - GameCube

Game Watch

Games featured in GameWatch include Toxic Grind, James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire, All-Star Baseball 2003, Home Run KING, The Scorpion King: Sword of Osiris Bloody Roar: Primal Fury, NBA 2K2, Britney's Dance Beat, Guilty Gear X, Dual Blade, Ice Age, Denki Blocks!, Gravity Games Bike: Street. Vert. Dirt, ESPN MLS Extra Time 2002, Monster Jam, and Star Fox Adventures: Dinosaur Planet.

As always this section also featured a list of upcoming video games for Nintendo's current consoles.

Power On and Nintendo Online

Here, the Game and Game Over feature was removed an replaced with "Your Screen Test Captions" where Nintendo Power presents the screenshot that they used their own caption for two issues prior, and displayed some captions that fans have submitted. The Power On on this issue features a history retrospective on Sonic the Hedgehog celebrating Sonic's debut on Nintendo platforms, as well as "Trash Talking' With Jason" and "Taxi Driver Confessions."

In the monthly column known as Nintendo Online, the writers of Nintendo Power introduces the site for Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 for the GBA. The url for the site is gameboy.com/supermarioworld. It also introduces the Nintendo Newsletter

Game strategies

Video games that featured strategies included:

• Sonic Adventure 2 Battle - GameCube
• NBA Street - GameCube
• 18-Wheeler: American Pro Trucker - GameCube
• Zone of the Enders: The Fist of Mars - Game Boy Advance
• Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars - Game Boy Advance
• Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2 Part 2 - Game Boy Advance

Classified Information

Classified information features simple cheat codes and hints that don't exactly need a full article. Each issue features a multitude of video games. Super Smash Bros. Melee and Luigi's mansion each took two pages, the former game for unlocking characters, stages, and features, and the other for advice on finding golden mice, getting pearls from capturing ghosts, and the "hidden mansion" on one page, and advice on beating the first three bosses on the other.

There was also advice on the boss fights in Wario Land 4, cheat codes for renaming more characters in Golden Sun that just Issac's, the first page had some advice on Toy Hawk's Pro Skater 3 on GameCube, and the section concludes with advice on The Simpsons: Road Rage, Crazy Taxi, and Pikmin.

Epic Center

Epic Center first appeared in the Nintendo Power V70, though after a few years was ultimately removed. Because of the rising interest in RPG video games, and the introduction to two new video game consoles on which to play them, Nintendo Power decided to revive the long lost section. The issue featured previews of Magical Vacation, and then strategies for Zone of the Enders: The Fist of Mars.

Pokécenter

This issue sumarizes Alex's pokemon competition with Fortress, Omastar, and Umbreon. Other species include Misdreavus, Suicune, and Machamp.

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:

• An American Tail: Fievel's Gold Rush

• Columns Crown

• Dark Arena

• Peter Pan: Return to Neverland

• Ecks Vs. Sever

• Honny Mosely Mad Trix

• Mike Tyson Boxing

• Puyu Pop

• Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 (GBA)

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):

• Sonic Adventure 2: Battle - 4.5, 4, 4.5, 4, 4

• NBA Street - 4, 4.5, 4.5, 5, 4

• 18-Wheeler: American Pro Trucker - 2.5, 3, 3.5, 2.5, 2.5

• Zone of the Enders: The Fist of Mars - 3.5, 4, 3.5, 4, 4

• Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars - 4.5, 4.5, 5, 5, 4

• Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 (GBA) - 4, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4

• Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear - 4.5, 4.5, 4.5, 4, 4

• An American Tail: Vievel's Gold Rush - 3, 3, 2.5, 2.5, 3

• Columns Crown - 3.5, 4, 4, 4, 3.5

• Dark Arena - 3, 2.5, 2.5, 2.5, 3.5

• Peter Pan: Return to Neverland - 1.5, 3.5, 3.5, 3, 3

• Ecks Vs. Sever - 4.5, 4, 4, 4.5, 4

• Jonny Mosely Mad Trix - 2, 1.5, 2.5, 2, 3

• Mike Tyson Boxing - 3, 2, 2, 2.5, 3.5

• Puyo Pop - 3, 3.5, 3, 3, 3.5

• M&M's Blast! - 3, 3, 3.5, 3.5, 4

• Midnight Club Street Racing - 4, 3, 2.5, 2.5, 2.5

• Planet of the Apes - 2, 2, 2.5, 2.5, 2.5

• Super Bust-A-Move - 2.5, 4, 4, 3, 3.5

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

• Crazy Taxi - 4.5

• Luigi's Mansion - 4.5, 4.5, 4.5

• The Simpsons: Road Rage - 4.5

• Super Monkey Ball - 4.5, 4.5, 4

• Disney's Tarzan Untamed - 3.5

• Madden NFL 2002 - 4.5

• Pikmin - 4.5

• Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 - 4.5

• Ecks VS. Sever - 4.5

Player's Poll Contest

This month's Player's Poll Contest was tied directly to the 2001 Nintendo Power Award nomination. The Grand Prize included a Nintendo GameCube and five GameCube games, the second prize was a Game Boy Advance and three Game Boy Advance games, and the third place prize was a Nintendo Power T-shirt.