NGC Magazine Issue 60

Introduction

The first issue of NGC brought with it coverage from Spaceworld 2001 and a number of newly announced games, including the very first looks at Mario Sunshine and what was to become Zelda Wind Waker. Two big games for very different reasons got future looks, with the very first shots of the excellent looking Metroid Prime and Sonic Adventure 2 marking Sonic’s first console outing for Nintendo. There was also a deeper look at SEGA’s Crazy Taxi, which was shaping up extremely well. 

News this month looked forward to the Japanese launch of the Gamecube, which was to be fully featured in the December issue. There was also comment in the reaction to the new Zelda, as well as a look at the Panasonic DVD/Gamecube hybrid. Within the new News Plus analysis Mark pondered if Nintendo were turning their back on third party developers, with the GameCube being primarily designed for Nintendo's own games.

There were still a couple of reviews this issue, with two of the last N64 games being launched - Mario Party 3 and Pokémon Stadium 2. Pokémon gained a very respectable score of 90%, Alan praising the improvements over the original game, with plenty of praise for the visuals. Geraint scored Mario Party at 72%, calling it very similar to the previous games. 

Planet Game Boy was still running strong, with more coverage from Spaceworld. They looked at the GBA Gamecube link up and the e-card reader, as well as previewing  big hitters like Mario Advance 2 (Aka Mario World) and Sonic Advance. There were a few reviews this issue, with Pokémon Crystal getting 4 stars out of 5, becoming one of the last games released for the original Game Boy. Game Boy Gallery returned at the back but with a twist as they gave readers a challenge to complete and the opportunity to win a GB camera.

With the UK Gamecube launch still over 6 months away, the back of the mag was still dedicated to the N64, with a number of features carried over like the Directory and tips sections. The How to guide this month gave some essential tips for Paper Mario, including various secrets and showed how to get through the final castle of the game. Both Game on and Skill Club had a bit of a revamp, with Game On showcasing some team based challenges for Conkers BFD and Skill Club getting 20 brand new challenges. 

Gamecube Lab looked at how the Gamecube worked, with this first edition looking  at the ports on the bottom of the cube. Another new section at the back of the mag looked at the making of Goldeneye and the team even had space for a comedy take on the big TV phenomenon of the moment Big Brother, titled Big Bowser and Featuring Nintendo characters.