NGC Magazine Issue 82

Introduction

Issue 82 came straight from E3 with a full report on the biggest games from the show. Mario Kart Double Dash!! was the star of the show, with its unique double rider system confusing and intriguing at the same time. There were also new Mario Party, Metroid, Pikmin, Star Fox and Rogue Squadron games to gush over, whilst brand new games like Final Fantasy: crystal chronicles, a new bond title, and a Metal Gear solid remake showed that third party support was going strong. On GBA, games like Metroid: Zero Mission, Mario & Luigi and Advance Wars 2 wowed the crowd. Once again Nintendo pulled out all the stops, even though the only new hardware on show was the Game Boy player accessory to sit under the Gamecube, although they did choose to showcase a multitude of connection possibilities between Gamecube and GBA.

Thomas Wilde, NGC’s American correspondent also put a diary together of his experiences at E3 and put together his list of great games coming soon. In the news, the team pondered the future of Nintendo post E3, with rumours of the follow up to the Gamecube already starting. They also asked the question if this was a good E3 for Nintendo, especially since the PSP was announced as Sony’s entry into the portable market.

With the focus mainly on previews, there were only a couple of decent scoring reviews this month. Cover star from a few issues back, hitman 2 scored 91%, with Martin praising the replayability of the game, as well as the atmospheric sounds, although it did suffer from difficulty spikes. Wrestling game Def Jam Vendetta also scored 87%, which although very solid, suffered a little from comparisons with similar wrestling games which had more features. On GBA, the latest Castlevania game was released, scoring 86%, and Wario Ware made its debut, scoring a highly respectable 90%.

There was a full item guide to Wind Waker this issue, showcasing everything from heart pieces to hidden treasures, as well as the usual tips sections. I’m the best showed their final standings in their current form, before their complete redesign next issue, which would end up incorporating skill Club as well as Game on challenges. The feature at the back of the mag looked at the history of Mario Kart, along with a retro challenge in the form of Mario Kart 64’s Mario Raceway shortcut. The compendium this month looked at learning japanese, with some basic phrases to get you started. There was also a look at the evolution of stealth in videogames, with some of the highlights of course being Goldeneye and Ocarina of time’s castle section.