Diary of a PowerFlash
08/12/22 — by George Smrekar
The expression ‘you get what you pay for’ doesn’t always ring true. In the late 80’s/early 90’s there was a little known, official yet FREE newsletter called Nintendo Power Flash. This predates magazines for me and for a time, was my sole source of gaming info, tips and tricks. I happened upon it by chance when a friend of mine borrowed the Fall 1988 issue off his sister’s friend or something. Who knows. What I do know is it was big, bold and filled to the brim with win. Of course, I borrowed it off my friend and never gave it back. Still have it. Sorry original owner David, but the bug bit me. Big time. It wasn’t long before I convinced my parents to sign me up for a free subscription of my own. What follows is a play-by-play of the rest of my run. Haven’t seen these for years.
So, we begin at the beginning. My first Nintendo Power Flash. The hand-me-down. Sounds better than stolen. Eternally on loan? Zelda II cover story, big NES Advantage ad on the back. Fall 1988 and I believe it. Thing feels like it’s going to fall apart in my hands. Like some ancient scroll ‘fore it turned to dust. Inside it talks about the launch of the Nintendo Power Club. Top 5 hottest games after that including Zelda, Metroid and Super Mario Bros. That’s how old this thing is.
Turning the page takes me to a two page spread for The Adventure of Link, complete with a glossary, maps, strategies. Very nice indeed. Page after that has a Super Mario Bros 2 preview. Know your enemies and all that. Delving deeper leads me to Punch Out tips, Metroid tricks (how to climb walls from inside a door, I’d spend hours doing that) and a Legend of Zelda: 2nd quest primer. The original NG+ by golly! I just aged myself.
The ads are great too. Pages dedicated to the likes of Rampage and Bubble Bobble. There’s a Member’s Forum for letters, contests, leaderboards, followed by a Mail Bag on the last page. An ad for Ultra and that about wraps it up. These weren’t long newsletters, but they were among the longest. Later issues were barely half as stacked. Next up is my first official issue that I had mailed to my house. A big deal for kids at the time.
Spring 1989 featured Cobra Triangle on the cover and an ad for the Nintendo Challenge on the back. Nintendo Challenge was basically a semi-truck hauling Super Mario Bros Cross-Country as part of a big summer promotion/contest. When it rolled into your town, it was a chance to compete for prizes in the back. Unfortunately it never rolled my way. Inside the cover, the Top 5 is now a Top 10 and has some new entries including Double Dragon, Contra, Blades of Steel (so good) and Rad Racer. The two page spread returns with a feature on the Power Pad of all things. My friend and I literally ran miles on it.
Mario II and Zelda II return with more tips and tricks. Shortcuts in levels 4-3 and 6-3 as well as a complete map to Adventure of Link. Member’s Forum and Mail Bag follow up with fan hints and a Q&A. Full page ad for Ultra’s TMNT, which was ultra hard. ‘Turn your house into a sewer’ it says. I eventually got good enough to start speed running it but that underwater part took some time to perfect. That ends the issue but fear not, for Summer/Fall 1989 is just around the corner.
Summer/Fall featured the Power Glove on the cover with the two page spread going to Dragon Warrior. ‘Only you can save Alefgard’ and I did. Got the game FREE with my 1 year subscription to Nintendo Power, but that’s a story for another time. A full page ad for Sunsoft follows with box art for gems like Blaster Master and Batman, then the Previews after that. We have a Preview for TETRIS. To think there was a time before that game existed. Also Faxanadu, another personal favorite of mine. An announcement for Nintendo Power coming to Canada wraps up the issue’s big reveals and from there, we move on to Summer 1990. With another legendary reveal.
Ladies and gentlemen, Final Fantasy. A Preview of this upcoming new IP graces the cover. If you can call it a cover. This marks the beginning of Power Flash slimming down to a paltry 4 pages, and so the cover essentially became page 1 with a full write up and box art. What a great bit of history though. Nothing much of note in the rest of the issue except for some Super Mario Bros 3 tips and Tetris tricks. I’m still awed by a fledgling FF.
Fall 1990 and Dr Mario fall in next. A Tetris spinoff with Nintendo branding. More pages than last time for some reason, but I’m not complaining. Nothing of note really other than the NES Satellite and NES Four Score. Two peripherals I’ve never seen IRL. I see the Free Dragon Warrior offer I mentioned earlier, ‘while supplies last’! Oh you guys. This must’ve been the moment I begged my parents for the Nintendo Power subscription. Just in the nick of time as it appears I have only one issue of Power Flash left.
Winter 1990 ends my run, back at 4 pages. What’s hot this Christmas? Power Glove, Dragon Warrior and Tetris apparently. Inside the Top 10 has barely changed. We have a little blurb about a movie for once. Namely The Wizard! Coming to a theatre near you December 15th. Yes I saw it in theatres. This marks the end of an era as we transitioned from the free Power Flash newsletters to the paid subscription of Nintendo Power. We all have to grow up some time I guess. The end of the innocence. But not the end of the story. I think another Diary might be in order, pertaining to my first magazine(s). My copy of Dragon Warrior might be long gone done and dusted, but I just found the map and manual. Much to say. Stay tuned.
