~SmithyGCN

So, we just got the latest Nintendo Power, and it's a very special no less (like you couldn't tell just by looking at the title there).

I was amazed to find a Nester's Adventure comic within its pages after all these years. ^_^ As a long time reader of the magazine since the first issue, I just felt elated at this.
Sure, Nester has, expectedly, aged a few good years and raised a family and is (you guessed it) playing Nintendo games. It's hilarious to think how he even got married with that whole ego of his that just can't quite be contained in his body. He has a son now who seems to have taken up the role of long absent Howard Phillips (hence the bow tie reference to the people who didn't get it) as gaming guru. I wonder if they'll continue this comic for another good run or if it's just another one shot. Either way, it's nice to see the old NP mascot again after so long.

As for some of the games being touted in this issue? I'm ecstatic over Mega Man 9. Now, I'm not one of those guys who only likes old games and try force others to hate all the newer titles, I'm more of a "Loves Old Games but Enjoys New Ones as Well - (And doesn't compare newer entries to older titles in the series to look for something trivial to gripe about forever)" kind of gamer, but Mega Man 9 has me excited. It amazes me to see a new NES style game in this day and age where companies try to push more toward photo realism. I am certainly hoping to get the chance to play this game at least once in my life. And... a female robot master? About freaking time! I mean, I always found it kind of odd how all of the robot masters of the classic Mega Man titles were all male. I don't know why it just felt unusual. :/

Next: Castlevania Judgment

What do I think? I dunno about this one...
I applaud Koji Igarashi for FINALLY trying out something new with the series, but... this? Well, I'm going to remain optimistic until I give the game a whirl, but as it stands, I'm not really a whole big fighting game fan. The only ones I ever liked were Smash Bros. and Guilty Gear series and... that's pretty much it for fighting games. :/
Nevertheless, I'm going to give this game the benefit of the doubt before I give my final personal verdict on it.
Character designs.... ? Takeshi Obata of DeathNote fame is doing the art direction, and while I admire his talent it just... doesn't do well here. Simon Belmont now looks like Light Yagami (whom I hate with a passion) with red hair and short shorts with dragon embroidery. He looks like someone copy pasted Yagami's head onto something that looks... very ... very.... gay. This is NOT Simon Belmont.
Dracula looks like he has nipple noodles or something and, well, that's pretty much my only real complaint about Drac's design. It definitely LOOKS like him and LOOKS like something he might wear actually.
Alucard.... why does he look like an even more girly version of Sephiroth? ... Anybody? .... I thought his design from Castlevania 3 was good and I even tolerated his design from Symphony (I dislike bishies... really, I do), but .... THIS!?
*sighs* Please, when did it become a sin for a man to look like... a MAN?
At least he still has the Sword Familiar. That always looked cool.
Now ... Maria.... coming again from the big fat warehouse of DeathNote stock designs. Maria is redesigned into the epic gothic lolicon with added straight edge emblems emblazoned all over her costume. THIS frustrates me... a LOT. Because Maria now looks like Misa Amane. Can this artist be any more unoriginal? How about something imaginative?
Let's see:
Simon = Hard gay
Dracula = Nipple noodle fetish
Alucard = Transvestite
Maria = Pedophile magnet
......and people wonder why I'm not an otaku any more?
Eyup, even now, I am having a hard time trying to give this game a chance... because of the uncreative rehash character designs AND disturbing fetish crowd pleasing... yeah. I normally don't judge anything by looks, but they are making it really REALLY hard.
Maybe, there will be some good character designs of the yet-to-be-revealed characters in the future?

I AM disappointed that Legacy of Darkness didn't make the list in the Nintendo64 greatest listings, but I'm not all too surprised due to the popular opinion out there. (Granted LoD wasn't perfect, just not terrible like how everyone makes it out to be).

Granted there were a lot of titles on their lists that I believe didn't deserve to be on their lists all, but I digress, it's my opinion and not theirs (though I find it fishy that Zelda makes top spot on almost every list - it's a good series just not THAT good).

Mad World... I'm not for gory games much. The style is interesting, but I can see where all that monochrome can kind of get in the way.

Though this is unrelated to the magazine: it appears that there may be a Chrono Trigger game on the DS soon, another point of which I am very excited about. n_n I can't say yet if this is a remake or not as the only hint of its existence is a ticking flash page alluding to the game's development on the Square website. I certainly hope they utilize the touch screen well and go all out with it whether it's a remake or another sequel in the series (with Radical Dreamers and Chrono Cross between the first and this new title).

God bless.