Metroid Prime

          If you're a fan of Nintendo's classic Metroid franchise, you know you deserve this. You've
          waited much too long to be denied. Super Metroid was released in April of 1994, and since then
          there has been a nagging question in the back of your mind: When will Samus return?

          We were all happy to see the return of Samus in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 64, and with
          the release of Super Smash Bros. Melee for Nintendo GameCube we marveled once again at
          the bounty hunter's uncanny knack for chaos. Her mastery of mayhem. Her penchant to
          pummel.

          There is no doubt that the diva of destruction has been devastating in these games, but we all
          know that Samus is destined for more. More adventure. More enemies. More mind-maddening
          puzzles. More of what makes Samus Samus.

          At last, fans are getting what they deserve. They're getting Metroid Prime.

          Metroid Prime calls only one place home, and it's not Tallon IV. It's Nintendo GameCube. You'll
          be feeding a shiny new Metroid Prime Game Disc to your Nintendo GameCube on November
          18, 2002. That's when the most anticipated game of the year hits store shelves, and by no
          coincidence that's also when legions of mutated enemies will splatter, burst and explode into
          oblivion at the hands of one capable woman: Samus Aran.

          At the 2002 E3Expo in Los Angeles, Nintendo unveiled Metroid Prime for the very first time.
          Fully playable, the Metroid Prime demo was received by salivating gamers with huge smiles,
          determined brows and gasps of glee. If you were lucky enough to attend the annual trade
          show, you had to be even more lucky to fight your way through the throngs of enthusiastic fans
          and actually wrap your hands around a Nintendo GameCube Controller.

          Nintendo Power Magazine was able to do just that. The following Metroid Prime preview is
          based on the E3Expo version of the game which was displayed on the showroom floor. It is
          possible that many details and elements of the game may change before it is released.

          Behind the Visor

          Metroid Prime is a first-person action game. Players control a capable bounty hunter named
          Samus Aran who must blast her way through horribly mutated creatures populating a planet
          called Tallon IV.

          The E3Expo demo opens just as Samus' spaceship docks on a larger vessel. Immediately, the
          beautiful graphics shake your hand and say hello. Trust us, it's a firm handshake. A
          silky-smooth framerate accommodates razor-sharp visuals of efficient machinery and foreign
          architecture. Meanwhile, a cinematic soundtrack sets the mood and eerie sound effects thicken
          the alien atmosphere.

          By far, the most effective visual trick is that everything you see appears to be viewed through
          Samus' visor. The entire screen has a convex look, and a digital display provides information
          ranging from current energy levels to ammunition data. The most effective ideas are
          sometimes the most simple, and the visor view in Metroid Prime makes a huge leap forward in
          immersing players in the first-person perspective.

          Samus uses her Power Beam to shoot a series of locked switches, and eventually makes her
          way to a cylindrical corridor very similar to the passageways found in the original Metroid titles.
          When Samus strides by broken pipes spewing steam, her visor becomes smeared with
          condensation. Later in the demo, her visor is splattered with the internal juices of ruptured
          enemy carcasses. Yes, life within Samus' gravity suit is a beautiful thing.

          Weapon effects are equally pleasing. Hold the A Button to juice up the Charge Beam, and you
          see the corridor glow and warp as the blast travels through space. Enemy animation is
          delightfully disgusting, whether it's a giant parasite queen squirming from the ceiling or a
          swarm of blood-thirsty critters gushing from a dark hole. Take note: the word "swarm" has
          been misused in video game reviews for years. With Metroid Prime, we can use the word
          "swarm" and feel perfectly justified. The screen fills -- FILLS -- with baddies, and the framerate
          doesn't even blink.

          In the Gravity Suit

          Of course, graphics are just the glossing on the gravity suit. No matter how good a game
          looks, it won't get fired up more than once without solid game design and user-friendly play
          control. In Metroid Prime, both are spot-on.

          How do you know if play control is good? If you don't think about it, it's perfect. Once you get a
          feel for the Controller configuration in Metroid Prime, you spend 100% of your time worrying
          about blasting enemies -- not thinking about the play control.

          The Control Stick moves Samus around, the A Button fires her weapons and the B Button
          makes Samus jump. Press and hold the R Button to enter a stationary aiming mode which
          allows you to freely look around the environment. The L Button activates an automatic lock-on
          feature, which makes for easy strafing while firing at a targeted enemy.

          Changing weapons is as easy as moving the C-Stick. By pressing different directions on the
          D-Pad, you can activate the different features of Samus' visor. In the demo, two types of visors
          were available: Combat and Scan. Combat is the normal view, and Scan produces a slightly
          magnified rectangular viewing strip in the middle of the visor. By pressing and holding the L
          Button, Samus can scan various items in her environment. Sometimes a scan simply provides
          additional information, and other times scanning an environmental element can activate a
          switch.

          Scanning a fallen enemy, for example, produced the following message: "Space Pirate. Death
          caused by severe flame damage to exoskeleton." Ominous tidings like this make Samus'
          world more realistic -- and more intimidating.

          Press the Y Button to activate and fire Samus' missile weapon, and press the X Button to
          engage the Morph Ball. The game switches to a third-person perspective while Samus is in
          Morph Ball form. In the demo Samus used the Morph Ball to navigate through the tight tunnels
          of collapsed rubble, and also to unlock a switch which required a spherical key.

          Anticipation Grows

          The E3Expo demo of Metroid Prime only left us wanting more. We spent about a half hour
          meandering through the game, which climaxed in a grueling battle with a huge parasite queen.
          After slaughtering the beast, Samus had to evacuate the ship before a time limit ran out.
          While escaping, Samus even used her grappling beam to navigate a particularly vast chasm.
 
 

        Mario Sunshine

 
 
 
 

          The Story

          If you're betting on this to be another Rescue-the-Princess-from-Bowser mission, don't count
          your Yoshi eggs before they hatch. Mario may be happy proving his heroic prowess to the
          princess, but this time he's faced with a new kind of dilemma.

          When Mario arrives on the island, he's displeased to discover that someone has turned his
          tropical paradise into a trash heap. The beautiful landscape is covered with gooey pools of
          sludge, and strange scribbles are sprawled all over the village walls. What's worse -- it doesn't
          take long for Mario to realize that the vandal responsible for the damage was disguised to look
          exactly like himself!

          No one messes with Mario's vacation, so he straps on a hydro-powered water pump and sets
          out to clean up the mess, clear his name, and expose the imposter!

          Nice Moves!

          Why is Mario so successful in the video game biz? One of the biggest reasons is that Mario
          games always feature perfect play control. Whether he's breaking blocks, platform-hopping or
          Koopa racing, Mario reacts perfectly to players' commands.

          With Super Mario Sunshine, you can once again expect awesome play control. This time Mario
          has more moves and abilities than ever before. Press the A Button once to make Mario jump,
          again for a double-jump, and once again for a triple-jump. If you use the Control Stick to turn
          Mario around in a circle before pressing the A Button, he performs a cool spin jump which
          sends him flying high into the sky.

          Like in Super Mario 64, Mario can also execute a sideways somersault jump if you press the A
          Button just as you change directions. It's easier than ever to make Mario wall jump, and of
          course his trusty hip drop is still in the arsenal.

          In Super Mario Sunshine, the plumber's most important new moves are centered around his
          hydro-powered water pump. Pressing the R Button makes the pump shoot out a stream of
          water which can be used to clean up sludge or damage enemies. The strength of the stream
          diminishes after you hold down the button for a while, so you have to let it go and press it
          again to rejuvenate the juice. Mario's water pump will eventually run out, but it can be refilled
          by sucking up new water or by collecting water bottle power-ups.

          The coolest aspect of Mario's water pump is that it can be converted to a dual-stream jet pack.
          Press the X Button to convert the pump, then press the R Button while in the air to keep Mario
          afloat. You can guide Mario in any direction while using the pump as a jet pack, but it only
          lasts for a limited time.

          These are just a few of Mario's new moves which were available in the E3Expo version of the
          game. Mario also hopped on high wires, climbed chain-link fences, slid around on his belly and
          more. The final product will contain many more special moves and features not mentioned
          here.

          Amazing Adventures

          The version of Super Mario Sunshine displayed at Nintendo's booth was designed specifically
          for use at the show. After pressing the Start Button from the title screen, players were able to
          choose from six different scenarios.

          By playing through the scenarios, we learned a lot about what Super Mario Sunshine will
          probably be like. In a scenario called Weeding at the Windmill, Mario's mission was to clean up
          huge pools of sludge with his water pump. While cleaning the sludge, strange bubbly creatures
          rose from the pollution to cause more trouble. These enemies either attacked Mario, or
          exploded into more piles of sludge.

          After cleaning up the first polluted area, a small area of goo remained which would not go
          away. Mario pumped a lot of water into it, which caused a sludge-covered Piranha Plant to
          emerge. After defeating the plant with more water, the area was finally cleaned up for good.
          We discovered that cleaning certain pools of pollution could sometimes make special things
          happen. Occasionally coins appeared, and other times walls were erected where none had been
          before.

          We also helped Mario fight a variety of bosses. Mario took down a goo-gushing Piranha Plant,
          an enormous Wiggler and an ill-tempered squid. In an island-side village, Mario played
          exterminator by getting rid of some unwelcome pests infesting the town's solar energy system.
 

          The main thing we learned by playing the Super Mario Sunshine demo is that this game is
          going to be huge. It looks like there will be a lot more screen text and conversation than in
          previous Mario games, but Super Mario Sunshine will still deliver the challenging -- and
          surprising -- action elements which have made the series so successful.

          Get ready. Super Mario Sunshine will hit store shelves on August 26, 2002.
 

          Star Fox Adventures

        After piloting the Arwing starfighter in the first two stellar Star Fox games, Fox McCloud touches
          down on Dinosaur Planet for his first adventure outside the cockpit. Many missions still involve
          the aerial Arwing combat and dogfighting that the sly Star Fox series is known for, but the
          game pumps up the variety by allowing you to explore on foot and use magical attacks.

          Armed with an enchanted staff, Fox will be able to battle against the mutated dinosaurs led by
          local tyrant General Scales. But not all of the planet's dinosaurs are enemies, and Fox will
          team up with the prehistoric Prince Tricky. As Fox jets across the skies or traverses the vast
          planet on foot or on the back of a dinosaur, his showdowns with the planet's enemies will offer
          the sort of action-packed experience that gamers will go crazy over.