When
Nintendo Power went monthly in 1991 their off-month publication, the
Nintendo Power Strategy Guides, were discontinued. In order to meet the demands of players who clamored for a revival of the guides,
Nintendo began publishing the
Nintendo Player's Guides series of books. These new guides featured expanded coverage and tidbits about individual first and second-party games. The first five guides were sent to
Nintendo Power magazine subscribers free of charge, while the remainder of the guides in the series are (or, in the cases of older out-of-print guides, were) available through
Nintendo Power magazine, the
Nintendo online store at http://store.nintendo.com, or at your favorite retail game (and sometimes magazine) store for anywhere between $10 and $17. Guides are sometimes re-released when a game becomes a
Player's Choice title.
The complete alphabetical list of Player's Guides (all books contains complete maps and walkthroughs; additional info listed where relevant):
- Animal Crossing
- Banjo-Kazooie
- Banjo-Tooie
- Chrono Trigger
- Conker's Bad Fur Day - some copies of this were sold in polybags to protect younger readers from reading about this "mature" game.
- Diddy Kong Racing
- Donkey Kong 64
- Donkey Kong Country
- Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
- Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie's Double Trouble
- Earthbound - included free with the Super NES game
- Eternal Darkness
- Final Fantasy III
- Game Boy - gives an overview and limited maps of some of the popular Game Boy games of the day, such as Super Mario Land and The Castlevania Adventure. Given away free to Nintendo Power subscribers.
- Goldeneye 007
- The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
- The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
- The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past/Four Swords
- The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
- The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages/Seasons
- The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
- Luigi's Mansion
- Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga
- Mario Kart 64 - includes free MK64 bumper stickers.
- Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
- Mario Mania - In addition to completely mapping out Super Mario World from start to finish, the guide also gives a complete history of Mario and friends (circa 1991) including merchandise, cast of characters in the Mario universe, and an interview with Mario's creator Shigeru Miyamoto. Given away free to Nintendo Power subscribers.
- Mario Paint - an index of stamps, grids, music, and how-to tips for the Super NES art program.
- Metroid Fusion
- Metroid Prime
- Metroid: Zero Mission
- NES Atlas - completely maps out popular NES games of the day, such as Super Mario Bros. 3, Castlevania, and Mega Man 2. Given away free to Nintendo Power subscribers.
- Nintendo Power Advance - 4 volume set of Game Boy Advance maps and walkthroughs of popular games, such as Super Mario Advance and Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
- Paper Mario
- Perfect Dark
- Pikmin
- Pokémon (Blue & Red)
- Pokémon (Yellow, Blue, Red)
- Pokémon Crystal
- Pokémon Gold & Silver
- Pokémon Gold & Silver Pokédex
- Pokémon Snap
- Pokémon Stadium
- Pokémon Stadium 2
- Pokémon Trading Card Game
- StarFox 64 - includes interview with StarFox creator Shigeru Miyamoto
- Star Fox Adventures
- Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader
- Star Wars: Episode 1: Racer
- Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
- Street Fighter II Turbo
- Super Game Boy - a mini-manual of the Super Game Boy peripheral plus color code combination suggestions. Sent for free to Nintendo Power subscribers and not generally available at retail.
- Super Mario 64
- Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi's Island
- Super Mario All-Stars
- Super Mario RPG
- Super Mario Sunshine
- Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
- Super Metroid
- Super NES - gives an overview and limited maps of some of the popular Super NES games of the day, such as Super Castlevania IV and Pilotwings. Given away free to Nintendo Power subscribers.
- Super Smash Bros. Melee
- Top Secret Codes and Passwords - a complete listing of all the codes and passwords listed in Nintendo Power magazine over the years. Given away free to Nintendo Power subscribers (circa 1993).
- Wave Race 64
- Yoshi's Story
References:
I have most of these guides
http://store.nintendo.com
Did I miss a guide? Let me know. TehBesto and amib did.