Worlds of Power

Logo.

Worlds of Power is a series of young adult novelizations of popular Nintendo Entertainment System video games published by Scholastic. Ten books were published from 1990-1991. The series was produced by Seth Godin who wanted to encourage children obsessed with video games to read more. All of the books are attributed to the pen name "F.X. Nine," but they are written by various authors. Each book included hints for the game between chapters. The initially sold for $2.95 USD, $3.95 CAD, £1.95 GBP, but have become rather collectable and now regularly sell for around $10-$20 apiece.

Although the games created by Nintendo were among the most popular for the NES at the time, they are not represented among the books. Possibly, because the books were not licensed by their creators, Scholastic decided it unwise to enter a potential legal battle with Nintendo over it.

Though Seth Godin claims to have played each of the video games in great detail in order to make a reference document for each author, the books usually bore only a passing resemblance to the source material. Either the authors were supplied too little information, incorrect information, or allowed to take great liberties with the game (probably a combination of all three). Scholastic also required the stories to be heavily censored from the source material. Despite many of them being about the war and battles with monsters, people are rarely killed. Instead, the heroes stun their enemies or knock them unconscious.

The first four books in the series advertise the ability to win a Game Boy on the cover (though the fifth book also mentions the contest at the back of the book). Books 1-6 include a collectible card that could be torn out of the book which featured the book's cover art on the front and a hint in mirror writing on the back. These cards were not included in the second printing. The first six books were printed in the UK. Two of the books (Mega Man 2 and Bases Loaded II: Second Season) were part of the Junior Edition series, were not numbered, were shorter in length, and printed in a larger format.

One thing I noticed after looking at the covers for awhile is that they're all reproductions. Since none of the games were authorized by the developers, Scholastic did not get publishing rights for the box art of any of the games. Instead, they hired someone to paint deceptively accurate replicas. Some of them include minor censoring to lessen the violence. The Blaster Master cover is especially impressive as the artist had to simulate a close-up of a TV screen complete with scanlines and pixel separation.

Personal

When I was 11-years-old, mother allowed me to order the Blaster Master novella through my elementary school's monthly book catalog. I had never played or even seen the game, but the fact that the book was about a Nintendo game was enough to entice me. As a child, I really liked the book and it encouraged me to seek out and play the game, which I discovered was very different than the book. Re-reading the book years later, I realized just how hokey the story was, but I still enjoyed it due to nostalgia. In my late 20s, I decided to try and find the other books and see how they were, and, sure enough, they were equally as hokey and took great liberties with the actual games.

Books

The complete collection.

#	Title	Game	Author	Published	ISBN	Own
1	Blaster Master	Blaster Master	Peter Lerangis	1990-07-?? (USA) 1991-??-?? (USA Reprint) 1991-04-?? (UK)	0-590-43778-X 0-590-43778-X 0-590-76481-0	Yes
2	Metal Gear	Metal Gear	Alexander Frost	1990-07-?? (USA) 1991-??-?? (USA Reprint) 1991-04-?? (UK)	0-590-43777-1 0-590-43777-1 0-590-76482-9
3	Ninja Gaiden	Ninja Gaiden	Peter Lerangis	1990-07-?? (USA) 1991-??-?? (USA Reprint) 1991-04-?? (UK)	0-590-44598-7 0-590-43776-3 0-590-76484-5	Yes
4	Castlevania II: Simon's Quest	Castlevania II: Simon's Quest	Christopher Howell	1990-07-?? (USA) 1991-??-?? (USA Reprint) 1991-04-?? (UK)	0-590-43775-5 0-590-43775-5 0-590-76483-7	Yes
5	Wizards & Warriors	Wizards & Warriors	Ellen Miles	1990-09-?? (USA) 1991-??-?? (USA Reprint) 1991-07-18 (UK)	0-590-43769-0 0-590-43769-0 0-590-76528-0	Yes
	Mega Man 2	Mega Man 2	Ellen Miles	1990-08-?? (USA)	0-590-43772-0
6	Bionic Commando	Bionic Commando	Judith Bauer Stamper	1991-01-?? (USA) 1991-07-19 (UK)	0-590-44315-1 0-590-76556-6	Yes
7	Infiltrator	Infiltrator	Peter Lerangis	1991-03-?? (USA)	0-590-44314-3
8	Before Shadowgate	Shadowgate	Ellen Miles	1991-05-?? (USA)	0-590-44313-5
	Bases Loaded II: Second Season	Bases Loaded II: Second Season	Peter Lerangis	1991-??-?? (USA)	0-590-44312-7