After nearly three hundred issues, Nintendo Power is finally coming to an end. To send this long-running periodical off in style, the Cover Critic has decided to review every single issue. Join him as he experiences every aspect of Nintendo's journey through their magazine covers.

In their first issue of the 1990s, Nintendo Power decided to feature the biggest movie of ... 1989? It's true. This cover features characters from Tim Burton's Batman, the comic book film that took theaters by storm in June of 1989. But before we pile the Nintendo Power design team, it turns out that this isn't a repeat of the infamous Track & Field II cover. You can put down your pitchforks and torches, because this January/February issue is here to introduce the world to the just-released Batman video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System.

While we might not be able to ding Nintendo on timeliness, that doesn't excuse this otherwise lazy cover. Here we see two or three pictures mashed together to create what should be an exciting scene. There's Batman in the distance; he's getting ready to get the drop on the Joker, played to hammy perfection by Jack Nicholson. This scene doesn't happen in the movie, but the convincing Photoshop work suggests otherwise.

Jack's wonderfully outlandish costuming is front and center, but that's about the only thing even remotely interesting about this cover. Forget Michael Keaton's Batman, he's reduced to competing with the out of control dry ice machine. Is the Joker shacking up with Cheech & Chong? Needless to say, this is not the right way to start the 1990s.

As a quick aside; if you're somebody who needs a 16-page Tetris tip book, then maybe puzzle games aren't your thing. This is even more true when you remember that last month's issue was all about the Russian export. It's one of those games that takes a minute to learn and a lifetime to master. I guess a minute is longer for people terrible at puzzle games.