After nearly three hundred issues, Nintendo Power has finally come 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.

Forget the so-called "Prince of Thieves," we'll come back to him in a minute. My gaze is immediately stolen by this month's contest -- "Win A Trip To Pick Up Your Super NES."

Nintendo Power, you're going to have to do a lot better than that. As a thirteen year old in 1991, I already had a free trip to pick up my Super NES; her name was "Mom." Just like millions of other kids, I had a parent who would occasionally drive me around. She wasn't my chauffeur, but only because I didn't pay her.

And even if my loving mother hadn't decided to drive me into town, the game store wasn't that far away. Between friends and public transportation, I suspect I would have figured out a way to pick up my Super Nintendo. I'm not saying the contest isn't appreciated, but next time Nintendo needs to come with something a little more exciting than a ten minute taxi ride.

Then again, this is the same issue based on Kevin Costner's ho-hum Robin Hood update. Thanks to the lead time associated with publishing a print magazine, the claim that Prince of Thieves is a "Hit Movie" is completely unfounded. Granted, it did turn out to be a hit movie ($390 million worldwide on a budget of $43 million), but I doubt Robin Hood would have approved of this shady practice.

Speaking of shady, here we see the famous thief alerting everybody in town know he's coming for them. You can practically see the guards pulling out their swords as the horse cries out. This is hardly the most strategic plan for a thief, unless he's the diversion. But it makes for an exciting cover that is a big step up from last week's Battletoads artwork. For better or worse, this does not look like something you would see on the front of Nintendo Power.