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.

Nothing says "Holiday Season" like Track & Field II. This November/December issue is even more baffling when you realize that Konami's sequel was released months earlier in June. What on earth is it doing on the final issue of 1988? The cover talks about a "Gigantic Holiday Giveaway," but that's under 16 "explosive" summer games, Captain Nintendo and more Blaster Master. Is it possible that Nintendo didn't have a single game worth promoting for Christmas 1988?

The actual cover design is even more baffling than promoting a summer games title in winter. The concept, best I can tell, is that these two space-age 1980s high top sneakers are racing so fast that it's like they have little jet engines on them. Or maybe each shoe represents a different racer. Or maybe these are supposed to be the people at home, which is why we're looking at purple and gold high top sneakers. Honestly, I don't know what's going on here.

Things are even stranger when you look into the clouds and realize the track is floating in the sky. Also, three different athletes seem to be jumping, throwing and running on thin air. Do those people have space age sneakers that glow and are powered by rocket fuel? The real problem with this cover is that it doesn't capture what is so great about Track & Field II. This is one of the first Olympics-based mini-game collections that has a strong art design. But you wouldn't know it based on this horrible cover. What a terrible way to end 1988.