"Ok, you really should be studying for that calculus test next week. And there's a paper due in English Lit. But who cares? The Nintendo Campus Challenge is coming!

Nintendo of America is following up its hugely successful Nintendo World Champions with its first Nintendo Campus Challenge. During the next year, competitions will be held at 50 universities and popular spring break gatherings throughout the U.S. One lucky student will become the "college valedictorian of videogames."

Contestants will play a special combination of three Nintendo games -Dr. Mario, Rad Racer, and Super Mario Bros. 3. There are categories for both men and women, and all finalists receive round-trip airfare to the January 1992 championship. Prizes include new cars and cash scholarships. Meanwhile, don't let those grades slide too badly."

The above paragraphs were reprinted with permission from the magazine Game Players Strategy Guide to Nintendo Games Vol. 4, # 5. Now for a little bit of input from the site owner. The Nintendo Campus Challenge was a contest similar to the successful Nintendo Powerfest of 1990; the Campus Challenge is the lesser known of the two. Contrary to the magazine article, the Campus Challenge included the following games: Dr. Mario, Pinbot, and Super Mario Bros. 3. These games were all placed on a single cart, as with the Powerfest contest, but it is yet to be verified whether any of the Campus Challenge carts still remain today.

Following is an article written Ed Huyck, regarding the Campus Challenge: " Nintendo challenge begins today The Nintendo Campus Challenge will invade Coffman Memorial Union Plaza from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. today and tomorrow. Students will compete on a variety of Nintendo games at 64 regular game machines or 48 Game Boy units, which will be housed in large trailers. The top scorer wins an all-expense-paid trip to Florida for the national championship. Nintendo and General Motors Corp. are sponsoring the 50-city, $3 million tour, according to Melissa Matthews, a spokesperson for Nintendo. Four student groups are sponsoring the tour's University stop: the Undergraduate Marketing Association, the University Advertising Club, the Society for the Advancement of Management and the Business Association for Minorities. Ad Club member Steven K. Fromme said the group's members are organizing the competition to gain practical experience in their fields. Nintendo is sponsoring the event to get exposure for their games at the college level, Matthews said. Matthews also praised the efforts of the organizers. "This is one of the best groups we have worked with. At other places, we had to take the sponsors through the process step by step, but they were really well organized," she said."