The 1996 Nintendo Power Awards was the 9th annual Awards published in the May 1997 issue (volume 96) of Nintendo Power magazine. It's nominees were listed in volume 94. The preceding year had seen the release of the Nintendo 64 to widespread acclaim, and naturally games for the new system figured significantly for this permutation of the awards. The penultimate example is Super Mario 64, but other N64 titles such as Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire, Wave Race 64, Killer Instinct Gold, and Pilotwings 64 made strong showings as well.