Largest game manual ever?

[BetaWolf47]

Is it known which game has the largest manual ever? Biggest I know of is SimCity 3000 Unlimited, which is 224 pages long.

It can be classic or modern. You know, because modern games have such detailed instruction manuals.

[wiggyx]

Have you seen the manual for the 3DS? Holy crap, it's like a freakin' bible!

Go figure, the system treats everyone of its owners as if they're 6 years old, but comes with a manual that couldn't be read through by most high school graduates.

[Gameguy]

For console games there's Earthbound which came with the huge strategy guide as a manual. The largest one has to be for a PC game, one of the older simulation games most likely.

[A.C. Sativa]

Largest manual I can think of of the top of my head is Sim City for the SNES. As for modern games, probably the Metal Gear Solid series. Manuals are are a dead art these days due to people just going to gamefaqs.com, and the VG companies know this. Printing all those little books is pretty expensive...

[SparTonberry]

Largest console manual I know of is Galaxy Odyssey for the Famicom Disk System (I forget the exact number of pages, but it's around 140. It's a double-ended manual with around 30 pages of game play information from the end that opens to the right (the front, opening it western-style), and around 110 pages of background story (that may or may not be referenced during the game) from the end that opens to the left (the front, opening it Japanese-style).

[j_factor]

SimEarth is close at 212 pages. The console versions are under 100 though.

For a console, StarFlight (Genesis) is up there, with 143 pages. It's the only Genesis manual I know of with an actual spine instead of just being pages folded over and stapled.

[Shulamana]

While not really a manual, didn't one of the Carmen Sandiego games come with a full sized encyclopedia?

[j_factor]

While not really a manual, didn't one of the Carmen Sandiego games come with a full sized encyclopedia?

A pocket encyclopedia, yes.

[Nebagram]

Civ 3 on the PC weighs in at 236 pages (though this includes space for notes)- Civ IV isn't far behind at 224.

[Kitsune Sniper]

I've got this bigass manual for an Interplay collection that's as thick as a bible... Around 450 pages, I think.

[Rob2600]

I dont remember the exact page count, but the Falcon 4.0 flight simulator manual was so thick it came in a binder.

[Clownzilla]

I dont remember the exact page count, but the Falcon 4.0 flight simulator manual was so thick it came in a binder.

Yeah, I want to say Falcon 4.0. It's a very complex game though so it's warranted.

[Collector_Gaming]

the biggest manual for a single game that i have (unless i threw it away.. haven't seen in ages so who knows). is for Nascar Racing 2 released back in the day. Its a small novel sized manual that goes on about the different tracks and how to setup your cars ratios and what does what this and that and that.

[substantial_snake]

I remember the Space Sim Independence War Delux Edition had a really thick, all-english manual.

This really awesome 4x game called Imperium Galactica II: Alliances also had an awesomely thick manual too.

Someone else already mentioned the PC release of Sim Earth though and I think that's the largest I've ever seen outside of terribly detailed WWI flight sims from the mid nineties.

[tom]

flight sims do have the biggest manual usually
http://www.videogamecollectors.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=359785&g2_serialNumber=2

Star Saga 1 and 2 have an awful lot of manuals

[kupomogli]

Can the Diablo 2 guide from the Diablo Battle Chest be considered? It does come included with the game as the only source of information.

[FoxNtd]

Though not huge, my Gran Turismo 4 Reference Manual is 210 pages long. Still thinner than the PS2 game case though. :)

[Natty Bumppo]

For a console, StarFlight (Genesis) is up there, with 143 pages. It's the only Genesis manual I know of with an actual spine instead of just being pages folded over and stapled.

There were at least two other Electronic Arts games for the Genesis that had those IIRC - Might and Magic and Buck Rogers.

While not manuals, those guides that are the same size as the game cases for Phantasy Star II and Sword of
Vermillion are pretty neat - I think I read somewhere that they came packed with the intial releases of the games.


For shortest manual I would put up the SNES E.V.O. Speaking of which, I wonder if it is time to sell my complete copy? :roll:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/EVO-Search-For-Eden-Super-Nintendo-1995-SNES-Complete-Near-Virgin-/190653424700?pt=Video_Games_Games&hash=item2c63d4643c#ht_2112wt_932

[Lerxstnj]

I remember when huge manuals were a form of copy protection on older PC games. Nobody wanted to copy the entire manual, but you needed it to start the game by typing in a random word on a random line of a random page.

[Jorpho]

Have you seen the manual for the 3DS? Holy crap, it's like a freakin' bible!But doesn't that cover three or four different languages?

[Edmond Dantes]

Several PC games (such as Interplay compilations, as mentioned) easily win this one.

Falcon 4.0 hands-down. That binder is heavy. And I never even got to play the game.

[Jaruff]

I dont remember the exact page count, but the Falcon 4.0 flight simulator manual was so thick it came in a binder.

Yes. I honestly believe anyone who read all of the Falcon 4.0 materials could fly a damn F-14 afterwards.

[j_factor]

There were at least two other Electronic Arts games for the Genesis that had those IIRC - Might and Magic and Buck Rogers.

D'oh. I own Might & Magic and didn't think to check that one. It's slighter longer at 169 pages.


While not manuals, those guides that are the same size as the game cases for Phantasy Star II and Sword of
Vermillion are pretty neat - I think I read somewhere that they came packed with the intial releases of the games.

Yeah, I have the Phantasy Star II hint book. It's "only" 113 pages long though. It seems like the game was intended to be played with the hint book -- on the cover it says: "Your adventure would be very difficult without this guide. It includes maps of all the towns and mazes in Phantasy Star II. Study it carefully as you pursue your quest. Go forth in strength and honor, brave adventurer."

[A Black Falcon]

The Interplay 15th Anniversary Anthology manual is indeed 492 pages long, but it's 15 manuals in one... the biggest single-game manuals that I have are for SimEarth (220 pages plus a 2-page foldout in the back) and Microsoft Flight Simulator 3.0 (219 pages plus five separate (not attached to the manual, I just store them in it) 3-page maps of the areas in the game). I don't have more serious, newer flight sims like Falcon, though... I'm sure those all have the thickest manuals. But for a non flight sim, SimEarth has the thickest one I know of... though actually, Klik & Play's manual is about as long -- it's 222 pages, but the pages are slightly shorter. Also came with a generic 15-page troubleshooting guide of course. SimCity 3000 Unlimited's manual has pages about the same as Klik & Play, and it's 224 pages.

On that note, there are other games with manuals with more pages than those three games, but they often have much smaller pages. Alpha Centauri is a perfect example of that; 242 pages, but they're about 60% the size of SimEarth pages, so it's a lot less actual space. There are plenty more like that, with a pagecount around there, but much smaller pages than SimEarth, Klik & Play, and such.

[tom]

Lost treasures of infocom 1 and 2, huge manual, but also a compilation.

[Ryudo]

Ni no Kuni has a 352 page manual

[kupomogli]

Yes. I honestly believe anyone who read all of the Falcon 4.0 materials could fly a damn F-14 afterwards.

I don't know about aircraft games, but I know certain tank simulators are so well done that you could drive that specific tank afterwards.

[BetaWolf47]

Ni no Kuni has a 352 page manual

Was about to ask if it was the European one, since that would have to cover a few different languages, then did some research and realized it was only out in Japan right now. Wow!

[Lady Jaye]

SimEarth is close at 212 pages. The console versions are under 100 though.

For a console, StarFlight (Genesis) is up there, with 143 pages. It's the only Genesis manual I know of with an actual spine instead of just being pages folded over and stapled.

I was going to say SimEarth too. That was a pretty big manual indeed, more like a textbook actually.

[Emperor Megas]

Yeah, I have the Phantasy Star II hint book. It's "only" 113 pages long though. It seems like the game was intended to be played with the hint book -- on the cover it says: "Your adventure would be very difficult without this guide. It includes maps of all the towns and mazes in Phantasy Star II. Study it carefully as you pursue your quest. Go forth in strength and honor, brave adventurer."It should have said: "this game will be very difficult to complete if you haven't played an RPG before and can't read English." There's nothing difficult about Phantasy Star II. In fact I think the only thing that might hinder your progress later in the game is if you don't know how to get the visiphone (sp?) which allows you to save your game anywhere.

[c2000]

Saturn Game Basic came with two thick books.

[Aussie2B]

It should have said: "this game will be very difficult to complete if you haven't played an RPG before and can't read English." There's nothing difficult about Phantasy Star II. In fact I think the only thing that might hinder your progress later in the game is if you don't know how to get the visiphone (sp?) which allows you to save your game anywhere.

There are a lot of things hard about Phantasy Star II, especially without the book. The mazes are stupidly convoluted, the spells have gibberish names and no in-game explanation (and fail so often that it makes it all the more impossible to straighten out what the hell they do), and you can easily get slaughtered without grinding a ton.

[BlastProcessing402]

While they weren't anywhere near the category of flight sim manuals or some of the others mentioned, the PSX remakes of Lunar and Lunar 2 had manuals that were freakin huge for PSX games. Also they were full color and hardcover.


It should have said: "this game will be very difficult to complete if you haven't played an RPG before and can't read English." There's nothing difficult about Phantasy Star II. In fact I think the only thing that might hinder your progress later in the game is if you don't know how to get the visiphone (sp?) which allows you to save your game anywhere.

The dungeons can be VERY tricky without the guide. I lent someone the game, but not the guide, and he had a very hard time of it (this was pre-internet, so he couldn't just look things up).


While not manuals, those guides that are the same size as the game cases for Phantasy Star II and Sword of Vermillion are pretty neat - I think I read somewhere that they came packed with the intial releases of the games.

It wasn't initial releases, it was just included with the game, shrinkwrapped right to the case. Only way you didn't get those guides was if you were buying the game used or something (in the US anyway, other countries might not have included them).

[rbudrick]

There are a lot of things hard about Phantasy Star II, especially without the book. The mazes are stupidly convoluted, the spells have gibberish names and no in-game explanation (and fail so often that it makes it all the more impossible to straighten out what the hell they do), and you can easily get slaughtered without grinding a ton.

What she said.

Beating this game without the book would take months if you never played it before and used no hint guides. With the book, it still takes about about two weeks, with 3-4 hours a day.

-Rob

[kaedesdisciple]

Yea I would have thought that the flight sims would have had the largest manuals.

One other huge manual + strategy + reference guide I can think of is the PC X-Wing collector's edition. That thing was hundreds of pages long and had so much information it was ridiculous. Every mission, every step, every control (there were plenty) and even technical details on the ships were included in this book. Highly recommended if you can track it down.

[Zing]

The largest PlayStation manual I have seen is for Gran Turismo. It is split into two parts.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7264/7766026846_404d414979_n.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/55164222@N03/7766026846/)

Largest Super NES manual I have is Sim City.

Largest NES Manual I have is Final Fantasy.

[Haoie]

Holy crap those are long. Just like the War and Peace of the instructional world.

[Double Ugly]

The guide for Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind is around 400 pages. Oblivion's guide is similar.

[vrikkgwj]

I remember the manual for Neverwinter Nights Platinum being quite large - it was in a spiral binder.

Ah, the good ol' days...

[Legato]

well skyrim's manual was around 650 pages
http://www.product-reviews.net/wp-content/uploads/skyrim-official-strategy-guide-preview.jpg

does that count, since it's also a strategy guide.