View Full Version : Your Favorite Instruction Manuals
Simple as that: what are your favorite manuals from your collection? Not so much what's worth the most money, but what you like the best. For example, you could really like a manual because it captured the spirit of your childhood so well, or because it was beautifully illustrated, or because its contents set alight your imagination.
bb_hood
05-29-2015, 01:25 AM
The StarTropics manual with the 'secret letter' that you had to get wet in order to get the frequency code.
Emperor Megas
05-29-2015, 01:53 AM
This is a great topic. I'll have to think about it. I'd wager I loved game manuals more than other kids. Every other weekend I would take the bus to the mall or to Children's Palace (my favorite toy store) when I was a kid and get a Master System or Genesis game and I'd always read the manual on the ride home. It was a part of my gaming ritual.
I used to love SEGA Master System manuals in general because they would have places in the back to record your high scores. I lost a lot of my originals which were in storage because of Hurricane Katrina, but I still have a few originals with my scores and dates recorded in my terrible adolescent handwriting. It's such an awesome throw back.
You know, as much as I loved SMS manuals, I think my favorite manual was probably the one for the original Metroid. The thing is, I NEVER bought NES games as a kid (I only used to purchase Master System games), but one day I found a Metroid manual on the floor in a supermarket. The game seemed AMAZING to me, and I would read that manual over, and over, and over again, just imagining how awesome the game must have been based on how cool the manual made it seem. I wouldn't own the original Metroid cart for 20+ more years, and I've still yet to play it on an NES.
celerystalker
05-29-2015, 02:20 AM
I agree, I absolutely adored manuals. They came to the bathroom with me, went to school with me... my imagination would just swim with the possibilities.
I'm sure many will come to mind, but my favorite is most likely Earthbound, as it had the whole strategy guide, and a unique one at that. Some other great ones were Final Fantasy, Zelda, Zelda II, The Illusion of Gaia, Final Fantasy III, and Street Fighter II.
buzz_n64
05-29-2015, 03:01 AM
Donkey Kong Country because of the humor on almost every page coming from Cranky Kong. For the NES I love the artwork in The Legend of Zelda, it really brought a lot of life into the game. For storyline, the Super Mario Bros. manual really enriched the experience.
Steven
05-29-2015, 03:23 AM
I too love manuals. Working Designs Saturn games were damn epic.
SNES Wolfchild has some striking art. I love how most SNES manuals included a plot section of some sort. I love reading through that stuff.
Oh, and Pandemonium! on Saturn does a really great job selling each of its 22 levels as something grand and majestic.
celerystalker
05-29-2015, 03:31 AM
Oh, heck yeah, I didn't even think about Working Designs' glorious manuals. The foil, embossing, colors, stickers, translation notes... and they were peppered with genuinely funny little jokes. I always remember Vanguard Bandits' manual saying that its main character keeps his wrists taped in case of emergency gymnastics situations. Always good for a laugh and making the game look special before you even put it in the console.
Tron 2.0
05-29-2015, 04:24 AM
I too love manuals. Working Designs Saturn games were damn epic.
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This beside the sega-cd,PS1 and PS2 i like how much working designs did for manuals.
The 1 2 P
05-29-2015, 07:52 PM
Damn, I can't believe manuals are now(for the most part) a thing of the past. I also really enjoyed them and would always read them before playing a game during the Nes, Genesis and PS1 days. As for favorites, I enjoy pretty much anything that's in full color but some recent favorites would be Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic, Halo 3: ODST and Alan Wake.
Graham Mitchell
05-29-2015, 08:12 PM
They've been said already, but I really liked the metroid, kid Icarus and original legend of Zelda manuals. They were in color, had cool art that wasn't anywhere else and did a good job drawing you into the universe.
I also really liked the color art in the legacy of the wizard and guardian legend manuals.
And of course, the working designs stuff was all ace.
Also, starflight on the genesis has a huge manual with a sci-fi short story in it.
celerystalker
05-29-2015, 08:32 PM
They've been said already, but I really liked the metroid, kid Icarus and original legend of Zelda manuals. They were in color, had cool art that wasn't anywhere else and did a good job drawing you into the universe.
I also really liked the color art in the legacy of the wizard and guardian legend manuals.
And of course, the working designs stuff was all ace.
Also, starflight on the genesis has a huge manual with a sci-fi short story in it.
I love every one of those games and manuals. Starflight's manual really got me pumped up for the game, and I could go on about Legacy of the Wizard all day given the chance. If it were a modern indie game, it would be called a brilliant homage that evolves the Metroid formula instead of being branded unfairly as an obtuse relic. It was just ahead of its time.
I really miss the tremendous pack-ins of the time, too. The maps and charts with Final Fantasy and some Dragon Warriors, the awesome map with Miracle Warriors on SMS, the Zelda map with the blank corners...
Tanooki
05-29-2015, 08:36 PM
Bar none a good selection of the SNES era rpg-action(adventure) rpg type games had some of the best descriptions, artistry and back story within them that just drove the imagination. They they also were teases because you'd get a mini partial guide or a nice run down of the spells, skills, gear and you'd want it, you'd just want it and have no idea how long it would take to have it and see the kind of hell it would unleash.
All that said though, I have to admit, the SMB manual has a special place for me because even after all these years there was this one page in the book that always got me I remember as it captured the imagination of discovery in the game.
Page 16
8098
The turtle just made you want to know what was next but being a first time reader/player you just had no idea what you were in for. That was the magic of old Nintendo games in the day that sadly has been fairly well lost.
Graham Mitchell
05-29-2015, 09:36 PM
I love every one of those games and manuals. Starflight's manual really got me pumped up for the game, and I could go on about Legacy of the Wizard all day given the chance. If it were a modern indie game, it would be called a brilliant homage that evolves the Metroid formula instead of being branded unfairly as an obtuse relic. It was just ahead of its time.
...
You and I should get together. Legacy of the wizard is one of the finest NES games ever. I'm still trying to beat that fucker, 30 years later. Falcom was absolutely on fire during those years. And I'm not some hipster who's discovered this 30 years after the fact. I asked that game for Christmas when I was in fifth grade. The game is sadly misunderstood. Much like deadly towers. I would argue that, when played correctly, deadly towers is actually a pretty cool game. If they remade it today with an auto mapping feature, I think it would be really fun.
I really wish more of the dragonslayer games were playable in English. I was into sorcerian as a kid, but I've been trying to play it on DOS box lately and it's… Difficult. I really wish somebody would ROM hack. The Megadrive or PC engine CD versions. They're just so much more user-friendly.
celerystalker
05-29-2015, 09:59 PM
You and I should get together. Legacy of the wizard is one of the finest NES games ever. I'm still trying to beat that fucker, 30 years later. Falcom was absolutely on fire during those years. And I'm not some hipster who's discovered this 30 years after the fact. I asked that game for Christmas when I was in fifth grade. The game is sadly misunderstood. Much like deadly towers. I would argue that, when played correctly, deadly towers is actually a pretty cool game. If they remade it today with an auto mapping feature, I think it would be really fun.
I really wish more of the dragonslayer games were playable in English. I was into sorcerian as a kid, but I've been trying to play it on DOS box lately and it's… Difficult. I really wish somebody would ROM hack. The Megadrive or PC engine CD versions. They're just so much more user-friendly.
I'm with you. I started playing Legacy of the Wizard when I was 10 years old. I didn't beat it until I was 25, some 10 years ago. It was one of the most satisfying games to beat for me without any FAQs. I'm a huge fan of Falcom games as well, whether it's Faxanadu, Ys, or the awesome Legend of Xanadu games. I recently ordered Lord Monarch for Super Famicomto finally try that chapter. I hear there is a patch for Romancia on Famicom, which I only have in Japanese. I agree, though... somebody needs to hack the Mega Drive Sorcerian. I have the Japanese version, and it is a bear to get started. Deadly Towers I got into after reading tips about it in How to Win at Nintendo Games 2, I believe. I read about it for years building it up in my head, and it's another fun, completely misunderstood game, but not the killer game Legacy of the Wizard is. Glad to meet another fan!
Tanooki
05-29-2015, 11:21 PM
Good on you two, that game has never made a damn bit of sense to me in the 90s or now. I avoid it if I see it out and about. :)
That said most Falcom stuff I really enjoy, a lot. By the way Lord Monarch is fantastic, and back in the later 90s for win98 they released a PC version of the game and it was a free to play thing too downloadable from the JP Falcom website. They had it still up there over a decade later, not sure if it is now still though. Might be something to go poking around for to see if it still runs and is there, yet even if it isn't I'm sure someone backed it up somewhere.
celerystalker
05-30-2015, 12:01 AM
Good on you two, that game has never made a damn bit of sense to me in the 90s or now. I avoid it if I see it out and about. :)
The thing with Legacy of the Wizard is realizing that with the five playable characters, the son is the one who can fight the dragon, so you don't use him until the end. The other four characters can each access one crown using their unique abilities, and each branches from a central hub, the room where you csn see the dragon sealed away in the middle. There are ladders leaving each of the corners of that room, one of which each character can explore for their crown. Once you figure out who goes where, that's half the battle. It's just your puzzle solving skills vs the game from there. I know that probably doesn't fix the game for anyone who has made up their mind, but just in case, it's a great game if you can get into it.
Tanooki
05-30-2015, 12:15 AM
Unless we're talking tetris, puyo, columns, dr mario, puzzle and dragons or bejeweled like originals or clones I suck ass at puzzles, avoid them. Probably why the game makes no sense.
Graham Mitchell
05-30-2015, 02:11 AM
Unless we're talking tetris, puyo, columns, dr mario, puzzle and dragons or bejeweled like originals or clones I suck ass at puzzles, avoid them. Probably why the game makes no sense.
The puzzles themselves aren't that bad. It's the precision required to solve them. Lotw is essentially a console adventure game that plays like a brutal arcade game. It's like the game wants to give you a long experience for your money, but trying to steal quarters from you at the same time. You have to have a deep mastery of the mechanics in order to get the crowns. I actually posted a thread on here when I got xemn's crown because it's so difficult. It's not a diffict puzzle per se, it's more about managing delicate situations that are pretty easy to fuck up lol!
That's why it's brilliant. It's tougher than other metrovania games, but beatable with practice and mastery of using the items and picking the best load out for each level, depending on your style of play.
Leo_A
05-30-2015, 03:49 PM
SimCity for the Super Nintendo is a classic.
Some lament the loss of manuals in many releases from recent years, but I'm glad to see it. What we were getting paled compared to what we used to get. So I've been pleased to see it be put out of its misery.
Nathan Dunsmore
05-30-2015, 04:08 PM
While I'm not a fan of these games, I found the manuals for Home Improvement (Snes), Power Piggs (Snes) and Awesome Possum (Genesis) to be very memorable.
jperryss
05-31-2015, 12:20 PM
Donkey Kong Country because of the humor on almost every page coming from Cranky Kong.
I read all of them (in my head) in the voice of Grampa Simpson.
Blitzwing256
05-31-2015, 07:04 PM
The thing with Legacy of the Wizard is realizing that with the five playable characters, the son is the one who can fight the dragon, so you don't use him until the end. The other four characters can each access one crown using their unique abilities, and each branches from a central hub, the room where you csn see the dragon sealed away in the middle. There are ladders leaving each of the corners of that room, one of which each character can explore for their crown. Once you figure out who goes where, that's half the battle. It's just your puzzle solving skills vs the game from there. I know that probably doesn't fix the game for anyone who has made up their mind, but just in case, it's a great game if you can get into it.
My favorite part of that game is the sequence breaking you can do, you don't actually have to use xemn to get the upper left crown, you can get it with the daughter if you are super fast at switching items in your menu. I never actually beat xemn's area with him, the glove puzzles drove me crazy!
celerystalker
05-31-2015, 08:09 PM
My favorite part of that game is the sequence breaking you can do, you don't actually have to use xemn to get the upper left crown, you can get it with the daughter if you are super fast at switching items in your menu. I never actually beat xemn's area with him, the glove puzzles drove me crazy!
Totally. Once you start getting clever with riding monsters, you can do much of the game with Lyll or Pochi. Love it.
Jorpho
05-31-2015, 09:17 PM
Warioware Mega Microgames stands out as a fairly recent example of a game that did something unique and interesting with its manual. Each of the Warioware games (if I'm not mistaken) has a lot of text in Wario's voice talking about his inflated ego, but the first one even included stickers to peel out and stick elsewhere in the manual, like an old-timey kid's book. (Of course, my used copy had everything stuck in place already, but I heartily appreciated the sentiment.)
The best manuals way back came with computer games.
The Infocom manuals were full of humour, and of course, the extras, which co-existed with the manual.
Mindscape The Halley Project, a manual, cassette tape, sealed envelope, great stuff.
Microprose manuals rank among the best, instructions, story, explanation of objects (plane, tank etc). Hours of reading awaits.
For consoles, Activision's VCS manuals were always very entertaining, and of course, special tips from the programmers, can't get better than that.
bb_hood
06-01-2015, 04:22 PM
The best manuals way back came with computer games.
The Infocom manuals were full of humour, and of course, the extras, which co-existed with the manual.
Mindscape The Halley Project, a manual, cassette tape, sealed envelope, great stuff.
Microprose manuals rank among the best, instructions, story, explanation of objects (plane, tank etc). Hours of reading awaits.
For consoles, Activision's VCS manuals were always very entertaining, and of course, special tips from the programmers, can't get better than that.
Yeah those Infocom ones were the best.
Beyond Zork was my favorite, excellent illustrations.
Ive used the map that came with Zork I more than any other video game map for sure.
Zork: Grand Inquisitior had a great little timeline thing called the Zork Chronologue to put all the events of the Zork series in order.
The You Don't Know Jack manuals were really great for their humor. They contain tons of jokes and smart Alec writing.
Thanks to GOG.com and Humble Bundle, I have a lot of these and others in high res. digital glory.
Aussie2B
06-01-2015, 06:12 PM
I loved all the Donkey Kong Country manuals, although when Rare or Nintendo would try to do the same shtick years later it always fell flat because it seemed like they were hesitant to get quite as self-deprecating as Cranky was originally. As much as I love the DKC games, it's hilarious how some of Cranky's comments were actually pretty true; I'm sure even more so if you dislike the DKC games, which much sting a little for the detractors, to be portrayed as akin to some half-senile old coot trapped in the past, haha.
As much as I don't care for the game, Zombies Ate My Neighbors has a great manual too.
Really, SNES manuals in general were often topnotch, probably the best era for manuals overall since most prior to that era were very small and simple, while, starting with the 32/64-bit era, more and more were going cheap, being black and white only and not having any personality.
I remember often having the Chrono Trigger manual splayed open. Nice layout, lots of art, and plenty of useful info. It served me well until I picked up the strategy guide.
RARusk
06-01-2015, 06:38 PM
The best manuals way back came with computer games.
The Infocom manuals were full of humour, and of course, the extras, which co-existed with the manual.
Mindscape The Halley Project, a manual, cassette tape, sealed envelope, great stuff.
Microprose manuals rank among the best, instructions, story, explanation of objects (plane, tank etc). Hours of reading awaits.
For consoles, Activision's VCS manuals were always very entertaining, and of course, special tips from the programmers, can't get better than that.
Definitely have to agree on that one. They did a fantastic job on those. Reading the manual for Gunship makes you feel like you could pilot the real thing. Ditto for the others. One manual of theirs that is a keepsake of mine was for Red Storm Rising. I earned an extra manual with Tom Clancy's autograph from a long ago contest and I managed to get Sid Meier's signature at PAX South 2015 right after his panel for his newest game Starships:
8107
Gentlegamer
06-01-2015, 06:45 PM
Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball has a nice high quality manual with a history of the sport, I was surprised at how nice it is.
I really like nice color manuals that with both custom artwork and nice screen shots. Nintendo's NES and SNES manuals fall in this category.
Not a classic game, but the Fallout III manual is great with lots of artwork, screens, and written in character of the setting.
celerystalker
06-12-2015, 08:28 PM
Not for quality, but there are several Neo Geo games that I enjoy reading for their poorly-translated slang and grammatical insanity. Sengoku 2, Fatal Fury, and The Super Spy spring to mind as pretty funny.
I took NES manuals and Nintendo Power with me to school. That first issue of Nintendo Power went with me everywhere. My favourite manuals would be Zelda and Zelda II. The art inside was magical. I also love the SMB2 manual.
Zing, I too have a great fondness for the Zelda II and SMB 1 - 3 NES manuals.
Niku-Sama
07-07-2015, 06:06 AM
I'd penalty have to say Famicom hardware manuals. They make interesting things to hasn't on your wall. I'll try and post a pic of what i mean
RP2A03
07-07-2015, 03:51 PM
I'd penalty have to say Famicom hardware manuals. They make interesting things to hasn't on your wall. I'll try and post a pic of what i mean
Are you a bot?
JSoup
07-07-2015, 05:11 PM
I'm particularly fond of manuals that contain clip and concept art. Something to ponder over before actually playing the game, if you're the type to read the manual before even pulling out the game.
Was never a big fan of the later Genesis manuals, when they all switched to being gray scale to the point that pictures are nearly incomprehensible.
Niku-Sama
07-07-2015, 08:21 PM
Are you a bot?
no it was a phone post.
phone being lame, correcting correct words again