I should've read the instruction manual!!!

[Tetsu]

Don't you hate it when you get a new game, and rather than read the instruction manual, you jump right in play while missing a key gameplay element that would have made the game much easier? I remember playing the Rocketeer on NES back in the day, and wondering why I was having so much trouble getting past stage one. Enemies were coming at me with guns, and I had to get in close to punch their lights out. It took me several hours get to the end of the stage, where I had to fight some flying helicopter thing. Having no way to punch the helicopter to death, it finally dawned on me that the little fist icon in the corner of the screen could be switched to guns by pressing select! The game was much easier after that, albeit still sucky.
After that, I always spent the first few minutes of a new game pressing all the buttons to see what would happen. Even so, a few years later while playing Contra Hard Corps, the fact that the slide technique made your character invincible for a second escaped me. My friend told me about it years later, and was pretty impressed that I got really far in the game without it. After that, Contra Hard Corps was a piece of cake for me! Crazy huh?

What games have you played where you missed something important, i.e. "I can use the rocket launcher to destroy this wall with one shot, instead of emptying 40 magazines of machine gun ammo into it"?

[hamburgler]

when i get really confused when i play a new game that i buy, i sometimes read the manual only if i need to.

[fcw3]

Gauntlet:Dark Legacy

Didn't know about the Turbo Attack until we were halfway through the game. It was much easier after that.

FRED

[Mr-E_MaN]

I try to read as little as possible when playing games. I cannot remember ever reading a game manual... If I wanted to read something I'd get a book...

[kainemaxwell]

I usually jump in and play around with the game first to see what it looks like and how it plays before reading the manual.

[RJ]

I read them 99% of the time unless it's a game I'm already familiar w/ or a port. If I get stuck I'll re-read to see if I missed anything I need to know. I also like to bring them to work to read- I have a lot of down-time.

[bargora]

Colony Wars (PSX)

I played that one for a looong time before I read the manual and discovered that R2 + L2 + O fires off a flare to the rear as a missile countermeasure. That would have made a couple of missions MUCH easier.

These days I tend to read the manual in its entirety before playing a game, which I suspect is a symptom signalling the onset of degenerative collecterism. And if it's a new game, ah, the smell of the freshly printed paper! The crisp pages! The unblemished disc! It usually takes a while before I actually put it in for a spin...

[Kid Fenris]

It's almost unthinkable that anyone could play Valkyrie Profile properly without first reading the manual. There's so much stuff going on in the game's menus and sub-screens that you almost need a strategy guide or an online FAQ to understand it.

And God help players who want to get the best ending without any hints from outside sources.

[punkoffgirl]

See? That's why it's handy to keep a girl around. Since the boys usually end up playing the "new" games first, the girls have to sit around and wait for their turn (and wait and wait.. stupid restart options). So, we get bored, and start browsing through the manuals. And that there is the secret to why we can still kick your butts: we know how.
Thank you and goodnight ;)
Tee hee!