What games *need* the manual/game cover?

[Gapporin]

The thread about StarTropics got me thinking again: What games absolutely needed the manual or game cover to complete the game? I'm not talking about copy protection, either, although that would certainly apply. I can think of a couple:

The tunnel code in StarTropics, already mentioned.

In Metal Gear Solid, the back cover contains a codec number that you must use in the game to contact a specific person. The codec number is not revealed in-game, either.

Anybody else?

[roushimsx]

I never knew about the Metal Gear Solid deal until after I had already beaten the game. When I was playing through it, I didn't understand anything anyone was saying anyway (picked up the japanese copy when it came out; was living in japan at the time and went to the game store at least once or twice a week anyway), so I scanned the codec frequencies every now and then and just stumbled on that one when I needed it, not knowing that it was crucial to the plot progression or that other people would be having a huge problem there.

after i found that out, I felt warm and fuzzy about figuring it out on my own.

Beyond copy protection, i can't really think of any other games that flat out require the manual and case off the top of my head.

[mezrabad]

off the top of my ass, I'd say Truckin' for the Intellivision requires a map that came with the game and is unplayable without it. (it's out there on the 'net, though, so if you need it you can find it.) Obviously, it isn't for copy protection (it's a cart!) so I think that meets your criteria.

[Daria]

You can't beat CastleQuest without the map detailing what rooms you have to enter and in what order.

[Dr. Morbis]

You can't beat CastleQuest without the map detailing what rooms you have to enter and in what order.
I can't beat Castlequest with the map detailing what order to do the rooms. And I'm not just saying that, I tried numerous times, but that is the most frustrating game on earth. Miss opening one door at the right time and your 2 hours of work are down the drain.

As for the Startropics map, I actually rented that game with a friend and when we got to that point, we had to call the videostore and to see if they had the manual, then we went back down to the store and used the sink in their bathroom to get 747 and pass that level. Man, the lengths young gamers will go too...

[Daria]

You can't beat CastleQuest without the map detailing what rooms you have to enter and in what order.
I can't beat Castlequest with the map detailing what order to do the rooms. And I'm not just saying that, I tried numerous times, but that is the most frustrating game on earth. Miss opening one door at the right time and your 2 hours of work are down the drain.

Heh I agree. I've never done it either, but at least with the map you have a chance of suceeding.

[Cryomancer]

Certain versions of PSO have serials in the case, but there are "blank" type ones online that you can get by with if you don't plan on taking it online or anything (actually, that might not even be enforced).

[SoulBlazer]

I'm not sure about NEED, but the map that came with Pirates and Pirates Gold was DAMN helpfull. :D Even better then the in-game map that you had.

There are TONS of PC games that also need the materials, and not just for copy protect, but I'll leave those off for now.

[jajaja]

All the old PC games that required password in the game to get futher (early way of copy protection).
"Go to page 25 and write the 3rd letter on the 5th row". Ahh.. memories :)

[MarHel78]

You can't beat CastleQuest without the map detailing what rooms you have to enter and in what order.

Well, thanks for that bit of information... Saved me a lot of trouble here.

Lots of old PC games need the manual purely because of anti-piracy reasons. You know, the silhuettes of submarines in Silent Service(?), specific words to be entered from pg. x, line x, the dot patterns of Sim City....

[Sosage]

I could have sworn reading that a big problem with Penn and Teller Smoke n' Mirrors was that there is a portion where you absolutely need the manual...and one either doesn't exist at all or the very few development copies are thought lost (am I horribly wrong here?).

A lot of older PC and Apple II games use to use their manual for piracy protection (before the game would start it would ask you to type in the third word in the second sentence of the fourth paragraph, etc). Sorry. I don't have a comprehensive list. =(

Edit: Crap. I just repeated what 2-3 other people just said.

[Slimedog]

FFXI needs the manual for the registration numbers, otherwise you can't start an account.

X-Men for NES needs the cart label because I think there is a code on the front that is the only way to access the last level.

Wizardry for NES pretty much needs the manual. I can't imagine playing it without.

[roushimsx]

oh, Mafia for PC requires the map that came bundled with the game if you have any hope of planning a route to clear the bomb truck mission in Free Ride Extreme.

with the map? Easy as pie, you just have to worry about handling the dynamic traffic. Without the map? Forget about it.

[jajaja]

oh, Mafia for PC requires the map that came bundled with the game if you have any hope of planning a route to clear the bomb truck mission in Free Ride Extreme.

with the map? Easy as pie, you just have to worry about handling the dynamic traffic. Without the map? Forget about it.

I beat the mafia without any external map. As far as I remember the game had a build in map.

[hydr0x]

I'm not talking about copy protection, either, although that would certainly apply. I can think of a couple...

heh, you're missing something here, at least your MGS example IS in fact a copy protection, just a simple one that's not recognized as what it is ;) probably the same for StarTropics but i somehow doubt Nintendo was too concerned about copies on the NES.

[njiska]

I'm not talking about copy protection, either, although that would certainly apply. I can think of a couple...

heh, you're missing something here, at least your MGS example IS in fact a copy protection, just a simple one that's not recognized as what it is ;) probably the same for StarTropics but i somehow doubt Nintendo was too concerned about copies on the NES.

I wouldn't really call it copy protection. I treat it like Psycho Mantis reading the memory card. It's just a cool little thing Kojima through it.

The reason i don't class it as copy protecion is because you can play with out it. True copy protection keeps you from playing the game, Meryl however, can be reached just by going through the frequencies and it's not very far into them from the start.

It's the same thing as the TAP CODES in MG2: SS. Just a fun little way to draw you in. And the tap codes are plausible, but again you can just freq scan.

[Raedon]

All the Magnetic Scrolls text adventure games needed the thick manual. Many like Wonderland and the Pawn only needed it for copy protection, "please turn to page 54, paragraph 3 etc etc.. but Guild of Thieves used it and a fake news paper for gaming elements like combonation clues etc..

http://62.168.142.47/~lemon/covers/full/guild_of_thieves.jpg

[Daria]

All the Magnetic Scrolls text adventure games needed the thick manual. Many like Wonderland and the Pawn only needed it for copy protection, "please turn to page 54, paragraph 3 etc etc.. but Guild of Thieves used it and a fake news paper for gaming elements like combonation clues etc..

http://62.168.142.47/~lemon/covers/full/guild_of_thieves.jpg

Oh god, King's Quest 6 had something like that. It was for deciphering codes or something. Hell I don't remeber exactly what you had to do now but I remember having to use the manual.

[goatdan]

How about those HUGE board playing games for the Odyssey2 like Quest for the Rings and Conquest of the World.

[Slimedog]

Does anybody else remember the awesome slick map and sticky tokens that came with Suspended, the Infocom text adventure? I used it all the time to keep track of where my robots were, or to figure out how I got so far off topic.

[mezrabad]

DOH! I forgot, but I shouldn't have.

The original Magnavox Odyssey had a whole ton of materials without which most of the games would be useless. Either Cards, Overlays, Gameboards, Tokens. Hell, even the instructions were absolutely necessary because the "videogame" part was in no way intuitive. You really don't know what you're supposed to do unless you've got a manual telling you what's going on.

[ubikuberalles]

Flight Simulator II

Unless, of course, you're a pilot.

[Blackjax]

Well, I did a little research after this came up the last time, and the startropics map was not meant as any kind of copy protection. If you lost the map, they would give you the code on either the Game Councellors line or the Customer Service line. Makes me wonder if some didn't come with maps or something...

[TEXASGAMEPLAYER]

NAMCO MUSEUM "tower of druga" PS1

even with the map I can not get past the 60 level. Is the map wrong for the last level or something? I;ve played through it (3 hours) and then lose at the end. Decided I'm not doing that again untill I find out my problem. Can't imagine finishing with out the map and instructions included with the game.

[Blitzwing256]

the 3 swordquest games on atari required the comic books to be able to decipher the clues.
I spose you could bump your way around but the comics gave you hints to get the next clue.

man those games were frustrating ;-)

[davyK]

As hard as it is to believe - there's a 2600 game that you need the manual for : Activision's Space Shuttle.

You need it to understand what the status codes mean (usually when the game ends because you messed up) but it also tells you how to perform a deorbit burn so that you can land again.

Of course, that game came with the lovely overlays for the 6 and 4 switch versions of the console :)