The most useless manuals for older games

[DigitalSpace]

Nothing newer than the Dreamcast (I was thinking of limiting it to the 8 and 16-bit eras, but we wouldn't have much of a thread here).

Which games had manuals that barely contained any useful information, or even worse, listed the wrong controls or some other incorrect info?

The first one that comes to mind for me is Batman Forever (SNES). Most of the controls were mixed up or were just plain incorrect. I remember reading an issue of GamePro where a reader expressed their frustration with the manual. GamePro's response: "Shame on you, Acclaim!"

I also remember the manual for Quattro Sports (NES) being pretty thin, although I don't have a copy on hand.

[Vkmies]

Home improvement for the SNES.
The box has a little piece of paper inside, saying: "Real men don't need instructions!"

Best...manual...ever!

[Steven]

Home improvement for the SNES.
The box has a little piece of paper inside, saying: "Real men don't need instructions!"

Best...manual...ever!

... that's what I came to post. In a way though, it totally fitted the show/Tim Taylor, so in that sense, it was "brilliant" as well as most useless ever.

[UnpluggedClone]

google 4 gaga

[j_factor]

I like how the Gate of Thunder manual doesn't even mention that there are other games on the disc.

[Emperor Megas]

The manual for Zillion for the SEGA Master System had a pretty nasty typo in it. They gave you an input code (suicide) to use in a specific computer rooms which was suppose to reveal something interesting when entered, but it was the wrong room, and would actually kill you if you entered it.

[bacteria]

Intellivision games on the whole are short manuals, which include a fair bit of padding in the contents! Normally, the instructions in the booklet could be easily summed up in less than a standard paragraph.

Games like on the Intellivision or ColecoVision for that matter are great - easy, obvious, based on fun and not complexity on the whole. Nice, basic, simple, quality (many were anyway) games.

[Arkhan]

I like how the Gate of Thunder manual doesn't even mention that there are other games on the disc.

If you need a manual to tell you that, ....


lol

[shopkins]

The manual for Infiltrator for the NES leaves out the most important piece of information, the conditions necessary to actually successfully land the helicopter. I was never able to finish the first level because of this, and I spent several frustrating hours replaying it and wondering why my landings always ended in crashes even though I did everything the manual said.

[Vlcice]

I like how the Gate of Thunder manual doesn't even mention that there are other games on the disc.

Yeah, but I'm pretty sure Gate of Thunder came with three manuals as a pack-in, so it made it pretty clear there were multiple games included.

[jonebone]

Damnit I came here to post Home Improvement for SNES too, guess that manual has more of a reputation than I thought.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Wait a sec. That Home Improvement manual gag is REAL?! o_O

As for me, the "manual" that came with a DOS compilation I bought last year, Capcom's "Arcade Hits". One folded up page that doesn't tell you ANYTHING about how to play Street Fighter. Instead it talks about Cabal and Side Arms.

[Doonzmore]

Power Piggs for the Snes didn't have much of a manual...just a full colored comic book. A neat way to tell the story i suppose.

[Steven]

Wait a sec. That Home Improvement manual gag is REAL?! o_O

Indeed.



BTW, here's my review of said game. It's a bad game, but I don't think it's as wretched as many people think it is. Had potential to be a decent title, oh well...

http://www.rvgfanatic.com/7401/1167615.html

[JSoup]

Not that it's useless, but Mario Kart 64 came with a manual full of stuff AND a piece of cardboard that summarized manual into two pages. I remember thinking it was a major waste of paper to do that.

[NoahsMyBro]

I wouldn't classify the Dreamcast NFL2k (2k1?) manual as useless, but my recollection is that there were instructions describing how to save an instant replay to the VMU, but that functionality doesn't actually exist in the game anywhere.

[Emperor Megas]

I like how the Gate of Thunder manual doesn't even mention that there are other games on the disc.

If you need a manual to tell you that, ....


lol

Yeah, but I'm pretty sure Gate of Thunder came with three manuals as a pack-in, so it made it pretty clear there were multiple games included.

IIRC, Bomber Man is also included on the disc, but it's not selectable from the menu. You have to know how to access the game; I don't think that it tells you how in any of the manuals.

It's like the Snail Maze game built into the SEGA Master System...or am I remembering that wrong?

[rbudrick]

Years ago I ordered a complete copy of CHase the Chuck Wagon from eBay, only it was missing the manual. When I received it, I looked in the box and the manual was there all right after all...a single one-sided sheet of paper. Not that it needed more, but it made me lol, and I was very happy it was truly complete. Also, I was extremely happy to know I probably have the only copy left in the world of the coupon used to send out for the game. The seller threw that in as a bonus.

-Rob

[Famidrive-16]

Not that it's useless, but Mario Kart 64 came with a manual full of stuff AND a piece of cardboard that summarized manual into two pages. I remember thinking it was a major waste of paper to do that.

??? I don't remember this...

[Rogue]

Every first party US N64 game comes with the Game Card.