Favourite game instruction manual

[FAST6191]

Instruction manuals seem somewhat under appreciated these days and perhaps a few of us around here might see fewer than might theoretically be possible given the number of games experienced. On the flip side most are not as notable as ones of years past although this is not necessarily a bad thing as some times the gameplay/story might have had to be explained in one (or indeed some years later). I am not quite sure how links might work here if you want to share them (I searched for a few and some were one some potentially shady sites) so play it safe.

For my money the redneck rampage series had some of the best. They took the form of a backwater stereotypical redneck newspaper and actually explained the gameplay all with the satire ratcheted up to breaking point with loads of little jokes thrown in as well.

So your favourite, best addition to a game, best alternative artwork......

 

[Psionic Roshambo]

Hmmm so many over the years, I liked that Atari 2600 games came with comic books Atari Age if I remember right... lol

I also remember liking the Metroid manual a lot and I think Zelda was cool, I remember reading these things on the way home from the store, if I could have figured out a way to bring my video game systems with me in the car I probably would have at the time lol but the manuals kept me from going insane with anticipation.

But to pick one favorite out of all of them... I just can't do it lol

 

[Black-Ice]

Mario Kart 7
Coz Its a poster.

 

[Gahars]

I can't remember any one in particular, but I miss how they used to be. I remember looking forward to opening the game box, and getting a meaty glimpse into the back story and mechanics. Now you're just lucky if they bother to explain the controls.

 

[Taleweaver]

Instruction manuals seem somewhat under appreciated these days and perhaps a few of us around here might see fewer than might theoretically be possible.

I beg to differ. Instruction manuals are as popular as they ever were. Which is: not at all.

Of course there are exceptions. Those external books/guides for certain games usually tend to be worth it, some games (flight simulator) actually rely on it, and there's the rare exception (D& D: legend of temple dark moon was pretty much a short D&D book...that had some floppies to go with it). But on majority, manuals are just things to pass the time while your game is installing or to be flipped through desperately because you're stuck in the game and you're unsure whether there is some sort of power you missed. Oh, and google has pretty much taken over that last need, if you ask me.


My favorite...well...the only two I can remember was that D&D one (and that was partially because it had this retarded AP where you had to look for words in a certain page/row/column.), and the one from gameboy's Mystic Quest. And the latter was because it had this large world map and a huge list of weapons & things to buy on the backside.



EDIT: perhaps I should mention that English isn't my native language (I'm fluent in it now, but not while I was growing up). If there was an explanation in Dutch, it was clunky or downright wrong (for double dragon for gameboy, I swear the author just pulled moves out of his ass while describing it).

 

[finkmac]

I've always like the Maxis instruction manuals... They always put funny little sentences that poked fun at game mechanics.

 

[Guild McCommunist]

Not exactly an instruction booklet but Witcher 2: Enhanced Edition came with a nice little quest book that helped with all the quests.

 

[redfalcon]

I loved that thing as a kid. It was just fun browsing through it, even if you knew already everything. Same goes for the 2nd gen manuals.

 

[T-hug]

Not exactly an instruction booklet but Witcher 2: Enhanced Edition came with a nice little quest book that helped with all the quests.

Got that myself, along with the guide it's a must as the side quests are so easy to miss.

My favorite manual is for Chrono Trigger, it was just really colourful and the reversible poster that came with it was great.

I remember it so well as years ago I bought the game again from ebay, but it was just the cart. I then had to win another 2 separate auctions to get the manual/poster and box just to have a complete game.

 

[GameWinner]

All Ratchet and Clank games on PS3 (Not sure if the PS2 games were as unique as PS3 titles).
It looks like the creators of the manuals actually had fun doing them.

 

[Arras]

Does the Ni no Kuni book count? Not exactly a manual either, but still pretty damn impressive.

 

[The Catboy]

The first Legend of zelda manual goes down as my favorite. If you haven't seen it, look it up.

Also any manual that is like 1 to 3 pages long. It's like, "This is the game, this is the controls, any questions?" Every time I open a game and see one, I laugh a little at it.

 

[ChristopherSmith]

back in the day I had a amiga game called 'dreamweb' that came with a book called 'diary of a mad man' which was pretty cool. It read as a standalone book but had lots of subtle advice and doodles you had to decipher to help with the game.

I like when games come with printed maps to support them too - GTA IV's 'liberty city guide book' was a nice recent example

 

[chains_of_androm]

Blizzard games usually have pretty good manuals, a lot of interesting back story too.

 

[AceWarhead]

The Metal Arms: Glitch In the system manual's good.
The Star Wars: The Original Trilogy manual was good too.

 

[Depravo]

Some of the old Japanese Megadrive game manuals used to advise against stomping on a giant cartridge whilst shouting 'Paki". It's not big or clever but it used to make me laugh.

 

[BORTZ]

I always liked the little tiny ones that came with the GBA and other handheld N products.