As games evolved and their mechanics became more involved and complex, especially during the transition to 3D and during the fifth and sixth console generations, tutorials became a somewhat necessary staple to help ease new players into the action.

While tutorial levels aren't as common as they once were thanks to a somewhat standardised control scheme and approach to 3D movement, tutorials can be a memorable part of a game as they are often the first experience a user can have, or maybe even the last if done wrong - see Driver on the PS1. A good or bad tutorial can truly make or break a users first impression of a game.

Throughout the years there have been some truly great tutorial levels such as the iconic world 1-1 in Super Mario Bros to The Great Plateau in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Or how about Croft Manor in the early Tomb Raider games which guide you through a literal training ground and let you trap your own rattly butler in a walk-in freezer?

What are some of your favourite tutorial levels or the ones that you remember the most for good or for worse?

 

[HarveyHouston]

Gosh, tutorials. TBH, I'm not much fond of tutorials, especially when I already know to play the game. In some games, they add a tutorial for a concept so simple, it's not really necessary. I think the ones that actually work for me are about totally new concepts, but I can't think of one that really stands out for me.

...I guess Animal Crossing: New Leaf. It's the only thing I can think of.

 

[EpikJimmer]

cuphead hard
edit: i really like how it seems like the latest comment is the thing i want to respond to so it's actually relevant but after i post it, 2 literal pages suddenly show up and now my post is irrelevant, wdym there's a reply button next to every post.

Man, should've played the gbatemp tutorial a long time ago, i'm clueless

 

[KiiWii]

Driver on PS1.

That’s was hell, but also an awesome game!

 

[CompSciOrBust]

Portal, the first 18 test chambers

 

[TobiasAmaranth]

CrossCode had a good tutorial-esque opener to it. Introduces most of the mechanics at a dripfeed and really helps set the atmosphere of the game.

 

[jimkage]

None and I hate the obligatory ones.

 

[eduall]

the GEX 3 training room! it's beautiful

 

[SylverReZ]

I remember the rumour in my school playground where you could activate a nude cheat by tapping buttons to the tune of Spice Girl's Wannabe. That was a thing!

Oh yes, I've heard of that. There was also one for Tomb Raider 2 that was advertised in magazines at the time, but instead, you instantly get killed when you performed the cheat.

 

[purplefuku]

I reeeally can't stand tutorials... so I'll just go with the granddaddy of them all: Super Mario Brothers World 1-1.

Just let me play & learn along the way! That's half the fun, in my opinion.

 

[kleferi301]

Fire emblem blazing blade on the GBA. Lyn's Story is basically the tutorial for the game.

 

[Fugelmir]

 

[sarkwalvein]

I liked the three character introduction chapters in the original Wild Arms as a tutorial.
But.

Fire emblem blazing blade on the GBA. Lyn's Story is basically the tutorial for the game.

This one takes the cake.

 

[Wolfy]

Wouldn't call if a tutorial really, but the start of Just Cause 1, and basically the intro( and second mission) of Just Cause are my favorite that I can think of. The shooting in 1 was simple although clunky but was fun, and 2 had a similar concept in the second mission, but you had a grappling hook so you had more options to launch cars over the edge of bridges which was amazing to me.

 

[VDDZ]

Secret of Mana, fighting your way back to the first town for your first boss fight, only to learn you're an orphan and get kicked out of your village. Classic

FF7, the first reactor you blow up. Classic

 

[godreborn]

Marsupilami 's is pretty enjoyable. Damn good game.

 

[Wavy]

The one in pretty much every Splatoon game, but mostly in 3.

I really like how you start out as a new inkling getting ready to go to Inkopolis, or Splatsville in Splatoon 3's case. Each game has tutorial music that's usually some arrange of the games main theme, and it gets more hyped up the further you get in the tutorial to hype you up before getting into the rest of the game. There's also a skip somewhere in the beginning of each game for keen-eyed players (useful for players who are already familiar with the series).

Bonus points to Splatoon 3 for the crater levels at the beginning of the story mode as it's pretty much its own tutorial.

 

[ZeroFX]

The ones that are subtle and embedded to the main level and experience, thing only old games did. Nowadays you not only get actively told what you have to do, but full of prompts, markers and even forced to do tutorial phases, like a retarded!

 

[JuanMena]

Yeah, easily:

 

[Chary]

Fallout 3, for as much hate as it gets these days, had a wonderful tutorial section. Yes it lasted way too long, yes it's total garbage if you ever replay the game, but it sets the tone of the weird 50s retro future aesthetic, you get to see all these crazy people and cliques in Vault 101, you get a chance to fight, or solve plenty of problems peacefully; there's a lot to do and see if you really look around. There's stuff like saving Butch's mom, letting her die to spite him, or giving him a bat and helping him do the quest himself. It sets the tone for all other quests that follow. Having the claustrophobic but mostly safe vault set as the intro really makes that initial scene of the wasteland hit so much harder, too. Beautifully done, at least for a first time experience of the game.

 

[Memfis]

My favorite Tutorial is Guild Wars 1, pre-Searing.