Game manuals you love

PostGame manuals you love by **Lagamorph** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 2:40 pm

So I was reading some of my favourites lately and it got me thinking it might be interesting to see what people's favourite game manuals were, both old and recent (probably more old given the aversion to manuals lately...)
So I'll get the ball rolling with two I love,

Master of Orion iii
Whilst the game was an absolute pile of wank, the manual was incredible. The whole backstory woven through it was an amazing read for a sci-fi fan like me. I remember first getting the game in town, but I was with my mum and she was doing shopping. I was reading the manual the whole time to get more of the story and it got me so excited to get home, install the game and get playing. Imagine my disappointment at how the game itself turned out.
But the manual remains an incredible read. I always wished there was more, but iii killed the franchise, seemingly for good.

X Superbox
Not a manual strictly speaking, but the X Encyclopedia that came in the X Superbox is another awesome read full of backstory and in-universe lore. Sure it's filled with spelling and grammar errors but it's still a great read that will make you want to play the X game series.

So Grcade, what are your favourite game manuals and why?

PostRe: Game manuals you love by **Ironhide** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 2:57 pm

Don't remember the last time I bothered reading one.

I quite like Elektroplankton's manual despite it being in Japanese as the artwork has a certain charm to it.

PostRe: Game manuals you love by **chalkitdown** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 2:59 pm

Pretty much any 1st Party Nintendo game manual from the SNES & N64 era were amazing. Always full colour and fully illustrated with some nice information about the game and its characters to boot. I miss those days.

PostRe: Game manuals you love by **jawafour** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 3:01 pm

Without a doubt my favourite manual is that of Football International on the Nintendo GameBoy.

I love the results of the translation work that took place throughout the 90s for Japanese games... and this one is just gold.

I shared a few examples in a post on RetroCollect.com. Things like...

The manual wrote:This is the true revolution of the game of soccer. Once you start to play this game, you will find that this phrase is not exaggerated at all.

Click here to view more of the tremendously awful guidance.

PostRe: Game manuals you love by **False** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 3:46 pm

Guild Wars used to come with lore books.

Website · PostRe: Game manuals you love by **LightSamus** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 6:08 pm

The manuals in most Pokémon games are brilliant. I think they stopped after Diamond/Pearl or HG/SS though

PostRe: Game manuals you love by **Qikz** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 6:10 pm

Something like 200 pages.

PostRe: Game manuals you love by **Rex Kramer** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 6:13 pm

[iup=3597007]Brerlappin[/iup] wrote:

94 page manual. NINETY. FOUR.

I see your F-15 and raise you an F-19 Stealth Fighter which came with a huge manual and a Jane's guide to airplanes and a couple of maps.

Also, Baldurs Gate. Those tables at the end :wub:

PostRe: Game manuals you love by **Squinty** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 6:22 pm

I always thought the DKC ones with the Cranky Kong jokes were great.

Visit me first and give me all your coins! I'm far more useful than those sad looking bums!

PostRe: Game manuals you love by **Miguel007** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 6:46 pm

F-Zero on the SNES always sticks in my mind because of the comic inside. Think it was Captain Falcon fighting Samarai Goroh on the racetrack iirc.

PostRe: Game manuals you love by **Dangerblade** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 7:59 pm

The one that stands out from memory for me is the manual for Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus, which was colourful, informative and hilarious.

PostRe: Game manuals you love by **Xeno** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 8:04 pm

The Manual for MGS2, it was a little manga explaining the controls of the game.

PostRe: Game manuals you love by **rinks** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 8:43 pm

Add me to the Microprose manual club. That was my first thought on seeing this thread.

Steel Battalion was pretty special too. And I'm surprised the GTA series hasn't been mentioned.

PostRe: Game manuals you love by **degoose** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 9:58 pm

Street Fighter 2 on the SNES is one i always remember. It had all the fighters with small background stories , pics and their main moves and also a little story about the tournament.

PostRe: Game manuals you love by **Tafdolphin** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 10:15 pm

The original Starcraft manual was amazing. You had the normal control instructions and stuff (all themed of course , it was a training manual for new Confederate Magistrates) but the whole second half was a detailed breakdown of the histories of every race, faction, unit and character. I remember the entry for Tassadar being a full A5 page long. There was some stellar art in the too. Read the whole thing before I went near the game, really sold the universe to me.

PostRe: Game manuals you love by **Lagamorph** » Thu Oct 23, 2014 10:44 pm

[iup=3597314]Tafdolphin[/iup] wrote:The original Starcraft manual was amazing. You had the normal control instructions and stuff (all themed of course , it was a training manual for new Confederate Magistrates) but the whole second half was a detailed breakdown of the histories of every race, faction, unit and character. I remember the entry for Tassadar being a full A5 page long. There was some stellar art in the too. Read the whole thing before I went near the game, really sold the universe to me.

That's essentially what I loved most about the Master of Orion 3 manual.

I wish more manuals were like that, with a huge backstory of the world.

PostRe: Game manuals you love by **ITSMILNER** » Fri Oct 24, 2014 8:02 am

2 of my favourite manuals were Pokemon Red/Blue and Wario: Shake Dimension (with the stickers)

PostRe: Game manuals you love by **DrPepperMan** » Fri Oct 24, 2014 9:20 am

The Yakuza games (JPN) editions always have amazing manuals. Full colour and they have that amazing smell too.

PostRe: Game manuals you love by **MrBrown** » Sat Oct 25, 2014 10:04 am

http://gamesdbase.com/Media/SYSTEM/Nint ... ntendo.pdf

and

http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2012 ... _-_SNS.pdf

Where particular favs.

Game manuals you love

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