Poll of the Day > It never struck me how necessary manuals are for certain old games until now

(+) Yeah! (+)

For instance, Secret of Mana (the original, not the remake) has pretty much no tutorials, to my knowledge. You're supposed to rely on the manual to learn exactly how the game works, and boy, is the manual comprehensive. It tells you everything you need to know to start the game. It explains the controls, how to perform charged attacks, a list of spells and how to perform magic, and even a list of items. The item list in particular is huge to me because in the game, you don't know what an item does until you buy it.

Some may like to learn all this stuff blind, and I can respect that, but in my case, learning the ins-and-outs of a game makes me appreciate it much more.

now adays you have to go through a half hour tutorial
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The Soul Calibur IV manual has an expired coupon for Churchs Chicken.
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Thought this would be 'What is the third letter of the fourth word on the seventh line of the tenth page?'
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I remember reading through the manuals while on the toilet.
Good times.
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ever played a game called Lords of Magic? ;]
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Loved game manuals as a kid... ;(
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That feeling when you're reading the manual on the way home from just buying a new game..

Manuals were also often necessary for figuring out the story/lore of a game. Though a great many of them screwed up a lot during the translation process.
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I liked reading the manuals. Especially when I rented, read it in the car while my mom or dad would drive back home.
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keyblader1985 posted...

That feeling when you're reading the manual on the way home from just buying a new game..

Manuals were also often necessary for figuring out the story/lore of a game. Though a great many of them screwed up a lot during the translation process.

yes! this!
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keyblader1985 posted...

That feeling when you're reading the manual on the way home from just buying a new game

Oh, yes! The big one for me here absolutely was Duke Nukem 3D.
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ArvTheGreat posted...

now adays you have to go through a half hour tutorial

Games started getting bad when we begane to market them to people who cant read, or dont like to.
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And manuals used to be in full color, on glossy paper, etc.

Well, not for the Genesis, but definitely for the NES and the SNES.
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bulbinking posted...

ArvTheGreat posted...

now adays you have to go through a half hour tutorial

Games started getting bad when we begane to market them to people who cant read, or dont like to.