best manuals?

We already have a ton of spam threads on the board, why must you add to it?

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>>3375560

Not him, but what's wrong with a good ol' manual thread?

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>>3375569
Take a look at OP's image.

>>3375569

Yes, it is a meme thread.

>>3375698

lol didn't notice it.

It's possibly the only meme I've liked in the past 5 or 6 years. It also adds to it that "BUT FIRST" is now Mandela effect.

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>>3375548
I like the manuals and official guidebooks to all the Ultima 7 releases. They were written as if they belonged in the universe of the game. Ultima 7: The Black Gate had a book called "The Fellowship" included inside the box which was an in-game book one can get some excerpts from. They included cloth maps, a stone.

I kind of miss the packaging that sometimes went with games. Items like cloth maps, coins, trinkets, etc. Whatever you may think of with Working Designs' translations, it is undeniable that their packaging with games tend to be top tier. It helps that the packaging made it costly to just make a bootleg imitation, but it actually felt like you bought something special. I know they still do it with special limited releases with top games still, but it seemed like the manuals sometimes were part of the experience of a new game too, at least for me.

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>The manual is hardbound

fucking love it

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>>3375949
2's manual had some good recipes as well

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>>3375940
This guy gets it

Yeah, Working Designs would have that foil shine and bump relief (embossing?) even on standard releases. Treating the game's art well, like actual works of art in the manual, makes me wonder why would anyone throw those things away with the case.

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>>3375936
>>3375962

Speaking of WD, how true is that the shiny version of Lunar 1's cover on Sega CD is less rare than the non-shiny version?
I've read that only the first print run was non-shiny.

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>>3375698
I absolutely love Kirby's dreamy environments.
Any suggestion with that fairytale-like artstyle?
Videogames or even manga/anime

>>3375974
Soleil for the Mega Drive.

My uncle had this PC game in the early '90s where the manual needed like this decoder to find the hidden text. The decoder was basically red acetate that would hide the dark red text in the manual.

It could have been an Elvira game but I remember being really impressed at the time.

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>>3375974
The PS2 version came with a hardcover children's storybook which has some nice art.

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>>3375971
I didn't even know there was a non-shiny version. I had only thought it came shiny. Yet it does make sense, since the earlier WD titles on TG16 (Cosmic Fantasy 2 and Exile pictured) were just standard, so I guess it may be true regarding a first run. I never really looked into it. Maybe someone else would be more knowledgeable about the matter.

That does throw a bit of a dent in my thought that "WD releases can be more costly to replicate" if one does choose to fake up a non-shiny version. Still, I like it when they have that embossing and foil, harder to emulate ^^.

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>>3375962

I have the Ghaleon puppet. Shame they never went through with the Alex one. Lunar 2 had an incredible special edition.

>>3375965
This manual here always gives me a nostalgic feeling. They really did a wonderful job.

>>3376009

I have that same edition. By the way, that book was actually a replica of the same book that originally came with the 1st press of Nights in Japan. I guess the original must be pretty rare by now, but I don't know if there's actually any difference with the one packed with the PS2 version.

>>3376023
The problem with wanting to fake Sega CD games would be getting the fucking cases.

But yeah, it makes sense that the non-shiny version is rarer, I usually see the shiny one online, although the other one appears from time to time.

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Did you guys ever use the notes section ? Never did, even the thought of it feels like heresy of some sort.

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I like old NES style manuals the best. Usually pretty short and simple, but that's what makes them fun.

>>3376328
lol you bought sanitarium? oh my.

>>3375708
what BUT FIRST

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>>3375965
This, right here. The incomplete Pokedex pages at the end were probably one of the hypest things I've ever seen in a manual. The original Final Fantasy also had a similar, extra-thick handbook-style manual that came with it, I recall.

Earthworm Jim 2 also had a pretty funny manual.
>tfw you never called Shiny to say "Hi".

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Famicom Disk System manuals like the ones for Zelda and Metroid. If you've ever had one you'll agree.

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>>3375548
The corners of each page had a game sprite on them, and they animate like a flip-book.

Do any other manuals do this?

>>3376328
>Did you guys ever use the notes section ?
I did once. I wrote stupid shit like "I got all of the things. It was easy."
I didn't realize that I should have written actual tips or secrets I found.

Oh, and some games had a blank section specifically for passwords. I filled those out.

>>3376459
Sam & Max Hit the Road

Had the animated pixelart flipbook in eithr the manual (activity book) or hintbook (coloring book), unfortunately I'm at work, so I cannot say which nor take a picture of the box (with my handwriting as I've done earlier in this thread).

>>3376459
I think the Super Mario World game guide dies this, at least the german on does

>>3376450
Japanese manuals in general tend to be pretty God-tier. Especially the Japanese Tengen ones that contained numerous developers' commentary.

>>3375940
That was working designs making up for their awful translations and re-programming shit that didn't need re-programming.

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>>3376023

My copy isn't shiny. So I guess I have the rarer version? Neat.

>>3379370

Rarer compared to the Shiny version, but not to the limited editions that came with special picture discs. Their covers are shiny too, but they are rare not because of the cover, but because of the picture on the CD. I think WD released a stupid amount of them like there's 9 or 10 in total. It must be a pain in the ass for OCD Sega CD/ WD collectors.

>>3376024
>Ghaleon puppet

My college roommate had one of these. I didn't know what it was at the time as I wasn't into collecting back then and I went with a N46 instead of a PS1. We broke it when we were messing around with it. I feel kind of bad about that now.

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>>3375548
I love the manual for Warioland 4.
http://cdn02.nintendo-europe.com/media/downloads/games_8/emanuals/game_boy_advance_8/Manual_GameBoyAdvance_WarioLand4_EN_DE_FR_ES_IT.pdf

>>3379395
they broke fucking easily. I think mine broke just making him punch. Poorly built quality.

Check out the REAL manual for Sim City 2000.
It's so good. I wish I had bought it when I had the chance.

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The clay figures in secret of mana manual

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I have this one, with the comic and all.

>>3376328
Agreed. I took really good care of my games, but the boxes got thrown away after I moved out (I had the carts and CDs) kind of miffs me I lost my manuals.

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Old Konami games for the NES get my vote for "best" manuals.

>>3379781
>Higharolla Kockamamie
>H.K.
>Hideo Kojima
Someone was bitter.

>>3376450
Yep. They're pretty sweet, especially when you have a complete FDS game. So glad I picked mine up a while back.

>>3375962
>>3376024
I have like 8 of those stupid Ghaleon puppets from the E3 show, years ago. I though they would sell like hotcakes. But, I was never even able to sell one! FML.

>>3375703
It's a cool thread, you're a meme.

>Old Strtaegy game manuals
the best

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>>3379781
Why did Konami of America did such shit localizations back in the day?

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Sim City 2000 manual was GOAT

>>3384281

>THE DEATH OF ZILLIONS

I cracked up, won't lie. Thanks for sharing.

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>>3384342
You probably would love this then. From the people who brought you Vermon CaTaffy and Higharolla Kockamamie, comes Sheik Toxic Moron.

>>3379428
I fucking love that manual to death it's so charming and feels so different cuz of those.

>>3384342
oy vey, never forget the six zillion