What is your Favorite Video Game Instruction Manual

[Shock and Awe]

Halo's manuals have always been quite good, since they actually make an effort, unlike a vast majority. They usually have a story rundown, all the weapons, vehicles, and major characters. I also like any manual thats damn near a book in its own right. Old NES and SNES manuals like Metroid, Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past, and Super Mario Bros. 3 are also great.

 

[joshuaayt]

My old Ocarina of Time manual. I remember reading it over and over as a kid; I now keep it safe in my Wii box, out of fear that it will fall apart

 

[Atticus89]

Not exactly a favorite, but the manual for Kid Icarus does have a topless harpy so it's worth a mention.

I don't think I really have a favorite. I remember the ones I read a lot were for the N64 since I didn't have a SNES and I couldn't read when I had an NES.

 

[Nouw]

Dawn of War manuals are pretty good with unit info, Dawn of War II was even better but a bit of it doesn't count as the tech-tree sheet was separate. Halo 1 has a fantastic manual, more people need to learn from these.

But you know what I was completely peeved about? The Starcraft 2 'Manual.' Installation guide, suppourt and other stuff no gamer looks at I assume. 4+ Pages of the past storyline mostly covered in the previous Starcraft games. and no information on what the game is actually about. No gameplay information of any kind!

/rant.

 

[RandallJohn]

The only one coming to mind right now is Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box. Two words:

Spoiler

FOR FOLSENSE

 

[nicebuffalo]

kind of stupid question. whatever, i liked shadow of the collosus.

 

[Zer_]

The Homeworld manual. It had some awesome back story to the Kushan.

 

[The_Blue_Rider]

um none that i can remember right now, Demons Souls was rather good, as it contained quite alot, oh and any GTA manual, especially IV, it was really awesome how much it looked like a booklet for a tourist.

I will tell you which manual sucked though,
Assassins Creed

.......Brotherhood

I loved the game, however the manual was pathetic, it was really just heres how to walk/run/jump/kill go away now

 

[s0m3th1ng]

I remember the manuals for the Jane's flight simulator games were freaking epic. That and Baldur's Gate.

 

[number2301]

Most console games have rubbish manuals, old PC Games were the best. Elite: Frontier came with not only an epic manual full of details of the game, the back story and how to utilise newtonian physics, but also a book of short stories in the universe.

Ah for the days when reading the manual was part of the fun!

 

[Ze_Reaper_Of_Zeath]

Team Fortress 2, doesn't explain much, but it is quite authentic.

 

[e2density]

Any Valve game, the manual is just a card with your CD key on it and a list of controls/game explanation.

 

[Arehexes]

Not exactly a favorite, but the manual for Kid Icarus does have a topless harpy so it's worth a mention.

I don't think I really have a favorite. I remember the ones I read a lot were for the N64 since I didn't have a SNES and I couldn't read when I had an NES.

Didn't Clash at Demon head have a dragon on a bike flipping the bird

 

[The Hero Killer]

The Grand Theft Auto manuals because they were like travel brochures.

 

[MouseFlight]

The Jet Set Radio Future manual would be something I would read alot. It was very intresting to me.

 

[MikailCaboose]

I liked Wario World's manual, because it didn't take itself seriously. Now I'll have to take a look at Fallout 3's. Never actually looked at it.

 

[northeast rower]

In terms of presentation, GTA IV's. I loved how it was presented as a guidebook.

 

[Lazarus Long]

Ultima 6. I can't remember now if it was more or less detailed than the others in the series, but 6 was the one I fell in love with in my youth. The Compendium, the cloth map, deciphering the Brittanian runes...
Yeah, I know it was just prettied-up copy protection, but I loved it.

 

[TKretts3]

I'd have to go with the manual from my first ever video gaming disk: Metroid Prime.

 

[Cogwheel]

Arcanum was fairly neat. Contained a lot of lore, written in an interesting and amusing style, etc.

Also it had a cooking recipe at the end. For spice cakes, I think.