the Metal Gear games too, both the MSX games and the PS1 game... needing to find out certain codes that were either in the manual or the back of the box
Man, Startropocs was my favorite game on the NES, and it warms my heart to see it mentioned. Dipping that letter in water to get the code absolutely blew my mind as a kid
When I was younger I actually had the disc in a folder of discs with no case. Unfortunately I was literally a child and couldn't wrap my head around circle and x being swapped around lol
@@ItsMeBarnaby I did something similar on my first play through , I even remember going through each number and dialling because I didn’t know the code 😂
5:25 - Mmh... I dunno about this one, I feel you would've EVENTUALLY bumped into a larger bubble while fumbling around underwater, either by accident or curiosity, and notice there's a unique sound and animation Sonic does with him having his mouth wide open in that brief moment... Source: my childhood memories playing this game in the 90's and not having read the manual back then I would've instead suggested Sonic 2 for the Game Gear/Master System's manual telling you that you NEEDED to collect all the Emeralds (that aren't in special stages for once) before you can even remotely *attempt* to rescue Tails... or you'll default to the sad ending implying you let him down and you're seeing his memory in the stars implying he's dead... and what's more, if you don't have any Continues after a Game Over, the game TAKES AWAY any Emeralds you did collect to practically buy a Continue, dooming your playthrough to be the bad ending.
@@multimediatesting720 or maybe curiously thinking it was something you could bounce off of or pop seeing as though it as as big as an enemy... eventually you'd find out it's something you can interact with
@@fromthegamethrone To be fair, I don't remember drowning being a common threat in videogames around this time. Mario, Zelda (Link's Awakening), Metroid, Megaman, Kirby and such all had underwater levels that didn't give you that added stress of needing to find air so you could continue... The only other game I can think of from that era that made drowning a threat was Ecco the Dolphin.
Police Quest. You couldn't progress without the locker code in the manual that was the score for the football game on the weekend or matching a mug shot with a name. You also needed it when taking someone to jail and giving the code for why you arrested them.
Right? Even in the footage they showed, the large bubbles were literally a few pixels away and most players would most likely run into them without even trying
They were as big as most enemies and obstacles in the game, I felt you were practically hard-wired to jump at anything that size to attack it and learn what it does
You were not the only one. I had a second-hand copy that did have the manual, but was missing that letter and I ended up having to brute-force my way to the answer. Once I found it, I wrote that 747 code in the back of the manual. I've heard that on some rental copies, somebody would write or engrave "747" right on the cartridge so the next person would know.
Man, manuals is something that I miss something fierce from the old days of gaming. I mean, even if you get something physical, it usually contains nothing of note these days compared to the bibles we used to get.
Oh my god seeing the Startropics map made me so nostalgic. I remember startropics 2 being one of the few games I was waiting on the release date of back when I was a kid. It was such a good zelda like game and if you haven't played it you really should it's great.
Konami released an NES game called Where in Time is Carmen San Diego? The game included a whole book that you needed to use to solve the various historical riddles and catch Carmen in the correct time period.
I still have all my old huge game guides, and will break them out on occasion just to reread and enjoy the pictures! I miss those thick strategy guides!
I just went through Tunic for the first time this week. Such a great game, and I was hoping it would get a mention here. I actually bought the version WITH a physical manual, but thankfully I read the bit on the first page saying "maybe don't read this until you've played" It's such a great experience when you don't know what's going on!
Correct their was a C64 version of the Last Crusade game that used a VERY Complex and RANDOM password without it the 2nd area of the game was UNBEATABLE.
Either way that 2nd area was based on entering the Library tomb part of the actual Movie but their were like 5 possibly entrances to that area each one with a RANDOMLY chosen password enter the WRONG area and you would NEVER find your way out so you actually needed the manually since they were well over 1 million or MORE possible passwords in order to complete that 2nd area of the game. So you actually needed either a manual or a players guide that had every single possible password the game uses but was still unbeatable without it.
The original sonic game was designed to be very easy to pick up and play, with all buttons doing the same thing (something that came back to haunt Balan Wonderworld) and so I imagine that very young children were playing it. But i was there is 1992 and nobody got stuck on the water levels, and if they did they must have been literal 4 year olds
As a literal 5 year old when the game was brand-new, I agree. Those bubbles were as big as most other enemies and obstacles as we were by then hard-wired to jump at anything of that size to see what it does... Will this bubble make me bounce like Spring Yard's bumpers? Will this bubble give me an arbitrary number of points for destroying it? ...No, Sonic opens his mouth and sounds like he's saying "BULK UP"... Did he just breathe in the air from that bubble instead? Now the obstacle that got most people stuck were those damned barrels in Sonic 3, not even the manual was helpful on that.
Interesting. For Sonic just seeing giant bubbles I intuited that I needed them to not drown. (this was back in the 90s. I got the game used, and I didn't have a manual for it)
Jurassic Park for Genesis was way different. To beat that one you have to wait at the end for the T-Rex. I didn't know that until years later. I didn't think it was in the instructions for that. But growing up, we didn't have UA-cam to go to for answers. These are games you can just figure out on your own.
Peter, I think you may have left one of the list here. Think back, way back before you & Ben joined Triple Jump, where you played a certain Worst Games Ever title…. Beverly Hills Cop? Despite it was complete & utter crap, Ben actually mentioned that the game didn’t include a manual which I suppose to the devs at least, it was vital. If I remember correctly, the game didn’t have an actual intro, the divvy devs however put the plot & script into the manual instead, so therefore without it you didn’t have the foggiest idea what the hell was going on! Not that it mattered much in the long run, but hey, a little bit of nostalgia for you!
Resonance of Fate tutorial confused me. Don’t worry (I thought to myself) the best way to learn is by doing , you’ll naturally get the mechanics the more you play. After struggling for a few hours and not really understanding how or why I won or lost battles I put the game down Bet if I just paid attention I’d get it. I was probably too impatient at the time.
The 3DS game _Spirit Camera_ cannot be played without the manual, as you need to aim the 3DS' camera at certain images in said manual to progress in the game.
StarFlight on MegaDrive your a ship with hundeds of solaar systems to explore. Tho Hidden in the Manual as a Captains Log Fluff, is where to find all the items hidden around, Without it i think the game would be impossable.
These are all console games, but computer games had this A LOT back in the day, generally as rudimentary copy protection. Sierra and Lucasfilm (LucasArts) games were really egregious. The worst was when there was a special tool or document "extra" rather than the manual itself -- think Monkey Island. If you lose that special item, maybe because Mom threw it out while cleaning, you were out of luck and had to wait for a cracked version.
I think it's really dumb that they don't have those in the game case. Like how San Andreas had the entire map on there as well as other helpful information. Miss those days Also I'm laughing having flashbacks from when Angry video game nerd was trying to land his jet on the boat's runway.
I didn’t have a manual for sonic but I worked out the air bubbles were a thing I’m pretty sure you end up hitting one and he takes it and carries on and from there it’s like oh ok or maybe it’s because I was 3 and my little hands content go as fast as an afult
"Resonance of Fate is a unique..." You could've just ended the sentence right there, because about 95% of that game I have never seen recreated in any other video game before, or since.
Couldn't figure out puzzle in Silent Hill...... bought manual.... was wrong too lol .Was the puzzle with the pictures and you hadda count the legs or whatever
But last time I checked the 3 Regi Pokemon in the first game they showed up are I believe NOT required to reach the Elite 4/BEAT The ENTIRE game AT all.
Kings Quest VI. Needed the manual to solve the cliff riddles. It was a form of copyright protection.
the Metal Gear games too, both the MSX games and the PS1 game... needing to find out certain codes that were either in the manual or the back of the box
Man, Startropocs was my favorite game on the NES, and it warms my heart to see it mentioned. Dipping that letter in water to get the code absolutely blew my mind as a kid
Renting metal gear solid and not having the back of the case was quite the thing in 1998.
It’s funny; I was playing the MGS1 Master Collection version recently and had the same thought
I feel sorry for those who had chipped PS1’s 😂
And the codec freq has always stayed with me
140.15
When I was younger I actually had the disc in a folder of discs with no case. Unfortunately I was literally a child and couldn't wrap my head around circle and x being swapped around lol
@@ItsMeBarnaby I did something similar on my first play through , I even remember going through each number and dialling because I didn’t know the code 😂
They had those generic plastic boxes with no manuals also.
5:25 - Mmh... I dunno about this one, I feel you would've EVENTUALLY bumped into a larger bubble while fumbling around underwater, either by accident or curiosity, and notice there's a unique sound and animation Sonic does with him having his mouth wide open in that brief moment...
Source: my childhood memories playing this game in the 90's and not having read the manual back then
I would've instead suggested Sonic 2 for the Game Gear/Master System's manual telling you that you NEEDED to collect all the Emeralds (that aren't in special stages for once) before you can even remotely *attempt* to rescue Tails... or you'll default to the sad ending implying you let him down and you're seeing his memory in the stars implying he's dead... and what's more, if you don't have any Continues after a Game Over, the game TAKES AWAY any Emeralds you did collect to practically buy a Continue, dooming your playthrough to be the bad ending.
Yeah, breathing bubbles were enough of a trope back then that most kids would have guessed.
The way you described it is how I found out. I hit a bubble by accident while dying and it reset the timer
@@multimediatesting720 or maybe curiously thinking it was something you could bounce off of or pop seeing as though it as as big as an enemy... eventually you'd find out it's something you can interact with
@@fromthegamethrone To be fair, I don't remember drowning being a common threat in videogames around this time.
Mario, Zelda (Link's Awakening), Metroid, Megaman, Kirby and such all had underwater levels that didn't give you that added stress of needing to find air so you could continue... The only other game I can think of from that era that made drowning a threat was Ecco the Dolphin.
Police Quest. You couldn't progress without the locker code in the manual that was the score for the football game on the weekend or matching a mug shot with a name. You also needed it when taking someone to jail and giving the code for why you arrested them.
I can't imagine people coulden't work out the bubbles in Sonic, can't remember what thought back in the day too long ago.
Right? Even in the footage they showed, the large bubbles were literally a few pixels away and most players would most likely run into them without even trying
They were as big as most enemies and obstacles in the game, I felt you were practically hard-wired to jump at anything that size to attack it and learn what it does
Then there's the Sierra Leisure Suit Larry games, where you couldn't even start the game without the manual.
I rented Startropics as a kid, went through EVERY frequency on the radio tuner to find the right one when the time came until I found the one.
Yes! I did this too. The rental DOES NOT come with a manual. I started at 001 and got to the answer 747 hours later.
You were not the only one. I had a second-hand copy that did have the manual, but was missing that letter and I ended up having to brute-force my way to the answer. Once I found it, I wrote that 747 code in the back of the manual. I've heard that on some rental copies, somebody would write or engrave "747" right on the cartridge so the next person would know.
Man, manuals is something that I miss something fierce from the old days of gaming. I mean, even if you get something physical, it usually contains nothing of note these days compared to the bibles we used to get.
This is such a unique video idea I love it
Metal Gear Solid Meryl Codec Number good times calling everyone on the Codec to get her number without using the back of the manual/case
Online walk through in the master system days? Improbable.
05:29: Being a Speedy Little Mammal who eats Hula-Hoops and always finishes first.
Oh my god seeing the Startropics map made me so nostalgic. I remember startropics 2 being one of the few games I was waiting on the release date of back when I was a kid. It was such a good zelda like game and if you haven't played it you really should it's great.
Konami released an NES game called Where in Time is Carmen San Diego? The game included a whole book that you needed to use to solve the various historical riddles and catch Carmen in the correct time period.
I still have all my old huge game guides, and will break them out on occasion just to reread and enjoy the pictures!
I miss those thick strategy guides!
I just went through Tunic for the first time this week. Such a great game, and I was hoping it would get a mention here. I actually bought the version WITH a physical manual, but thankfully I read the bit on the first page saying "maybe don't read this until you've played" It's such a great experience when you don't know what's going on!
Wasn't there an old Idiana Jones game that had a password system in the manual required to advance?
Or something? I don't remember clearly
Correct their was a C64 version of the Last Crusade game that used a VERY Complex and RANDOM password without it the 2nd area of the game was UNBEATABLE.
@@veghesther3204 I had it on Atari ST
Either way that 2nd area was based on entering the Library tomb part of the actual Movie but their were like 5 possibly entrances to that area each one with a RANDOMLY chosen password enter the WRONG area and you would NEVER find your way out so you actually needed the manually since they were well over 1 million or MORE possible passwords in order to complete that 2nd area of the game.
So you actually needed either a manual or a players guide that had every single possible password the game uses but was still unbeatable without it.
@@veghesther3204 Did my head in as I must've thrown out the manual - remember the train level being fun though
Pretty cool list. I'm sure there are several other old games that you needed to manual for but Legacy of the Wizard is definitely one of them lol
There is also Wolfenstein 3D, which is pretty impossible to 100% without the manual showing you the death maze's horrifying combination of secrets!
The original sonic game was designed to be very easy to pick up and play, with all buttons doing the same thing (something that came back to haunt Balan Wonderworld) and so I imagine that very young children were playing it. But i was there is 1992 and nobody got stuck on the water levels, and if they did they must have been literal 4 year olds
As a literal 5 year old when the game was brand-new, I agree. Those bubbles were as big as most other enemies and obstacles as we were by then hard-wired to jump at anything of that size to see what it does...
Will this bubble make me bounce like Spring Yard's bumpers?
Will this bubble give me an arbitrary number of points for destroying it?
...No, Sonic opens his mouth and sounds like he's saying "BULK UP"...
Did he just breathe in the air from that bubble instead?
Now the obstacle that got most people stuck were those damned barrels in Sonic 3, not even the manual was helpful on that.
Interesting. For Sonic just seeing giant bubbles I intuited that I needed them to not drown. (this was back in the 90s. I got the game used, and I didn't have a manual for it)
Not a Manual but the game of the game case on metal gear gives meryls frequency.
Took me forever to find that back in the day 😭
Jurassic Park for Genesis was way different. To beat that one you have to wait at the end for the T-Rex. I didn't know that until years later. I didn't think it was in the instructions for that. But growing up, we didn't have UA-cam to go to for answers. These are games you can just figure out on your own.
Rented Startropics so much as a kid. Never had a manual. Luckily, a buddy owned it and knew the 747
Peter, I think you may have left one of the list here. Think back, way back before you & Ben joined Triple Jump, where you played a certain Worst Games Ever title…. Beverly Hills Cop?
Despite it was complete & utter crap, Ben actually mentioned that the game didn’t include a manual which I suppose to the devs at least, it was vital. If I remember correctly, the game didn’t have an actual intro, the divvy devs however put the plot & script into the manual instead, so therefore without it you didn’t have the foggiest idea what the hell was going on!
Not that it mattered much in the long run, but hey, a little bit of nostalgia for you!
Renting Startropics was how I lost my trust in humanity.
Top Gun for the NES is goated. First game I ever played with PvP dog fighting; split screen 2 player, but still. Those landing sections tho...
I am often asking my self if people would enjoy needing a manual nowadays. Like in terms of a mixed media game or something.
Tomb Raider: Last Revelation comes to mind immediately lol
Resonance of Fate tutorial confused me. Don’t worry (I thought to myself) the best way to learn is by doing , you’ll naturally get the mechanics the more you play.
After struggling for a few hours and not really understanding how or why I won or lost battles I put the game down
Bet if I just paid attention I’d get it. I was probably too impatient at the time.
7:00 - This is _the_ entry to me.
most computer rpgs from the eighties were impossible to even play without a manual
The 3DS game _Spirit Camera_ cannot be played without the manual, as you need to aim the 3DS' camera at certain images in said manual to progress in the game.
Still remember when you needed the key code that was behind the manual cover
Miss manuls in game cases, some game still have them
Name one kid that didn't know you were supposed to breathe in the air bubbles in sonic .... yall joking, right? Please tell me you're joking 🫠
StarFlight on MegaDrive your a ship with hundeds of solaar systems to explore. Tho Hidden in the Manual as a Captains Log Fluff, is where to find all the items hidden around, Without it i think the game would be impossable.
Collecting the pages of the manual in Tunic and then translating it was annoying, but I enjoyed the game overall
These are all console games, but computer games had this A LOT back in the day, generally as rudimentary copy protection. Sierra and Lucasfilm (LucasArts) games were really egregious. The worst was when there was a special tool or document "extra" rather than the manual itself -- think Monkey Island. If you lose that special item, maybe because Mom threw it out while cleaning, you were out of luck and had to wait for a cracked version.
I think it's really dumb that they don't have those in the game case. Like how San Andreas had the entire map on there as well as other helpful information. Miss those days
Also I'm laughing having flashbacks from when Angry video game nerd was trying to land his jet on the boat's runway.
If a door would creak in british, this would be similar to the narrator.
Jurassic Park is totally possible without a manual. Just don't suck and you get the true ending.
I didn’t have a manual for sonic but I worked out the air bubbles were a thing I’m pretty sure you end up hitting one and he takes it and carries on and from there it’s like oh ok or maybe it’s because I was 3 and my little hands content go as fast as an afult
Ah the nostalgia, Metal Gear solid comes to mind first
Is it me or does the end of Top Guns missions look an awful lot like the Flight Simulator round from the Krypton Factor here in the UK?
"Resonance of Fate is a unique..."
You could've just ended the sentence right there, because about 95% of that game I have never seen recreated in any other video game before, or since.
Dropped Resonance of Fate real, real hard.
Couldn't figure out puzzle in Silent Hill...... bought manual.... was wrong too lol .Was the puzzle with the pictures and you hadda count the legs or whatever
Lol I refuse to believe no one tried the sonic 1 bubbles
Didn’t Startropics get in « hot water » when released on Nintendo’s online platforms, due to how the manual was not available 😅?
No, I thought the game was changed to automatically enter the correct code.
Huh? I thought Jurassic Park was a novel before it became a movie. Was I wrong?
What song are you using in thr background??
How about “10 Great Modern Games that are under 3 GB”
Never knew that about the regis i just went online
I came for tunic, I gots tunic :3
But last time I checked the 3 Regi Pokemon in the first game they showed up are I believe NOT required to reach the Elite 4/BEAT The ENTIRE game AT all.
Any old game with password in manual too like page 3 line 4 word 1
For some reason I can always land the plane
Shockingly, you are saying the names right for once.
Now do a coolest top 10 copyright protection vids
No one but you, didn't know about the Sonic bubbles.
140.15, anybody?
Ni No Kuni (DS)!
Jesus Christ. Why are people still making this video over and over and over again?
140.15
👽
🌺
I don't need a manual, I have Google.