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Prima Guides

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Mario Kart Wii - Prima Official Game Guide (2008) [Wii]

By dablais

Mario Kart Wii - Prima Official Game Guide (2008)
Platform: Nintendo Wii

165 downloads
- prima
0 comments

Submitted March 18
Burnout Revenge - Prima Official Game Guide (2005) [PS2, XBOX]

By dablais

Burnout Revenge - Prima Official Game Guide (2005)
Platforms: Playstation 2 and XBOX

97 downloads
- prima
0 comments

Updated February 25
Yu-Gi-Oh! - Forbidden Memories and Yu-Gi-Oh! Dark Duel Storie - Prima's Official Strategy Guide (2002)

By dablais

Yu-Gi-Oh! - Forbidden Memories and Yu-Gi-Oh! Dark Duel Storie - Prima's Official Strategy Guide (2002)
Platform: Playstation & Game Boy Color

105 downloads

0 comments

Submitted February 19
Super Mario Kart 64 - Prima's Unauthorized Game Secrets (1997)

By Argus

Super Mario Kart 64 - Prima's Unauthorized Game Secrets (1997)

131 downloads

0 comments

Submitted February 18
Super NES Games Secrets

By Areala

Hey all you 'Secrets of the Games' collectors out there! Welcome to volume 1 of Prima's Super NES Games Secrets, where GamePro's Andy Eddy compiled strategies shared by Zach Meston, Rusel DeMaria, and Donn Nauert into a book covering most of the original releases for the console. Expect to see Super Mario World, Pilotwings, U.N. Squadron, F-Zero, Super R-Type, Gradius III, and (admit it, the real reason you bought this book) True Golf Classics: Waialae Country Club!
Otherwise, why are you reading this? There were something like two dozen books in this format put out by Prima. You know what they look like. You know what you're getting. You already downloaded it. Click 'Thanks' to pay your tribute, and await the release of Volume 2 as soon as I get it finished. ❤️

240 downloads

8 comments

Updated February 15
Rayman 2 - The Great Escape - Prima's Official Strategy Guide (2000)

By Argus

Rayman 2 - The Great Escape - Prima's Official Strategy Guide (2000)

179 downloads

0 comments

Submitted February 10
Diddy Kong Racing - Prima's Unauthorized Guide (1997)

By Argus

Diddy Kong Racing - Prima's Unauthorized Guide (1997)

126 downloads

0 comments

Submitted February 6
Dragonball Z - Budokai - Prima's Official Strategy Guide (2002)

By dablais

Dragonball Z - Budokai - Prima's Official Strategy Guide (2002)

124 downloads
- prima
0 comments

Submitted February 4
Sega Genesis Games Secrets Greatest Tips, 2nd Edition

By Areala

Straight from Prima, the official book publishers of GamePro (according to the small print on the back cover), here's ONE THOUSAND freaking hints, tips, secrets, passwords, cart swap tricks, and other assorted nonsense from the Pros. If you've been struggling with Sonic the Hedgehog, bogged down in Beast Wrestler, stuck in Splatterhouse 2, caught up in Castle of Illusion, wrapped up in Wings of Wor, traumatized by Trampoline Terror, paused in Predator 2, grounded in Gaiares, broken by Burning Force, tripped up by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist, agonized by After Burner II, demented by Dark Castle, pounded by Pit Fighter, thrashed by Technocop, menaced by Might and Magic, abused by Arnold Palmer Golf, outgunned in Onslaught, mystified by Mortal Kombat, dizzied by DecapAttack, harassed by Heavy Nova, crushed by Chakan the Forever Man, undone by Universal Soldier, zonked by Zombies Ate My Neighbors, shamed by Stormlord, kicked by Klax, lambasted by The Last Battle, rattled by Rolling Thunder 2, embarrassed by El Viento, or mauled in Mutant League Hockey, then maybe, just maybe, the stuff you need to win can be found in this handy-dandy booky-wook.
Download it, slap that 'Like' button, and leave a comment so I can afford a new thesaurus.
Enjoy! ❤️

195 downloads

4 comments

Submitted February 4
Spyro - Year of the Dragon - Prima's Official Strategy Guide (2000)

By dablais

Spyro - Year of the Dragon - Prima's Official Strategy Guide (2000)

146 downloads
- prima
1 comment

Submitted February 3
Spyro - Ripto's Rage! - Prima's Official Strategy Guide (1999)

By dablais

Spyro - Ripto's Rage! - Prima's Official Strategy Guide (1999)

155 downloads
- prima
0 comments

Submitted January 30
Yu-Gi-Oh! - Capsule Monster Coliseum - Prima Official Game Guide (1996)

By dablais

Yu-Gi-Oh! - Capsule Monster Coliseum - Prima Official Game Guide (1996)

97 downloads
- prima
0 comments

Submitted January 29
Nintendo Game Boy Secrets

By Areala

You know what this is. I know what this is. You know you're going to download it. I know you're going to download it.
Volume 1 of Prima's Nintendo Game Boy Secrets is Rusel DeMaria and Zach Meston doing the thing they did for Nintendo NES games, Super NES games, and Sega Genesis games, only for (wait for it) the Nintendo Game Boy!
See? I didn't even have to write that. You didn't have to read it. But I did. And you did. Now, download the file, pay your tribute to your Retromags Goddess by smacking that 'Thanks' button like you're trying to smack the batteries out of your portable system, and prepare for the next release in the "Secrets of the Game" series, coming soon from my bookshelves.

201 downloads

1 comment

Submitted January 26
Super Mario World Game Secrets: The Unauthorized Edition

By Areala

This was one of the best-selling video game guidebooks of the 90's. It's a bit odd, in that there were two different versions of this book published (one with this name, the other with the slightly different title of Super Mario World Secrets), and I'm unsure of the reason behind the name change. I have both books, but aside from some minor changes on the Library of Congress page and some slight differences in cover design, I can't tell a difference. This one is copyright 1991, while Super Mario World Secrets is copyright 1992. But they otherwise have exactly the same information, the same page count, the same screenshots and information. They even use the same ISBN. I haven't done a page-by-page, line-by-line comparison on my copies, but if there are any differences, I've been unable to find them.
This is entirely different from the Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past book from the 'Secrets of the Game' series, where one version contained tips for Link's Awakening on the Game Boy, while the other had strategies for Legend of Zelda and Zelda II on the NES. So while I did scan both versions of that book, I don't see any reason to do so for Super Mario World Secrets unless someone can point out some major differences or discrepancies in the text.
In any case, this is a perfectly awesome walkthrough for the game, even if it's only black and white. It won't help you break a speedrun record or anything like that, but it does actually feature a small section on getting through the game as quickly as possible, using only 13 of the game's stages (or 11 if you're willing to skip the Yellow Switch Palace), which I absolutely used back in the day.
In any case, enjoy! ❤️

183 downloads

2 comments

Submitted January 25
Sega Sports NFL 2K1 Prima Guide

By MigJmz

Sega Sports NFL 2K1 Prima Guide

88 downloads

0 comments

Submitted December 21, 2023
Nintendo Games Secrets

By Areala

Nintendo Games Secrets is a historical landmark in the world of video game publishing, being the first title produced by Prima for their newly-birthed "Secrets of the Games" imprint in 1990. From the humble roots of this black-and-white, mostly-text guide written by then-GamePro staff writer Rusel DeMaria, Prima rose to become one of the preeminent publishers of gaming strategy guides, eventually acquiring their closest rival, BradyGames, in 2015.
Prima's "Secrets of the Games" imprint played an enormous role in the company's success throughout the 90's, with multiple volumes covering NES, Genesis, Game Boy, TurboGrafx-16, and Super NES games in this format, as well as stand-alone guides for specific games like Secret of Mana, Super Mario World, Super Metroid, and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.
If you browsed a bookstore in the early 90s, and you were into video games, chances are good you drooled over one of these Prima books and tried to convince your parents to buy one for you. Maybe you succeeded, maybe you didn't, but either way, I hope you enjoy this trip down memory lane. I have thirteen more of these in my collection, so expect to see more in the future.

721 downloads

8 comments

Updated December 20, 2023
Nintendo Games Secrets, Volume 2

By Areala

After the original Nintendo Games Secrets became a best-selling success, a sequel was all but assured. Sure enough, one year later, Prima released this book onto store shelves, giving kids a reason to do their chores and accumulate the $10 US (or 14 so-called Canadian "dollars") necessary for its purchase.
More of the same, but also a little less of the same. This volume omits Rusel DeMaria's "Introduction to Video Games" and "A Parents' Guide to Gaming" which were present in Volume 1. It also focuses only on software, so there are no previews of any upcoming peripherals. Added are some cartoon segments which combine over the course of the book to present an overall narrative which, we are assured, will be continued in Volume 3. (Spoiler alert: it is not.)
At 328 pages vs. the original book's 360, this feels like a step back. On the other hand, while there are plenty of other books out there which covered major titles like Castlevania III, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game, and Mega Man 3, there are nowhere near as many which covered the likes of The Immortal, Dungeon Magic, or Ultima: Quest of the Avatar, so you have to give it props on game selection at least.

613 downloads

5 comments

Updated December 20, 2023
Nintendo Games Secrets, Volume 3

By Areala

Third book in the series, which is shorter even than volume 2. Though that's not surprising, since volume 3 came out a whopping three months after volume two was already on store shelves. When on earth did DeMaria and Meston sleep?
In any case, this might be my favorite volume of the NES series, since it covers a whole slew of games you almost never see mentioned in other books of the day. Seriously, where else did you find coverage of Pirates!, Faria, Hillsfar, The Last Ninja, The Rocketeer, Bill & Ted's Excellent Video Game Adventure, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Beetlejuice, or The Uninvited?
Despite promising a continuation of the comic begun in the pages of volume 2, that never happens. I guess we'll never learn everyone's ultimate fate. Oh well. We bought these for the tips and strategies, not the fan fiction.
Enjoy! ❤️

612 downloads

3 comments

Updated December 20, 2023
DOOM II Official Strategy Guide

By Areala

A reasonably decent guide to DOOM II, written by Ed Dille in the voice of an annoyed drill instructor trying to whip a new recruit (that's you, the reader) into fighting shape. It includes a number of strategies for co-operative play, which game guides often lacked back in the day, especially for First-Person Shooter titles. No Deathmatch strategies beyond "always be running, don't stand in one place, and fire the biggest guns you've got", but the amount of time spent discussing fire team formations and other co-op strategies is really cool to see. Also includes a short interview with John Romero which is worth reading by itself, although much of the information in it you'll already know if you've read Masters of DOOM.
This should have been a black-and-white guide, but Prima for some reason chose to go with a spot colour printing approach, infusing red ink into virtually every page, and even into the black-and-white screenshots. It's an interesting look, but it also jacked the price of this guide up to $20 US when it really should have been $15 or thereabouts. Prima must have realized this price might turn some people off, because they released a stripped-down, 96-page budget hint book called The DOOM II Survival Guide which contains the basic item, enemy, weapon, and map info from this book, but none of the level strategies, multiplayer info, interview, or cheat codes.
But here's the big, bad mama in all its glory. Enjoy! ❤️

641 downloads

8 comments

Updated December 20, 2023
Super Star Wars Official Game Secrets

By Areala

Prima's official guide to making the Empire look like a bunch of scruffy-looking Nerf-herders (at least until the sequel) makes its Retromags debut!
Probably what's most impressive about this book is the amount of artwork taken from the movies which is packed between the covers. There are sidebars galore, with all kinds of info on the major players from A New Hope, sprite rips of all the various enemies you will face in the game, and some huge, multiple-page-spanning composite maps of each level. Oh, and the cheat codes. Because, trust me, you're going to need those to get anywhere in this merciless game.
All in all, this is a pretty cool book which can be expensive to find in good condition. Even if you don't care for the game itself, it's something every fan of the Original Trilogy can flip through for a little nostalgia hit.
As Old Ben Kenobi might put it: "An elegant guide from a more civilized, pre-Special-Edition age."
Enjoy! ❤️

492 downloads

4 comments

Updated December 20, 2023
Super Empire Strikes Back Official Game Secrets

By Areala

Much like the previous Super Star Wars Official Game Secrets, only for the second game in the trilogy. Prima didn't get the rights to do the guide for Super Return of the Jedi, so the series for them ended here. Tons of black-and-white sprite artwork, along with preliminary sketches, movie poster reproductions from around the world, and a slew of stills pulled straight from the movie and promotional materials.
While it does contain full stage maps and walkthroughs for every area, it does not include any of the cheat codes. So if you're looking for those, keep looking, sucker! Otherwise, this is about as comprehensive as you could have hoped for back in the day. And, naturally, any Original Trilogy fans should have this in their collection just for the extra nerd cred.
Enjoy! ❤️

442 downloads

4 comments

Updated December 20, 2023
Prima's Official Guide to the Ultima Collection

By Areala

Promising to be a complete walkthrough for ten games set in or around the world of Ultima, this is slightly misleading. After all, the book is only 320 pages, and surely there's a Hellsteed of a lot more going on, especially in the later games, than could be encapsulated by even the best team of editors and writers in so small an area.
Your suspicions are correct. There's a lot going on in the first few titles, and the guide devotes a mere few pages at best to the first two Ultima games (five pages for Ultima I, seven for Ultima II), along with Akalabeth, the precursor to the Ultima series. Ultima III is where the guide ramps up, with 21 pages worth of maps, gameplay tips, and charts. Fully half the book is given to Ultima VII and Ultima VIII content.
This book also comes with a double-sided, fold-out color poster which shows the overworld maps for all the games. This poster is bound in between pages 145 and 146, but sadly my copy of this is missing, so I wasn't able to include it (and I'm not sure I have the skills necessary to stitch together a giant poster from multiple image files in any case). All apologies.
Update: user @Xuio has graciously provided a high resolution scan of both sides of this poster map for us. You can download it here:
https://www.mediafire.com/file/2dksw4m9upihhtt/UCmaps.7z/file
Enjoy! ❤️

470 downloads

3 comments

Updated December 20, 2023
Quake Game Secrets: Unauthorized Guide to the Shareware Levels

By Areala

Some guides are worth their weight in (metaphorical) gold.
Some are cash grabs so blatant you find it hard to believe anyone willingly paid money for them.
Quake Game Secrets falls so far into the latter camp that it pitched a tent, got a fire going, dug a field latrine, and is now roasting marshmallows. 🔥
It is a book rushed to market, specifically to cover only the levels of the game which the game makers are giving away, for free, as Shareware, by a publisher who expected people to pay $10 for said book. Read that again: this is not a guide to the full registered version of Quake. It only covers the maps, enemies, weapons, and artifacts found in the first episode.
It is so rushed and so much of a cash grab that rather than explaining the game's storyline, or controls, or anything else important, it instructs the reader (ie: the person who just gave them ten of their hard-earned dollars) to literally open the MANUAL.TXT file which accompanies the game software and read that. Part of your ten bucks goes to someone cheekily telling you to RTFM.
I cannot make this up.
Who, in 1996, was so desperate to get good at the shareware version of a game that they had to rush out and pay ten dollars for some hand-drawn maps and text-only explanations of how to beat each level and find the secrets? Identify yourselves. Show of hands. You, in the back: no slouching. Get out here and own your idiocy!
Now drop and give me twenty.
Do not download this.
It is 42MB of shame and disgrace being offered here solely so I didn't have to look at it any longer. You will improve nothing about your life by acquiring a copy of this book. After your demise, some poor unfortunate soul will be scrubbing your hard drive, find your copy of this download, and their respect for you will diminish by a statistically-significant fractional amount. Not as much as by what they'll find upon viewing your porn folder (you degenerate weasel!), but why make things worse for your family?
Eff this book from coast to coast, from sea to shining sea, from Land's End to John 'o Groats and back again.
Or, you know what? Screw it. Just hit the 'Thanks' button once you're done adding it to your digital hoards.
Whatever.

221 downloads

1 comment

Updated December 20, 2023
Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past Game Secrets

By Areala

This was the first book Zach Meston wrote for Prima without Rusel DeMaria's name associated with it. If the introduction is to be believed, DeMaria handed the project to Meston and told him to go forth and kick ass, which is what Meston did.
This is the first of two versions of this book published. This one contains the walkthrough for The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, but also contains a supplementary section that reprints the entries on The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link which previously appeared in their NES Game Secrets series. For $9.99, you get full walkthroughs for three awesome games, making it a great value for the money. Unsurprisingly, this book was a massive seller for Prima, reprinted over twenty times.
The second version, which was released in 1997, altered the title slightly, redid the cover art, and dropped the Zelda and Zelda II portion of the book, replacing it instead with the walkthrough for Link's Awakening which used the same format as similar walkthroughs from their Nintendo Game Boy Secrets line, and again sold a ridiculous number of copies. Don't worry; I'll have that one up for you here shortly.
Enjoy! ❤️

590 downloads

5 comments

Updated December 20, 2023
Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past Unauthorized Game Secrets

By Areala

This is the second edition of Prima's A Link to the Past strategy guide. This book was a massive best-seller for Prima. It was re-printed more than twenty times (this particular edition is a 22nd printing from 1997, which, it should be noted, is well into the PlayStation and Nintendo 64 era) and sold in excess of 125,000 copies.
The first edition of the guide contained strategies and walkthroughs for The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. Those were dropped for this edition, but replaced with a walkthrough for Link's Awakening on the Game Boy. This lowered the page count, but not the cover price. Cheeky of you, Prima...
Enjoy! ❤️

607 downloads

3 comments

Updated December 20, 2023