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Pokemon - Trainer's Survival Guide (1998)

By dablais

Pokemon - Trainer's Survival Guide (1998)
NOTE: This version includes the 14 missing page (page 3 to 15) that were missing from the previous preserved file.

51 downloads
- pokemon
0 comments

Updated March 10
Pokemon - Trading Card Game - Fossil Expansion - Player's Guide (1999)

By dablais

Pokemon - Trading Card Game - Fossil Expansion - Player's Guide (1999)

82 downloads
- pokemon
0 comments

Submitted March 8
Pokemon - Gym Heroes - Strategy Guide (2000)

By dablais

Pokemon - Gym Heroes - Strategy Guide (2000)

85 downloads
- pokemon
0 comments

Submitted March 7
Yu-Gi-Oh! - Scrapbook (2002)

By dablais

Yu-Gi-Oh! - Scrapbook (2002)

84 downloads

0 comments

Submitted March 3
Pokemon - Gold & Silver - Japanese Translation Guide (2000)

By dablais

Pokemon - Gold & Silver - Japanese Translation Guide (2000)
Platform: Game Boy Advance

108 downloads

2 comments

Submitted February 27
Pokemon Trainer's Guide (1999)

By dablais

Pokemon Trainer's Guide (1999)
Platfrom: Game Boy and Nintendo 64 (Pokemon Snap)

114 downloads

0 comments

Submitted February 20
Book of Adventure Games, The

By Areala

Unless you were alive back then, it's almost impossible to understand just how massive the adventure genre of gaming was for personal computers. Exhibit one, were I attempting to make a legal case, would have to be this book right here. It covers seventy-seven adventure programs released across various computer platforms, everything from Adventure to Zork III, and had a cover price of $19.95. Twenty bucks probably seems like an average price for a strategy guide, especially a 350-page behemoth like this guy, but in 1984 that was the equivalent of sixty US dollars in today's currency. How on earth could publisher Arrays, Inc. get away with charging that much for a black-and-white, mostly-text guidebook?
To put that a bit more in perspective, purchasing a copy of Zork I: The Great Underground Empire for your Apple II home computer back in the halcyon days of 1981 would have set you back $39.95 (or roughly US $120 in today's money). Computer games weren't just costly, they were downright extravagant. And that was after you factored in the several thousand dollars that buying the home computer itself had already set you back. Sure, there were deals to be found when shops were looking to clear out last year's inventory to make room for the next wave of software, but there was no Steam Summer Sale where you could pick up a bunch of AAA-blockbusters for 75% or more off their list price. If you wanted to play Zork, or Wizardry, or Ultima, it was going to cost you. Minimum wage at the time was $2.75/hour, so you can do the math.
Nobody wanted to dump $40 on a game they couldn't beat, there was no internet where you could consult a FAQ, and while BBS systems were a thing, modems were not a part of the typical home computer installation. So the notion that, for half the cost of a typical adventure game, you could get puzzle solutions and maps for over seventy-five of the most popular titles from the last few years? That was a no-brainer. It was such a no-brainer that one year later, Kim Schuette put out The Book of Adventure Games II, which covered forty-five more adventures that had either been left out of the first volume, or had come out in the meantime, and it too sold like gangbusters.
I've had this book for almost as long as I've been alive. It (and its sequel) are long out of print, expensive on the second-hand market, and highly sought-after by retro adventure game enthusiasts and collectors. Chopping this one up was hard. But putting it out here, so it can have a new life and be seen and appreciated by others who may never have even known of its existence before now, gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling. I hope you enjoy looking through it as much as I have done over the years, back when I was just a little girl, doing her best hunt-and-peck typing on her TRS-80 keyboard, trying to figure out how to beat The Sands of Egypt.
This isn't just a piece of gaming history. This is a piece of my history. I hope you'll treasure it with me. ❤️

168 downloads

5 comments

Submitted January 24
Mastering Nintendo Video Games

By Areala

The first of a four-book, me-too Nintendo video game hints series. It was followed by "Mastering Nintendo Video Games II" which was a minor updated edition that reused much of this book's content. "Tricks of the Nintendo Masters" came next, and the series flared out and died with "Beyond the Nintendo Masters".
"Mastering Nintendo Video Games" was clearly inspired by Corey Sandler and Tom Badgett's "Ultimate Unauthorized Nintendo Game Strategies", what with its reliance on cute little icons and block text. Like other books of the time, this one focuses mainly on tips and strategies for accomplishing specific things in each game, like beating Elecman in Mega Man, or finding the raft in Zelda II. There aren't any pictures or screenshots of any kind, although some of the sections (especially the one on Super Mario Bros. 2) contain some computer-drawn diagrams to illustrate what you're going to face or what you should do.
The bad news is, the book also contains a number of hints that are either of little to no use, or are flat-out wrong. The Castlevania II portion, for instance, suggests that you should show the Ferryman some garlic, but this will do absolutely nothing except waste your garlic. Otherwise, this is a paint-by-numbers strategy book with tips mainly cribbed from the pages of Nintendo Power and GamePro.
My copy was acquired second-hand and the previous owner had made notes in pen on a few of the pages. I did my best to clean these up, but my background is in writing and not image manipulation so...sorry.

142 downloads

3 comments

Submitted January 18
How to Beat the Video Games

By Areala

Now this is a piece of retro gaming history. While not the first book written describing strategies for winning in the arcade, Michael Blanchet was among the earliest authors putting pen to paper and explaining the ins and outs of video games as he saw them. A recent college graduate, he worked in an arcade by day, dispensing both quarters and tips for fellow gamers, and picking up strategies from his regular customers. It didn't take long for him to realize there was a thirst for this kind of knowledge, and after winning top marks in an arcade gaming tournament for his performance in Battlezone, he got noticed by an agent for Simon & Schuster. They were looking for a book about arcade games, since "Mastering Pac-Man" by Ken Uston and "How to Master the Video Games" by Tom Hirschfeld had both become recent best-sellers. Blanchet said he had some ideas he'd been kicking around, and the result was the publication of this book in 1982, which reportedly sold over 80,000 copies.
Blanchet was able to parlay the success of this book (and its successor, "How To Beat Atari, Intellivision, and Other Home Video Games") into a regular newspaper column which ran twice a week up until the industry crashed, at which point Blanchet left video games journalism and moved on to the next phase of his life.
Your Retromags Goddess is pleased as punch to be able to bring you this awesome piece of early video game history as her first scan for 2024.

126 downloads

3 comments

Submitted January 15
Official Duke Nukem 3D Level Design Handbook, The

By Areala

Getting in just under the deadline for this to be possibly the final release for 2023, I present to you, my lovely Retromags family, friends, and followers, this wonderful showpiece of DOS gaming history! Matt Tagliaferri got the goods straight from the 3D Realm gurus themselves so he could explain how the Duke designers pulled off all those nifty tricks with the Build engine: moving subways, reflective mirrors, destructible walls, swimming pools, sector-over-sector placement, you'll learn how to do it all with this book at your side!
Also included are full appendixes which break down the ins and outs of CON file editing, a listing of all the sound effects from the game with their appropriate reference data, and full breakdown of the commands build into the DukeC scripting language. Finally, the CD-ROM gives out a plethora of new art assets, fifty ready-to-play levels from other designers, shareware versions of Duke 3D and a bunch of other Apogee and 3D Realms titles, and a utility allowing you to convert maps from Doom, Heretic, and Hexen to play within Duke Nukem 3D. 😵
And I, your beloved Retromags Goddess, has included the CD-ROM (as a bin/cue file combo) right within the download so you can extract it and play to your heart's content! Holy cow, it's a New Year's Eve holiday miracle! ❤️
Thanks to all of you Retro-maniacs for encouraging me to continue radically downsizing my personal library. No thanks to whomever assembled my copy of this book for pasting the CD-ROM sleeve on the inside back cover upside down, which is why it looks that way in the scan. Sure, I could have flipped it, but I'm preserving these things as I found them.
*huggles*
Areala

154 downloads

6 comments

Updated January 1
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000 Official Strategies & Secrets (1999)

By Argus

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2000 Official Strategies & Secrets (1999)

102 downloads

0 comments

Submitted August 21, 2023
Best Action & Arcade Games Strategies & Secrets

By Areala

Well, here's something completely different! Your beloved Retromags Goddess providing you (yes, you specifically!) with a book about games from the MS-DOS era!
Wait, sorry, I got my notes mixed up. This is actually just the next in a long line of books dealing with classic DOS games brought to you by yours truly.
In order, this book covers:
Duke Nukem 3D Quake MechWarrior 2 Crusader: No Remorse Hexen Heretic Star Wars: Dark Forces Descent Doom II Doom Earthsiege 2 Earthsiege Terra Nova Wing Commander IV Wing Commander III Fury3 Magic Carpet Renegade Now, you don't get full walkthroughs for all of these games. What you get instead for most are general, overall strategies that will serve you well throughout a playthrough, taken from articles and reviews written by the staff members of Computer Games Strategy Plus.
The book also came with a CD-ROM containing playable demos for nearly all of the games covered by the book, plus eighteen other games not covered between the covers. My copy, sadly, is lacking this disc, but the good news is that some other enterprising soul uploaded it to Archive.org, and you can grab your own copy of it to play around with!
Now, enough words! Download this book, enjoy the nostalgia, pay me my tribute by kicking that 'Thanks' button like you're Duke Nukem's mighty boot, and prepare for the next awesome release from your Retromags Goddess! ❤️
*huggles*
Areala

170 downloads

6 comments

Updated December 20, 2023
Falcon 3 Strategies and Secrets (1994)

By Argus

Falcon 3 Strategies and Secrets (1994)

90 downloads

0 comments

Submitted August 12, 2023
Falcon 3.0 Air Combat (1992)

By Argus

Falcon 3.0 Air Combat (1992)
Missing one insert towards the back, but otherwise the book is intact.

97 downloads

1 comment

Submitted August 4, 2023
Full Throttle Official Player's Guide

By JimJam78

Lucasarts made very good adventure games, and this guide goes through it with a fine-toothed comb.
Aside from a hint guide and a step-by-step guide, it has synopsis of the cast, trivia of all sorts, and most interestingly, interviews with people who worked on the game. I find it interesting that the game making process is always documented so thoroughly on games Tim Schaefer was involved with, and still is, based on the videos on Psychonauts and other Double Fine productions.

194 downloads

0 comments

Updated June 28, 2023
Unofficial Quake Level Design Handbook

By Areala

You've no idea how long I've wanted to bring this one to the site.
Stupid expensive on the second-hand market, even moreso if you want a copy with the CD intact, but not as outdated as you might think considering people are still making levels for the original Quake to this day! Matt Tagliaferri knows his game level design, and this book brings together every trick and tip in his arsenal to help you build the best Quake level your heart can dream up.
I've included a rip of the ISO file for the CD-ROM within the download, so you can mess around with that. The qED software itself won't work with current versions of Windows, but the bonus levels are playable in the main game or any one of its many source ports as-is. Just open the .cbz file with your favorite file compression software, and you'll see the QUAKE_LEVEL.ISO file right in the front. You know I wouldn't be your Retromags Goddess if I left it out.
Pretty straightforward, but I need to point out the back cover text promises the level editor will be compatible with Duke Nukem Forever, because that game was on track to come out a year after this book was published!
Enjoy! ❤️

181 downloads

1 comment

Updated December 20, 2023
Ultima Online Unofficial Strategies & Secrets

By Areala

Considering it's an outdated strategy guide for a version of a game that's been unplayable since the early 2000's, this book is oddly expensive on the second-hand market, with listings usually in the $20-40 range. Equally unusual, this guide was essentially co-authored by a bunch of members of the same guild, who shared their tips and techniques with Sybex, making it something of a curiosity for that alone. In any case, this is the very definition of a historical artifact of a bygone era, which is why it's so important for us to preserve it. Ultima Online is still around, and still playable today, but it looks nothing like it did in 1997 when this came out.
Use it as anything but a trip down memory lane at your own risk.
(Blank pages were omitted to save time and space, so if you notice page numbers skipping, don't worry, you aren't missing any content).

129 downloads

0 comments

Updated December 20, 2023
Pokemon Trainer's Survival Guide (1998)

By dablais

Pokemon Trainer's Survival Guide (1998)

305 downloads

1 comment

Updated March 10
3D Game Alchemy for DOOM, DOOM II, Heretic, and Hexen

By Areala

"More twisted levels and hellish horror!" declares the cover for this update to the prior year's Tricks of the DOOM Programming Gurus. And they are quite correct. This is not just Tricks version 2.0, this is an almost complete re-write from start to finish which, while almost 200 pages shorter than the previous edition, manages to contain more information between its covers. It does this by culling a good 75% of the empty pages from the first book (seriously, Tricks has dozens of pages which are completely blank compared to around 30 or so here), but also chopping out program-specific information and replacing it with generic how-to which explains the same concepts in a fashion more broadly applicable to whatever development tools you happen to be using. The end result is a tighter, more streamlined book which assumes you are familiar with how to use the software even if you're not that good at designing levels.
Despite the title, this book is still very much a DOOM-centric tome. While the designs discussed can be used with Heretic and Hexen, and there are tables and charts describing the quirks, enemies, and things specific to those games, make no mistake: the book's writers know you're here for the DOOM content, and they are only too happy to provide.
The CD-ROM which SAMS included with the book knows it too, coming packed with a fully registered version of the (now woefully obsolete) WADAuthor program for Windows and WADED program for DOS to build levels, along with its own graphical library of enemies, weapons, sprites, tiles, skyboxes, objects, and things to add spice to your own creations, and the DOOMShell 5 program which lets you point-and-click your way through level customizations easily. As if that isn't enough, you can bear witness to over two thousand levels created by talented designers, including several hundred DeathMatch-specific maps, either to use as-is or build off of for your own nightmares.
Given the release of numerous source ports and new level-making utilities, the software in this book is outdated and mostly unusable on modern systems, but the design concepts and general information within are still rock-solid bases from which to start your DOOM level design education. Included in this download is the 3dgamealchemy.iso which you can extract and burn to its own CD, or mount to a virtual drive and explore (which is why the file size is so large), and get the full 1996 experience!
Enjoy! ❤️

294 downloads

1 comment

Updated December 20, 2023
Deathmatch Manifesto

By Areala

The Deathmatch Manifesto is a fascinating book for a multitude of reasons. Published in 1997, really the dawn of the internet era for many home computer users, it's the first book of its kind to really dig in to the strategies used by gamers for fragging one another instead of the monsters. While competing against other human players itself went all the way back to the likes ofTennis For Two, Pong, and Space War, the concept of the "deathmatch" as it pertained to 3D gaming was in its relative infancy. Popularized by Doom, expanded on by Duke Nukem 3D, and levelled up by the release of Quake, there was a massive, untapped audience for this kind of thing, and Sybex sought to fill this void by publishing a guide not to beating the likes of those games, but rather beating the likes of those who had already beaten those games and were now looking for fresh blood to spill.
Much of the book is devoted to covering basic and advanced Deathmatch tactics which have long since become staples of the FPS genre, especially in the aftermath of the success seen with Quake 3 and the Unreal Tournament franchise, but what makes this book important from a historical standpoint is the snapshot in time it offers the reader. Documented within is the genesis of FPS gaming, the rise of online gaming, snapshots of popular gaming culture like cartoons produced using Quake's graphical engine and a listing of a number of different Clans who existed at the time, and even a look at new and upcoming gaming peripherals, like the SpaceOrb 360 controller, the VooDoo graphics card, and the MMX instruction set for Pentium-class computers.
I've included an .iso rip of the CD which came with the book. This includes a slew of deathmatch levels for your favorite games; demo file walkthroughs for every level in Quake, Ultimate Doom, Doom II, Duke Nukem 3D and the Atomic Edition/Plutonium Pak; a utility for converting Doom levels into Duke 3D levels; and a "secret Quake bonus" hidden somewhere on the disc for you to find. (No, don't ask me what/where it is--I'm not telling!). The DEATHMATCH.ISO file is included in the .cbz file, so open that with your favorite file compression utility, extract it, and get to playing around!
As usual for books like this, pages which were completely blank were omitted in order to reduce file size.
Enjoy! ❤️

190 downloads

3 comments

Updated December 20, 2023
Compute's Adventure Game Player's Handbook

By Areala

Another 500-page tome of PC gaming goodness. Compute's Adventure Game Player's Handbook provides walkthroughs for 37 games which are (mostly) of the point-and-click variety from the mid-90's catalogue of DOS offerings. And these are some top-notch games: some Leisure Suit Larry titles, a couple of Space Quest entries, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, both Ultima Underworld adventures, the CD-ROM sensation that was The 7th Guest, Laura Bow's first outing in The Dagger of Amon Ra, the H.R. Geiger inspired Dark Seed, the second Tex Murphy adventure Martian Memorandum, Sierra's Rise of the Dragon cyberpunk tale, and even Steve Meretzky's comical final entry in the Spellcasting trilogy...seriously, some of the best PC adventure games available at the time.
Once again, not as outdated as you might think, since many of these titles are easily available and accessible from digital services like GOG and Steam, meaning you could re-play many of them today with minimal hassle and put this book to good use. Mostly text, but there are an awful lot of screenshots and computer-rendered maps along with other things like item lists and even the occasional cheat code or two which make this a great reference work.
Enjoy! ❤️

315 downloads

5 comments

Updated December 20, 2023
Final Fantasy VII Unofficial Strategies & Secrets for the PC

By Areala

An unofficial, text-only strategy guide produced specifically for the PC edition of Final Fantasy VII. This is a pretty odd beast, considering virtually every other FF7 guide on the market is both full colour and packed with screenshots. Even though this was meant for the PC release, there's really nothing preventing you from using it to play through the PS1 version, since they're almost entirely identical.
Not a particularly common guide, but also not a terribly interesting one thanks to its bland presentation. Ronald Wartow is a good writer though, and even if you've played through the console version many times, you may enjoy reading his take on the adventure.
Enjoy! ❤️

307 downloads

6 comments

Updated December 20, 2023
Ultimate Unauthorized Nintendo Classic Game Strategies

By Areala

Another Sandler & Badgett production, so if you liked previous ones, you'll dig this one too. As always, blank pages have been omitted to reduce the file size.
I have to say, this might actually be the best of the bunch I've found so far. The quality of paper on this one is higher than previous editions, the screen shots look better, and there were no issues with dramatically shifting margins or other weirdness from Bantam's printers.
Lots of good games covered in this one; it's practically a "greatest hits" run-down of the NES's best series. Mario, Zelda, Castlevania, Mega Man, and more all get their due. If you're only going to have one of this series in your library, make sure it's this one.
There were at least 2 editions of this book printed. This is the first printing. I've seen pictures online of the second, which is slightly smaller, and says "2nd Edition" in the upper-left corner of the cover, but I don't have this version.
Enjoy! ❤️

414 downloads

3 comments

Updated December 20, 2023
Ultimate Unauthorized Nintendo Game Strategies, Volume 3

By Areala

Wow! So ultimate! Such strategy! Many unauthorized! Much Nintendo! Oh no!
So, yes, this is the third volume in Sandler and Badgett's series devoted to NES games. I don't know if this was just my copy or what, but the printing on this was some of the worst I've ever seen, with some pages printed at an angle, and some margins running straight to the bleed with seemingly little rhyme or reason. But, you know, back in the day, you paid your money and took your chances.
If you like these books, and their bizarre cover artwork, then you'll want this one in your collection, no doubt. If you don't? Then don't download it, I guess... You do you, Retromags peeps.
My final complaint? They rate the difficulty of Castlequest at "Apprentice", when it's one of the most punishingly brutal NES cartridges ever made. Seriously, the game comes with its own map showing you exactly where you need to go to rescue the princess, and also gives you fifty lives. Then it sits and laughs at you as you lose them all, one by one, and have to restart the game. What the hell were you smoking, Corey Sandler? Explain yourself!
Enjoy! ❤️

428 downloads

4 comments

Updated December 20, 2023
How to Win at Super Nintendo Entertainment System Games

By Areala

Jeff's a bit late to jump on the Super Nintendo train, since it had been out in the US for a year by the time this edition of his best-selling series was published. But if you thought the man had earned enough bank with eight prior game book releases, you had another thing coming. Still unofficial, still unendorsed by Nintendo, and still written by watching his kids and their neighborhood cronies play the game while he took copious notes. Why waste a perfectly good system?
Some of the games in here benefit little from Rovin's advice; the short write-up on Final Fight may as well be condensed to read, "Walk right and punch people." The Pilotwings strategy is literally just some passwords and a few tips on how to tackle the game's bonus stages (although the cheeky entry under "Enemies" made me giggle). On the other hand, games like Super Mario World, Link to the Past, and Wanderers From Ys get quite a bit more attention.
Methinks Jeff's son Michael had a girlfriend at this time in his life. The name used for all the passwords in Super Castlevania IV is MEGNMIKE. Awwwwww... 😍
Enjoy! ❤️

380 downloads

3 comments

Updated December 20, 2023