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982 downloads
Final Fantasy III / Final Fantasy VI is, hands down, my favorite Final Fantasy title. And this right here just might be my favorite strategy guide of all time. Presented in full colour, flush with screenshots, along with copious artwork by artist Yoshitaka Amano, and a section at the end featuring some gorgeous full-size in-game maps, Olafson's guide is written more like a story as opposed to a walkthrough. At $12.95, this was an absolute showstopper of a book. It may be less complete overall than Nintendo's own game guide, as it doesn't contain things like monster stats, weapon and item lists, Gau's Rage tables, or other in-depth information one might expect to see in an RPG guide. But the sheer quality of Olafson's prose guides the reader through the story so well it feels like playing the game. It's one of the few guides I've read from cover to cover multiple times. It's just that good. This book is generally very expensive on the second-hand market. Copies on eBay routinely sell for $50 or more, and copies in excellent condition can fetch upwards of $100. For Final Fantasy III fans, it's a highly-sought collector's item. If you've ever looked at a listing and wondered why, I hope a flip through this book explains everything. If every guide followed Olafson's example, strategy guides would be regarded as works of art instead of simple cash grabs. Enjoy!7 points -
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1,234 downloads
Nintendo Power Issue 182 (August 2004) Issue donated by Benjamin Alldritt.7 points -
443 downloads
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!3 points -
493 downloads
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!2 points -
449 downloads
A fairly comprehensive guide to Mortal Kombat 3, mainly focused on the Arcade version, but also applicable to numerous home ports as well. What makes this guide especially interesting is that it's also a guide to Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat II, with complete character breakdowns and move lists for those games too. So this is really a three-in-one deal. Not bad for the money! Screenshots are very clear despite being black-and-white, and there was even an offer to get a supplementary update to the book for when the arcade MK3 received its newest upgrade (which wound up being the Ultimate MK3 board revision). All apologies for the Walden Software sticker on the back, covering up some of the text. That sucker was on there like cement, and peeling it would have damaged the cover worse than leaving it on. It, like this book, is a relic of a bygone era. Consider it special bonus content, just for you! Enjoy!2 points -
Retromags Presents! Final Fantasy III Players Guide Database Record Download Directly! Scanned By: Areala Edited By: Areala Uploaded By: Areala Donated By: Areala Follow us on...2 points
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1,261 downloads
Nintendo Power Issue 179 (May 2004) Issue donated by Benjamin Alldritt.2 points -
723 downloads
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.1 point -
615 downloads
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.1 point -
614 downloads
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!1 point -
382 downloads
The 1995 update to the long-running "Ultimate Unauthorized" series of books, this time written by Jason Rich as opposed to Corey Sandler and Tom Badgett. Very minimal illustrations and screenshots, almost all text, it's a travesty that at this point in the series they were charging $10.95 for this book when there were so many better offerings out there. About the only good things one can say is that it does cover a ton of titles, and the paper quality is superior to other books of its type. Otherwise, pity the poor reader who wound up with this book instead of one of the many better selections out there. I felt guilty chopping up some of the other books I've scanned, just because going through them brought back so many good memories and it seems a shame to destroy one even if the end result is that it's preserved for others to enjoy. This one though? I feel zero guilt. It merely existed on my shelf, and now I can recycle it to make room for something worthier. Enjoy.1 point -
309 downloads
Follow-up publication to Tricks of the Nintendo Masters, which was itself followed by Winner's Guide to Sega Genesis. Like other publications of the time, this one is almost entirely text-based, with only some neat art pieces for the interior pages to break up the words. Unlike other publications of the time, this one contains a forward by sci-fi writer Orson Scott Card, author of the Ender's Game series of books among others. At only 148 pages, it's much smaller than many of its contemporaries despite being the same price. The Ultimate Unauthorized Nintendo Game Strategies books offered over 100 more pages for the same cover price, and also included screenshots. In addition, the authors either were told not to give too much away, or just plain couldn't get too far into some games. The strategy section for Metal Gear, for instance, goes up to the point where Snake can locate the rocket launcher. It tells you to contact Jennifer on a specific frequency before you enter a certain room, then offers this nugget: "Which room? You figure it out." I'm sorry, I thought that's what I was paying you for...? Another me-too cash grab which is all-too-blatant when viewed through adult eyes. This copy was fairly beat up on the covers, and had some writing on the front title page which I simply blocked out in GIMP. I edited it up slightly, but again, my background is in writing, not graphic design, so my apologies if the obvious edits are distracting. Enjoy!1 point -
439 downloads
A 1989 NES book published by Bantam, likely pushed out to capitalize on the success of Jeff Rovin's How to Win at Nintendo Games from St. Martin's Press. This is mostly text with the occasional screenshot or box artwork thrown in, but either their screen capture tech was too primitive, or Bantam's monochrome printing process wasn't set up to handle pictures, because the screenshots from this book look awful. Also, the margins in my copy of this book are seriously wacky. You'll see text running almost straight to the edge of the page in some sections, while others give plenty of space for the text. This is an issue with the printing of the book, not me being a klutz with the cropping tool, but I still apologize for how the text waffles and flies all over the place as you're scrolling through. That said, the book is amusing for Sandler and Badgett's witty asides and commentary on the games they are covering. It's one of the very few books from this era to cover Friday the 13th, and it also features write-ups with mock artwork for several NES titles which never came to fruition. I've never seen these games mentioned in any other publication of the era, so it's an important historical artifact from that perspective alone, confirming that Matchbox at one time was working on creating NES software (or at least paying someone else to do so). In any case, this kicked off a successful series for Bantam, who followed this up with three additional volumes on NES games, along with books related to Game Boy, Genesis, Game Gear, and Super Nintendo hardware, many of which went through multiple print runs and editions. Enjoy!1 point -
Contents Players Pulse (Letters to the Editor) Nintendo Online Game Watch: Gaming News for Mayl 2004, Game Boy Advance video cartridges, Metroid Prime & F-Zero GX will release on the Nintendo Player’s Choice line, Mario vs. Donkey Kong (Game Boy Advance), The Incredibles (GameCube, Game Boy Advance), Duel Masters: Sempai Legends (Game Boy Advance), Starsky & Hutch (GameCube), WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Game$! (GameCube), Mission: Impossible – Operation Surma (GameCube), Future Tactics: The Uprising (GameCube), Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (Game Boy Advance), Astro Boy: Omega Factor (Game Boy Advance), May Gallery, Interview with Adrenium Games Producer Alex Pantelias, Game Watch Forecast Power Charts Power On Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (GameCube) feature Pokémon Colosseum (GameCube) feature Custom Robo (GameCube) feature James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing (GameCube) feature Shrek 2 (GameCube) feature MVP Baseball 2004 (GameCube) feature Classified Information: · Sonic Battle (Game Boy Advance) · NFL Street (GameCube) · Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (GameCube) · Sonic Heroes (GameCube) · Finding Nemo (GameCube) · Looney Tunes: Back in Action (GameCube) · XGRA: Extreme G Racing Association (GameCube) · SSX 3 (GameCube) · I-Ninja (GameCube) · Conflict: Desert Storm II - Back to Baghdad (GameCube) · SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom (GameCube) · Blowout (GameCube) · Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu (GameCube) · Shining Soul (Game Boy Advance) Spotlight on Capcom: · Resident Evil 4 (GameCube) · Killer 7 (GameCube) · Mega Man X: Command Mission (GameCube) · Mega Man Battle Network 4: Red Sun & Blue Moon (Game Boy Advance) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (GameCube, Game Boy Advance) feature Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles (GameCube) Strategy Epic Center: · Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon (Game Boy Advance) · Future Tactics: The Uprising (GameCube) · Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (GameCube) strategy The Crossing Quarterly Scooby-Doo! Mystery Mayhem (GameCube, Game Boy Advance) strategy Worms 3D (GameCube) strategy Pokecentre Samurai Jack: The Shadow of Aku (GameCube) strategy Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship Tournament 2004 (Game Boy Advance) strategy CT Special Forces 2: Back in the Trenches (Game Boy Advance) strategy Now Playing: · Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (GameCube) · Pokémon Colosseum (GameCube) · James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing (GameCube) · MVP Baseball 2004 (GameCube) · Worms 3D (GameCube) · Scooby-Doo! Mystery Mayhem (GameCube) · Samurai Jack: The Shadow of Aku (GameCube) · He-Man: Defender of Greyskull (GameCube) · Serious Sam: Next Encounter (GameCube) · Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship Tournament 2004 (Game Boy Advance) · CT Special Forces 2: Back in the Trenches (Game Boy Advance) · Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (Game Boy Advance) · Serious Sam Advance (Game Boy Advance) · Sitting Ducks (Game Boy Advance) The Nindex Next Issue1 point
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THE NIGHTMARE CONTINUES! The world is engulfed in flames, thanks to iD Software and GT Interactive. To avoid an eternity of suffering, you must find the Dark One's power source and destroy it once and for all. Doom II, with more levels of play, sharper graphics, bigger and badder weapons, and double the demons, is not only more awesome than the original but could degenerate into a never-ending nightmare. You could lose your soul, or even worse, your job and your family. Thank heaves for Doom II: The Official Strategy Guide. Now the nightmare can be conquered, because inside you'll find: The unique cheat codes for Doom II Winning combat and tactical strategies to conquer every level and vanquish every imp and demon Maps showing all the mazes and hidden rooms Clues for solving the hellish Doom II puzzles This guide is essential for anyone who is serious about descending into this fiery underworld and coming out alive. Written by Ed Dille.1 point
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With This Book, the Force Is With You! Super Star Wars Official Game Secrets is your complete guide to LucasArts Entertainment's mega-hit game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Join Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Chewbacca the Wookiee, Princess Leia, R2-D2, and C-3PO in their battle against Darth Vader and the evil Empire! The only strategy guide to Super Star Wars officially endorsed by LucasArts, this essential companion is jam-packed with insider secrets. Here's what you'll find inside: Exclusive tips and codes direct from the game experts at LucasArts One-of-a-kind full screen composite maps of every platform level Special screen images of specific strategies and action Biographies, background, and little-known facts about the Star Wars characters, creatures, and events Photos and original artwork from the Star Wars movies Super Star Wars Official Game Secrets is a must-have for gamers and Star Wars collectors alike! Written by Rusel DeMaria.1 point
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Retromags Presents! MEGA Issue 20 (May 1994) Database Record Download Directly! Scanned By: Delphinus48 Edited By: MigJmz Follow us on...1 point
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156 downloads
MEGA Issue 20 (May 1994) Scanned By: Delphinus481 point -
As best I can tell, this guide was official. Olafson writes in the acknowledgements section that a number of Squaresoft members, including translator Ted Woolsey, offered him help and assistance with the game's inner workings, which is the type of support unofficial guides had to do without. Nintendo's own strategy guide is also official, since it was produced in conjunction with Square Japan specifically for Nintendo's exclusive use. The only unofficial guide to the game, at least from that era, is Prima's Complete Forbidden Final Fantasy III Game Secrets, which was written based on a Japanese import copy of the game as well as early reports and preview builds seen in Western gaming media. It's objectively a terrible guide (the maps, especially, are just awful), but it also contains an absurd amount of tables, charts, and other stuff which isn't touched by the other two guides. I have it, and eventually it'll be archived here. *huggles* Areala1 point
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I also had this one as well as the official Nintendo one. I remember this one being kind of big and little color but it did state likes and dislikes for each character and always was curious if it was official or not.1 point
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I had this one. I remember it well .1 point
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1,235 downloads
Nintendo Power Issue 181 (July 2004) Issue donated by Benjamin Alldritt.1 point -
Retromags Presents! Nintendo Power Issue 179 (May 2004) Database Record Download Directly! Scanned By: E-Day Edited By: E-Day Uploaded By: E-Day Donated By: Benjamin Alldritt Follow us on...1 point
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Retromags Presents! Super Star Wars Official Game Secrets Database Record Download Directly! Scanned By: Areala Edited By: Areala Uploaded By: Areala Donated By: Areala Follow us on...1 point
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As with other scans of mine, there are several blank pages throughout the book which have been eliminated in order to decrease the file size and maintain the flow of a digital version. The last six pages of the book, in fact, are blank on both sides. And, sadly, the money-saving coupons have all since expired. Too bad.1 point
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© Prima Games
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© Prima Games
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