Nintendo Shares The Original EarthBound Player's Guide Online

I'm not really a guides guy, but when it comes to older games like this, How can I not.

I don't think I'll ever forget this game's marketing at the time of it's release and this has only reminded me of it.

ITS SO GROSS

They did this for the Wii U release. I still have the PDF. It’s really nice quality. I wish they did this with all of their official guides from back in the day.

I became a fan of this game during the Wii era, when the game's niche popularity was starting to gain momentum.

I got myself an original SNES cartridge and one of these guidebooks. It's one of my favourite things as a fan.

I'm glad I got them back then, when the series was still less sought after secondhand.

(beware of the incorrect information in there regarding the Gutsy Bat though! The guide isn't free from mistakes)

@Fizza This game stinks!

Cool of them to share the guide to go along with the game. Brings back memories of having a bookcase full of game guides. I threw most of them out, with the exception of a select few.

Dunno about the Wii U release but this specific file is stored alongside the game manuals for the SNES Classic Mini: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/clvs/manuals/en_us/index.html

@Fizza Why? what happened?

Seems like yesterday Nintendo made the strategy guide available for the Wii U release.

It's a good day to be a Mother fan.

These games and the MK8D tracks have more than convinced me to get the Expansion Pass so good on them. Actually looks like amazing value now. Just Mother 3 please!! Maybe they are saving it for something special...

@Jolon6 Indeed, it's a good way to take this back ! Sad that all is english only, so Super Metroid and Secret of Mana do not have their own player's guide in this folder.

If anyone interested, the same thing is available for Nes Classic games too : https://www.nintendo.co.jp/clv/manuals/fr/index.html

@Jolon6 that's where I got it from!
I downloaded it for my snes mini. (No regrets on that one BTW, especially after modding some of my old snes games on it so there's a puzzle game on it! 😁♥️)

Great share, thanks.

@Snatcher The game being gross was their entire marketing strategy back in the 90's. Look it up, it's very interesting.

Yeah I played the WiiU release alongside the guide they uploaded.

It's worth it, the game can be a bit cryptic. And especially Earthbound Beginnings is best played with a guide.

This is my first time actually checking out the players guide. It is absolutely beautiful

Earthbound is an extremely influential game. Glad to see it’s finally in a position to reach a large audience.

@CharlieGirl As if life didn't stink enough.

The guide was indeed released alongside the Wii U release. I used it back then and did the lame thing Nintendo advertised by pressing the home button on the GamePad and going to the website on the web browser.

If, and when, they do release Mother 3 on Switch (or whatever console is after it) I really hope they bring back Reggie to announce it. lol

that's a really nice guide

@Snatcher
Nintendo had high hopes for Earthbound back in the day and it was heavily marketed to help sell the game. The problem, however, was how they decided to advertise it. In the '90s, gross out was a big thing in media for whatever reason, so Nintendo decided to use that for their marketing. In their ads, they kept on boasting how gross and stinky it was and showed specific in-game images for proof of that claim. They offered scratch-n-sniff areas in the magazine to illustrate how bile the game was. An exclusive video was even made for some stores to show off the game, but it was so poorly edited and barely explained what the game was even about. Here's the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60_WWLq3srE

Their marketing greatly misrepresented Earthbound and it was a disaster, to say the least. Go here to see the images of the ads they made. If you want to know more about Nintendo's decision for the ad, go read this article.

@Link-Hero ok I knew it was going to be bad, but not that bad.

Awesome! The SNES was a great era for gaming and one thing many people miss is the game manuals and guides

Now if only PDF technology supported smell-o-vision, this guide would be complete.

They should release the entirety of NSO NES, Snes, and N64 games on one low capacity cartridge. If it helps, people can promise to throw it in the bin after one year has passed, then buy it again?

This has been available since the Wii U release and hasn't been taken down afaik.

I could use a players guide for earthbound beginnings....

Back when EB was released, best friend and I rented it. We stayed up til 5am playing it (I will forever associate birds chirping outside with wandering around that wintry area as Jeff).

Being a conniving little *****, I convinced my Mother to buy that game for my brother as a Christmas gift, while the rental store was going out of business. On Christmas night, friend and I opened his gift from under the tree, and rewrapped minus the game. We again played late into the night until he had to leave. I forgot to put the game back, and panicked as bro opened it, but he didn't care. Years later he gave me the game and player's guide/box in trade for some game he probably didn't even want.

Wish I kept the guide and box, but I'll never part with the cart due to memories.

Still have a tattered old copy missing a page. Wish I had been old enough to get and treasure the whole package when it came out. I can still can smell the scratch and sniff card.

It's incredible how unbalanced and grindy this game is, even for 1990s standards. It's a shame since there is so much good stuff in the late game sections.

It'd be a great addition to the NSO service a downloadable version of the original manual for each and every game.

Too bad they can't release the stinky af scratch and sniff component.

Neat addition! But tbh I feel like adding official guides into the apps should be common practice on Nintendo Switch Online for every game where possible.

I've long thought the original official game manuals should be scanned into the service with each NSO game. That would be an intriguing addition to the service that helps with history, backstory, instruction and preservation too. Like building out an ongoing digital museum of the cherished medium.

That being said I'm just super ecstatic Earthbound & EB Beginnings are finally on the platform! I literally clapped in appreciation during that moment of the Direct. Now we just need Mother 3 localized and part of a full Game Boy line NSO app as well soon!

... Wun can only hope.

@NKR They're only re-releasing the EarthBound Player's Guide because that's how the game was originally released. They thought the game would be too confusing for American gamers, so they released the game in an oversized box with the Player's Guide instead of an instruction manual (although instructions are included in the first section of the book).

@dustinprewitt

Same here. Earthbound Beginnings is tough!

Thank you! I just downloaded it

@Snatcher The Players' Guide was included with the game itself, doubling as the game's instruction manual.

online guide, stinks.. better with orig guide <3

Still have my original version, sadly years of using over and over have let in terrible condition

I never had this specific strategy guide but I loved reading back in the day. It wasn't so much about tips for playing the game but inhabiting the game world, getting the lore and all the secrets.

Nowadays I think I'd feel like I was spoiling the game but I remember not caring back then.

@Link-Hero I remember those ads! Thanks for that little trip down memory lane and the interesting read!

One of Nintendo's only efforts at game preservation

Now if only we could get a player's guide for Earthbound Beginnings