Friday, August 10, 2012

Manual Stimulation: Pop'n Magic (PC Engine)

Diabetics beware! The manual below--for the PC Engine CD game, Pop'n Magic--is about as sugary sweet as you're about to see in these "Manual Stimulation" posts.

Actually, both the manual's cover and one of its first two inside pages literally are sugary sweet, as both feature photos of colorful candy.





Strangely, that's it as far as photos of candy are concerned. I wonder if the designers of this manual were worried about putting readers into confectionary comas?

Regardless, they certainly didn't seem to be afraid that readers would suffer from an overdose of cuteness. The guy and gal seen in the spread below, by the way, are Pop'n Magic's rather adorable protagonists.





I really like how the folks at Riot/Telenet spruced things up throughout this manual with splashes of color and the occasional illustration--a number of which can be seen in the pages above and below.



You've really got to love the screenshots included in these old instruction manuals, don't you? They're always of the utmost quality (he says as he dramatically rolls his eyes). Oh, well, at least the ones featured here are in full color.





And with that we arrive at my favorite section of pretty much every instruction manual ever made: The section that spotlights some of the game's many enemies. In case you're wondering, the blue slime-like-thing-with-arms-and-what-looks-to-be-a-visible-brain on the right-hand page is my favorite of the bunch.



I also love the illustration--which appears to show a couple of the game's baddies swooning over its female protagonist while her cohort prepares to slay them--that bridges the pair of pages above.





Normally I'd describe these last two pages as "the definition of dull," but I'll never tire of seeing the wacky drawings that warn people of the dangers of mistreating their PC Engine CD games (especially the one showing a CD being chased by a bucket of water and the one showing a CD being accosted by  some sort of pen).

See also: Previous 'Manual Stimulation' posts

6 comments:

Kimimi said...

ADORABLE! I must have it! :D

Bryan Ochalla said...

Yes, get it, Kimimi! Have you ever played the game, by the way? If not, I'm pretty sure you'd love it. It's very charming -- and fun!

Kimimi said...

I haven't had the pleasure, but I'm sure you're right!

Bryan Ochalla said...

Well, I'll look forward to reading your thoughts on it, then -- eventually, of course :)

Kimimi said...

Is there any time other than "eventually" for people with massive backlogs? ;)

Bryan Ochalla said...

Yes, I think you're right, Kimimi :)