Manual Stimulation: Wanpaku Kokkun no Gourmet World (Famicom)

No joke, the English version of Taito's Wanpaku Kokkun no Gourmet World, called Panic Restaurant,  is one of my favorite side-scrolling platformers around.

Which isn't to suggest it's one of the best side-scrolling platformers around. It's not. It's probably not even one of the best platformers released for the Famicom or NES.



Still, I adore it. Why? For starters, I've never been shy about admitting I love games that feature food. Well, that's pretty much all you encounter while playing Wanpaku Kokkun no Gourmet World, which is set in and around a restaurant ("Eaten").



Food's about all you encounter while flipping through the Wanpaku Kokkun no Gourmet World instruction manual, too. Food and people who make food (like the cute chef showcased on the manual's cover and on pretty much every interior page), I mean.



Thankfully, the Wanpaku Kokkun no Gourmet World manual follows in the glorious footsteps of many other old Taito game manuals and depicts all of the above-mentioned food and food-making with the most brilliant of illustrations.

The illustration that serves as the backdrop of this booklet's "story" page (see above) is a perfect example.



None of the other drawings that fill the Wanpaku Kokkun no Gourmet World booklet are as massive as the one that sits behind its story text, but most are just as adorable.

Manual Stimulation: Don Doko Don 2 (Famicom)

At the end of my post about the Don Doko Don Famicom instruction manual, I mentioned that the manual you see here makes its predecessor "look like something that was pulled from the gutter."

Harsh, I know, but I stand by it. I mean, just look at the cover of the Don Doko Don 2 manual, below. It alone is more stupendous than anything you'll find in the first Don Doko Don manual.



Don't take any of this to mean I think the original Don Doko Don manual is a stinker. I think it's pretty snazzy, actually.

Maybe not as snazzy as, say, the manuals publisher Taito created for the Famicom Disk System version of Bubble Bobble, or the PC Engine ports of The New Zealand Story or Mizubaku Daibouken, but still worth the occasional ogle.



I say without hesitation, however, that the Don Doko Don 2 instruction manual is snazzier than all of the above-mentioned booklets--perhaps combined.

Every page of the Don Doko Don 2 booklet features something fabulous, usually in the form of a stunning drawing.



OK, so they're not all as jaw-dropping as the gigantic one that opens the Don Doko Don 2 manual. But, really, not every illustration can be of a huge, crying, king-turned-into-a-frog, right?

At any rate, the pages that follow shine a light on the game's story. Besides all of the art they produced, I also love how the designers who worked on this booklet used pops of red and pink to add drama and interest to the proceedings.



The spread above educates readers on how to play Don Doko Don 2. There's not much to tell them, however; as is the case in the original Don Doko Don, in part two, you dispatch enemies by smacking them with your mallet, picking up their squished bodies, and then tossing their corpses at oncoming clueless baddies.

Manual Stimulation: Don Doko Don (Famicom)

Don Doko Don is one of those old games that avoided pinging my radar for a lot longer than it should've done.

Granted, this series hardly is a household name outside of Japan--despite the fact that Taito, the company responsible for developing and publishing it, previously gave the world Space Invaders, Qix, Chack'n Pop, and Bubble Bobble, among other classics.



At any rate, I remained blissfully unaware of Don Doko Don's existence until sometime after I became obsessed with the PC Engine.

You see, Taito ported this single-screen platformer, which stars a pair of mallet-wielding dwarves, to NEC's diminutive console less than a year after its original arcade release in 1989, and just two months after the Famicom port that's the subject of this post.



Why didn't I hear about Don Doko Don for the Famicom before I heard about its PC Engine iteration? I haven't the slightest idea.

At any rate, and as you might suspect, the instruction manual that came packed inside copies of the Famicom port of Don Doko Don is quite similar to the PC Engine port's manual.



The two booklets aren't identical, however. Take the spread above. The pair of illustrations you see here are completely different from the ones you see on the corresponding pages of Don Doko Don's PC Engine booklet.



For the record, I prefer the unique illustrations in the PC Engine release's manual to the ones used in the Famicom release's manual.



All that said, most of the drawings in these two manuals are the same. Generally speaking, though, the ones in the Famicom manual are given a bit more space to breathe than are the ones in the PC Engine manual.



The drawings highlighted on the last few pages demonstrate to readers Don Doko Don's main gameplay loop, which involves whacking enemies with your trusty hammer, picking up their smooshed bodies, and then tossing them at other unsuspecting foes.



The next handful of spreads focus on educating players about the particulars of each Don Doko Don stage. For example, the first world is forested, contains trees that spit out baddies, and features a multi-jack-o'-lanterned boss.

Manual Stimulation: Hello Kitty World (Famicom)

I've been a huge fan of Hello Kitty World ever since I first became aware of it well over a decade ago.

This isn't because I adore Hello Kitty, mind you. Although I think she's cute enough, I'm hardly obsessed with her or anything of the sort.



I am slightly obsessed with the Character Soft-published Famicom game that stars Kitty-chan (as well as her sister, Mimmy), however; or at least I've been obsessed with it at various points in the last 10 or so years.

The reason: it's basically a re-skin of one of my all-time favorite GameBoy games, Balloon Kid.



OK, so this Japan-only release from 1992 is more than just Balloon Kid with Alice's sprite swapped out for one that resembles the iconic Sanrio character. It's not a whole lot more than that, though.

For example, the playfield in Hello Kitty World is, or appears to be, much larger than the one in Balloon Kid. Also, the former seems a tad slower than the latter, though that, too, may just be an illusion.



Sadly, I can't tell you how Hello Kitty World's story, which is shared with readers of the game's instruction manual via the pages that precede this sentence, differs from that of Balloon Kid, or even if the two differ at all.



Speaking of the Hello Kitty World's manual, the spreads above and below explain this game's controls, start screen, and more.



And the next two pages of this instruction booklet discuss Hello Kitty World's dearth of collectible items.



I believe the following spread further educates players about how Hello Kitty World works, but feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

Manual Stimulation: Pizza Pop! (Famicom)

As a youngster, I regularly turned up my nose at Jaleco's NES offerings.

For me, they were way too rough around the edges. I preferred comparatively "cleaner" games like the ones made by Nintendo, Konami, and Capcom.



That's not to say there weren't exceptions. I bought and played the hell out of the company's Racket Attack, for example. (Don't take that to be an endorsement; it's not. The game's terrible, even if I have a soft spot for it.)

And I remember renting and enjoying its home port of City Connection on a few occasions, too.



Despite my anti-Jaleco bias, I'm sure I would've given Pizza Pop! more than a second look back in the day had it not been a Japan-only release.



Sadly, that wasn't the case, and so I had to wait until a few years ago to finally experience this wacky platformer (via emulation, of course).



Was it worth the wait? In some ways yes, and in some ways no. On the positive side, Pizza Pop! looks and sounds great. I particularly love its cartoonish aesthetic, though its boppy, poppy backing tunes are a ton of fun as well.

On the negative side, though, there's the fact that this game seems to revel in being annoyingly cheap (from a difficulty perspective).



Something that was without a doubt worth the wait, or at least worth what I spent on it, is this game's instruction manual. Why? For starters, it's full of color. This is especially true of its story spread (pages two and three, above), but it's also true of the ones that follow.



Sadly, that's one of the only places you'll find any unique illustrations in the Pizza Pop! booklet. You will encounter a number of screenshots throughout, however. They don't really make up for the lack of drawings, but in this kind of situation you've got to take what you get.



This manual's biggest missed opportunity, as far as I'm concerned, is that its pair of "character" pages (12 and 13, below) feature in-game sprites rather than line-art depictions of the game's enemies.

Oh, well, at least the baddies that fill the Pizza Pop! stages are a good-looking bunch.



What do you think of this latest entry in my "Manual Stimulation" series? Also, if you've played Pizza Pop!, what did you think of it? Share your thoughts in the comments section of this post.

See also: some photos of Pizza Pop's packaging

Manual Stimulation: Onyanko Town (Famicom)

My last post focused on Onyanko Town's lovely packaging. This one, as should be obvious (assuming you read the headline above), focuses on that Japanese Famicom game's manual.

Sadly, I can't say I find the Onyanko Town instruction booklet as stunning as its outer box or cartridge label. That's mainly because it's painfully short, but it's also because its small handful of pages tend to be covered in text and little else.

Thankfully, its cover sports a rather nice illustration of the game's main characters. Sure, the art was recycled from Onyanko Town's box front, but that's hardly surprising given we're talking about a 1985 release.



Granted, you could say it's hardly surprising given we're talking about a game, period. I mean, how many games released in recent years come with manuals that feature a unique piece of art?

Things take a bit of a dip once you venture inside the Onyanko Town manual, however. I'm not even sure what information its first page, below, shares with readers, to be honest, but even if it reveals the game's deepest secrets, it would be hard to argue it's anything more than visually boring.

The same is true of the next page, although at least it passes along some important info about the game's controls.



Should you ever play Onyanko Town yourself, here's how things work: your controller's directional pad moves the protagonist (Mirukii), while its A button causes her to jump and its B button prompts her to flip a nearby manhole.

Speaking of Mirukii, she's introduced on the third page of the Onyanko Town instruction booklet, as is her son, Michael (the kitten in the lower-left corner of the scan below), the "nasty dogs" (upper-right) that wander each stage and the fishmonger (lower-left) who chases you if you snatch one of his wares.

Unfortunately, that's all I can share with you about this game's cast of characters, as my understanding of the Japanese language remains limited. I can't imagine the blurbs to the right of their precious, hand-drawn portraits offer up anything interesting, though.



On a far more positive note, I can share with you what's said on the last page of the Onyanko Town manual (see below--and don't forget to click on that scan or any of the others included here if you want a closer look at them). Basically, it educates interested parties as to how many points they'll receive for completing various actions while playing the game

For example, if you cause one "nasty dog" to tumble into an uncovered manhole, you nab 100 points. Two nets you 400 points, and three awards you 800 points. (I'm guessing this is per dog, but don't quote me on that.)



Also, you earn even more points if you pick up some of the random accoutrements--such as the dress, shoes or ring depicted in the scan above--that pop up while scrambling around each stage.

Like I said earlier, the Onyanko Town instruction booklet isn't exactly amazing. It gets the job done, though, and also offers up some nicely realized illustrations along the way, so it's hard to complain about its ho-hum-ness too loudly.

See also: previous 'Manual Stimulation' posts about the Famicom Disk Writer version of Bubble Bobble, Donkey Kong, Mother (aka EarthBound Beginnings), Super Mario Bros. and Yume Penguin Monogatari

Manual Stimulation: Bubble Bobble (Famicom Disk System, Limited Edition)

A few weeks ago, I published a post about the manual that came with copies of Bubble Bobble bought from Japanese Famicom Disk Writer kiosks back in the late 1980s. (I also published a post filled with photos of that version's packaging.)

The booklet you see here was stuffed inside of an adorable plastic pencil case along with a copy of Bubble Bobble's surprisingly adept Famicom port. I refer to that release as a "limited edition" in the headline above, although I have to admit I'm not entirely sure it actually was limited in quantity.

Regardless, it helps differentiate this Bubble Bobble package from the previously mentioned Famicom Disk Writer one, so I'm sticking with it unless otherwise corrected.

At any rate, this Bubble Bobble Famicom instruction manual is similar to its Disk Writer counterpart with two major exceptions: the former is a lot larger than the latter (in fact, it's probably the biggest Famicom manual I've seen to date) and it's also in full color rather than in just pink and green.

The size of the Bubble Bobble Limited Edition's booklet is to blame for this post featuring single-page scans rather than double-page ones, by the way. My scanner just isn't big enough for me to capture entire spreads, so I was forced to go with what you'll encounter throughout this write-up.

In the end, some of you may consider that to be the preferred option, as it allows you to focus on the beauty that is this particular version of the Bubble Bobble Famicom manual.

And it is pretty darn beautiful, wouldn't you agree? OK, so the first few pages aren't mind-blowingly amazing or anything like that, but they're still packed with both big and small details that make them decidedly appealing--or at least that's how I think of them.

Take the adorable little illustrations that can be seen above and below. If you can't quite make them out, click on the scan in question and you'll be able to take a much closer look.

My favorite components, though, are the more substantial pieces of art, like the massive Super Drunk--or Super-Drunk as the back of this booklet proclaims--situated in the lower-right corner of the following page.

Manual Stimulation: Bubble Bobble (Famicom Disk System)

As promised in my last post about the packaging produced for the "Disk Writer" version of Bubble Bobble's Famicom Disk System port, here is that Japanese release's instruction manual.

Something I've got to say right off the bat is that I'm sorry if the scans offered up here seem overly pale. The fact is, they pretty accurately depict the real-world product.



Thankfully, they look a lot better when you click on them and blow them up a bit, so I'd highly recommend doing just that as you work your way through this write-up.



Anyway, the first real page of Bubble Bobble's Famicom Disk Writer booklet (below) shares the game's rather simplistic story--rescue Bub's and Bob's girlfriends from the "Cave of Monsters"--complete with an abundance of exclamation points.



The next page, as you probably can make out, explains Bubble Bobble's wonderfully straightforward controls.



The couple of pages that follow (see above and below) attempt to expand that education by sharing a few more advanced strategies that can be employed while playing this classic single-screen platformer.



It isn't until the 10th and 11th pages of Bubble Bobble's Famicom Disk Writer manual that we get to the really good stuff. In this case, that means bios of the game's protagonists (the aforementioned Bub and Bob, or Bubblun and Bobblun in Japan) and chief antagonists.

Manual Stimulation (SonSon, Famicom)

As much as I've always enjoyed playing the Famicom port of Capcom's SonSon, I've never felt compelled to actually own it.

Until recently, of course. Even then, I only bought the complete-in-box copy that provided me with the manual seen here because I came across a fairly cheap one during a regular sweep of eBay.



Now that it's finally in my possession, I've got to say I would've gladly paid twice that auction's ending price thanks to this gorgeous instruction booklet.





After all, aside from its first few pages (above), it's chock-full of top-notch illustrations. (Click on the scans found throughout this post if you want to take a much better, and closer, look at them.)





Hell, exactly half of the SonSon manual's how-to information is conveyed via a shockingly adroit comic strip.





Sadly, I don't understand the bulk of the text that's offered up throughout the comic strip in question, but I get the gist of it--and that's more than enough for me.





Topping off all of the above with a big, juicy cherry is the sheet music of the SonSon theme song that brings everything to a close.



What do all of you think of the focus of this installment of "Manual Stimulation"?

Also, to those of you who've played any iteration of SonSon: what did you, or do you, think of it?

See also: previous 'Manual Stimulation' posts