NES Classic Manuals Correct Ancient Injustice
November 15, 2016
Playing a video game on Nintendo's NES Classic Edition console doesn't just get you the nostalgic experience of exploring the 8-bit worlds of the 1980s. It also entitles you to a trip in the wayback machine via high quality scans of the original instruction manuals of the era. The company has dipped into its archives to bring the manuals for each and every game on the console back for your reading pleasure (and you don't even need the console to access them; they're on the web at Nintendo's site at https://www.nintendo.co.jp/clv/manuals/en/index.html). The instructions aren't 100% authentic though, as Nintendo took the opportunity to clean up little typos and mistakes here and there. Consider, for instance, Super Mario Bros. 2's manual which lists each of Subcon's enemies such as Shy Guys and Pidgets. The original 1988 manual accidentally swapped the names of Birdo and Ostro. It's an understandable error; you could look at the two foes and think "Oh, the bird thing must be named Birdo" instead of "Oh, the ostrich thing must be named Ostro". Now that the manuals are back in action for the modern age, Nintendo swapped the names back to their correct places. It's this attention to detail that keeps Nintendo fans coming back for more (even if it's been thirty years since their last helping).