Nintendo’s miniature NES Classic Edition is available in stores today, and though they’re almost certainly going to be tough to find, you don’t have to be left out of the nostalgia-fueled fun if you can’t get one. The little console includes 30 classic Nintendo Entertainment System games, and as a nod to the people who actually remember playing these things a few decades ago, Nintendo has uploaded digital recreations of the original printed manuals that used to be included with the physical copies of these games. As Polygon notes, the manuals even include little disclaimers noting that some of their information could be outdated or just straight-up incorrect, but that doesn’t make them any less interesting.
In fact, Nintendo’s decision to keep these manuals as historically accurate as possible means stuff like the nudity in the Kid Icarus booklet is still here:
As are the Metroid manual’s references to Samus being a man, though that could be intended as a misdirect and not an actual inaccuracy:
One of the coolest things about these manuals is the way they tend to give little bits of information about a game’s enemies, and the Final Fantasy manual is definitely a standout when it comes to that (you’ll have to check out the actual PDF to read this):
These days, video games rarely include manuals at all, and if they do it’s usually just legal nonsense and quick instructions on how to insert a disc into your game console. Like the NES Classic Edition itself, these booklets are a nice throwback to the old days. You can see the full collection at this link.