The Guide Books!

[Caite-chan]

We all know that every set of Pokemon games always had a guide book come out. It told you everything it had to do about the games and where everything was hiding. Did you ever use thing guide books for the games or just get through the games the best you could?

 

[Judge Mandolore Shepard]

When it comes to the strategy guides for Pokemon games, I have bought the strategy guides for the following games:

Ruby/Sapphire
Diamond/Pearl/Platinum
Battle Revolution
Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Sky
Black/White
Black 2/White 2
X/Y

I have used a number of the strategy guides

 

[Sirfetch’d]

I haven't bought the strategy book since Pearl. It's so much easier to access any information online now that it seems like a waste of money to me. I might buy one for the next games though just to do it.

 

[Fannie]

I haven't bought the strategy book since Pearl. It's so much easier to access any information online now that it seems like a waste of money to me. I might buy one for the next games though just to do it.

I agree, all the information you need is a Google search away and sometimes people online have more useful tips. I've never bought a stratedgy guide and I only try to find online aid if I'm really stuck. Although I've never needed them, I really like the game manuals for Pokemon. Especially for RBY. There was something special about it.

 

[Keiran]

I've used the original guidebook for Red & Blue, one for Ruby & Sapphire, and I have the Black and White 2 Collector's Edition guidebook (which I love - it's gorgeous). I typically only buy guidebooks if they have nice art, are hardcover, or tie in with a Collector's Edition, because any information can be found on the internet.

The guide for Red & Blue was especially useful because there was nothing like Serebii at the time, and navigating dark caves were fairly difficult without a map.

 

[pkmin3033]

Mother and I usually wind up buying the guidebooks. Mother doesn't like using the internet if she happens to get stuck or lost in any game, and prefers to use physical guides. Which is actually a better way of doing things anyway, as they come with area maps.

As for me...well, I have a thing for collecting guides, whether I need them or not. The Pokemon ones are often quite nicely presented, and the Pokedex ones in particular are a lot more convenient than looking things up online. I don't have every Pokemon's moveset or location stored away in my head. They're handy reference materials, if nothing else.

 

[Caite-chan]

I may still have one or two of mine somewhere. Not sure for which games. I know I use to write in them and check things off. They look like they went through hell and back after I was done with them. xD

 

[Hikamaru]

I used to have a guidebook for Ruby & Sapphire, around the time I got said games. I think I had an unofficial one for Emerald as well.

 

[Astinus]

I did used to buy the guide books, but I quickly realized that the Internet held all the information I needed anyhow. It was particularly bad for FireRed/LeafGreen, because I had to carry two strategy guides around with me because one didn't list wild Pokemon locations. The one that did list wild Pokemon locations, however, didn't have a Pokedex in the back so I couldn't check to see when any Pokemon learned an attack.

The last guide book I bought was the collector's edition for Black/White. After that, I really stopped playing games outside of the house, and since I usually play at my computer, I might as well make use of the Internet!

 

[Sirfetch’d]

Although I've never needed them, I really like the game manuals for Pokemon. Especially for RBY. There was something special about it.

This so much! I love the little guide books that come with the games haha. Whenever I see one from the original RBY games I always feel so nostalgic because I actually read and used those! Man, I wish I still had mine :(

 

[Caite-chan]

I really did hate it when they would make you buy two different books because they were to lazy to just make one big book.

 

[FennekMaster]

I may stop buying them but right now I have one for every main series game from FireRed / LeafGreen onwards.

 

[Fannie]

This so much! I love the little guide books that come with the games haha. Whenever I see one from the original RBY games I always feel so nostalgic because I actually read and used those! Man, I wish I still had mine :(

It was almost like Professor Oak really wrote it! I wish I'd kept mine too. I did for a whle, but never thought I'd still love the series after all this time. Scratch that, I didn't even know the series would still be going strong, praise Arceus.

 

[Sirenita55]

I had the Red/Blue one, which was particularly helpful for the Seafoam Islands!

 

[Jessie]

I have pretty much every strategy guide for all of the main series games, and a couple of the extra Pokedex's too.

I personally find gameplay most fulfilling when I have the strategy guide open along with it. I do know this info is often available online, but I like the physical books.

 

[Sabrewulf238]

I can't remember ever owning a Pokemon strategy guide.....I might have owned them during the first and second gens but again I can't really remember. Although I did have Pokemon guide books that came free with magazines and they had the important stuff like where Pokemon could be found.

 

[Imperator161]

I've had guides for pretty much every game that I can get them for. Unfortunately, it seems to be a dying market (I've tried to find guides for certain other games, without success), I'm guessing primarily due to the rise of free internet guides and videos. There are also a lot fewer guide makers than there used to be (I think it might be down to just Prima now in the US--they merged with Bradygames fairly recently, and other guide creators like Nintendo Power disappeared some time ago).

I like the guides because I like reading them. The issue I have with a lot of modern guides is that they tend to be more minimalist than they used to, and the writing style isn't as entertaining. I tend to use the internet for most of my quick Pokemon-related searches, but there are times when it helps to have a physical guide (and I'll admit that I did dig out my Versus Books RBY guide for planning out teams for the re-releases).

My first guide was for RBY, made by a manufacturer whose name I can't recall. It's not a company I ever heard of again. It also included a Pokemon Snap section, with tips for getting a perfect Mew photo.

My favorite guides are the Versus Books ones (for RBY, G/S, and Crystal). My first one was the Crystal one, and I learned all about egg moves, breeding, stats, and more from that book. Even though it had a fair number of typos, and even though those books have some strange ideas about strategy by modern standards, they got me started thinking about competitive Pokemon battling in the days when my dial-up internet was far too slow to turn to for rapid-access information. (Plus, if I was trying to play when my parents thought I should be sleeping, waking up the house with the sounds of dialing in and the "You've got mail!" announcement wasn't too practical.)