Games that require their original manuals/packaging

[sabrage]

Now, like with most of you I'm sure, I prefer to have a manual with my games, but I find that the task of tracking down a lot of old-school manuals is generally too costly and time-consuming to bother with.

I've been reading through SatoshiMatrix's excellent run-down of the Top 100 NES Games and he mentions a couple of games that are pretty much impossible to beat without the original manual or box (or an online guide, but let's ignore that option.) From his list and off the top of my head, here's what I can think of:
•Metal Gear Solid (PS1) - required codec number is on the back of the case. Notably, if you get the Essential Collection re-release without the cardboard sleeve, there is no way to find this codec!
•Golgo 13: The Mafat Conspiracy (NES) - Maps of the 3D mazes in the manual
•Startropics (NES) - Game included a letter that, when dipped in water (as prompted by the game,) revealed a hidden message essential to continuing the game. Gamers asked about this so much that it was eventually printed in Nintendo Power. An interactive image of this letter is included in the digital manual of the Virtual Console release of Startropics: the letter is shown with an icon of a bucket of water; when the player "clicks" the image the letter is dipped in the bucket and the hidden message is revealed.

Also, feel free to mention any games that have particularly awesome packaging/manuals/feelies - I love that kind of thing.

[insanecow0]

Chulip on the PS2, if you don't have the manual you'd have no clue what to do most of the time.

[bmoc]

A few of the King's Quest games had stuff in the manual that was required to solve certain puzzles. It was a predecessor of sorts to DRM.

Although it was not required, Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego for the NES had a small encyclopedia that made the game much easier as I recall.

[god]

Herzog Zwei, and even then...

[neilencio]

There are a lot of old DOS games that have primitive copy protection (e.g. Mortal Kombat, NBA Jam, Golden Axe, and WWE Wrestlemania Arcade PC ports, come to mind) Before you can start the game, you need to enter words from the manual (e.g. look up "the third word on page seven of the manual").

[sabrage]

There are a lot of old DOS games that have primitive copy protection (e.g. Mortal Kombat, NBA Jam, Golden Axe, and WWE Wrestlemania Arcade PC ports, come to mind) Before you can start the game, you need to enter words from the manual (e.g. look up "the third word on page seven of the manual").

A few of the King's Quest games had stuff in the manual that was required to solve certain puzzles. It was a predecessor of sorts to DRM.

Yeah, and the ol' Monkey Island spinner too:

[BoringSupreez]

This one is less interesting, but most PC games from the late 90s until about 2008 require the original packing to install, because of the CD key. It was an infinitely superior form of DRM than the stuff we have today, from the consumer's standpoint.

[weaponepsilon]

Sherlock Holmes:? Consulting Detective for Sega CD. Came with a "newspaper"....need I saw more.

[ja_le_co]

In Freddy Pharkas (PC) you wouldn't know how to make the prescriptions without the manual.

[Hobie-wan]

Herzog Zwei, and even then...

My friend and I rented that all the time and managed without a manual. It did take us a little bit to get going though.

Lots of EA published RPGs in the 80s had the code wheels as well. Bard's Tale games, Legacy of the Ancients, and I think Wasteland did too.