Every SNES Manual Scanned And Uploaded

A SNES devotee has completed a quest to find and archive all 844 English-language manuals for games on the console. It took eight years, though nearly half of the work was completed in the final two years.

The collector, who goes by the handle Peebs, originally concentrated on playing (and beating) SNES games on Twitch. He found it wasn’t always easy to find game manuals online, so began leading the quest with a team of volunteers.

As well as searching for scan files on old copies of websites through the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, they tracked down and scanned physical manuals as well as receiving nearly 100 scans from users who answered a plea.

Unlike instructions uploaded by Nintendo for SNES games on the Switch service, these are the original manuals, complete with rusted staples, spills, promos for other games, and nostalgic safety warnings not to clean cartridges with “benzene, paint thinner, alcohol or similar solvents.”

The final manual added to the collection was 90 Minutes: European Prime Goal, a revamp of a Japanese game originally based around the country’s J. League.

Like any true obsessive, completing a project is simply a cue to start another one, so Peebs and colleages are now turning their attention to manuals for the Super Famicom, N64 and Virtual Boy.