Used copies of the physical edition of the guide routinely go for more than $100 on eBay even now, 22 years later. An example of one of the EarthBound guide’s awesome “travel guide” pages.

Instead of drily charting where to go and when, the book introduces players to the game’s various locations through newspaper clippings, shopping tips and some beautiful character art. Not only does it have tips and tricks, but it has a “travel guide,” which is a funny and totally engrossing take on the classic walkthrough.

This has led to the wildly in-depth strategy guide becoming the EarthBound diehards’ holy grail of artwork, strategies and, above all else, nostalgia. Nintendo reportedly sold less than 150,000 copies, which isn’t a huge hit, considering the added manufacturing costs from the guidebook. Umbrae/GitHubīut as those same fans know well, EarthBound failed to make waves with buyers who hadn’t quite warmed to the RPG genre, or who were ready to move on from the late-in-life SNES. The complete, original EarthBound box and all of its content. Even cooler was that this guidebook included some scratch-and-sniff stickers in the back, another special piece of memorabilia for Nintendo fans. For $70, buyers received not just the cartridge, but a full-sized player’s guide - a book that ran 135 pages-long. Here’s the story behind this cool collectible: When EarthBound came West in 1995, it carried a higher price tag than most other games on the console. But it’s important to highlight that EarthBound’s strategy guide is included in the mix - as it’s long been coveted by fans of the role-playing game, still fetching high prices because of its extreme rarity. We’ve already linked you to a lovely collection of Super Nintendo game manuals that Nintendo uploaded in honor of the SNES Classic Edition’s launch.

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