Strategy Guides

Photo via CAG.com forums

It happens to the best of us. You're playing a game and you stumble upon a puzzle that gets a stumped. Or maybe you're having difficulty with a boss fight. Perhaps a stage is on the verge of making you rage quit. Whatever the reason, you're in a situation where something is preventing you from getting to point B. In a nutshell, you're stuck. You can either figure things out on your own, or you can seek aid via a strategy guide or a walk-through.

Strategy guides are nothing new. These things have been around for decades and they've only risen in popularity thanks to sites like GameFaqs, MyCheats, and plenty of YouTube videos. In this day in age, getting unstuck is far easier than it was in the 8 and 16-bit era.

But not everyone wants to rely on outside help. I've heard from some gamers that resorting to a guide is akin to cheating. Hey if someone can make it through a game without any help at all, I say more power to 'em. But I've been getting some kind of help in my games ever since I was a kid. The Nintendo Player's Guide of Super Mario Bros. 3 helped me uncover many of that games secrets and pass stages I would have remained stuck on otherwise. I doubt I ever would have gotten all 120 Power Stars in Super Mario 64 without the Nintendo Player's Guide that I picked up years ago for chump change. While I'm not against thinking to solve some puzzles, I don't like spending all day on a particular spot when I know there are dozens of places I can look to find the solution.

I love Zelda games but no matter which game I'm playing, I always get stuck. When I was playing the first Legend of Zelda on the Wii's Virtual Console last summer, I used ZeldaDungeon YouTube videos to help me finish that game and find a lot of other things that I didn't even know about. I'll be using them again when I go through Zelda II: The Adventure of Link and I've no doubt I'll need some help for Twilight Princess, Majora's Mask and Skyward Sword.

As much as I've used strategy guides over the years, it's been a long time since I've actually spent money on one. What used to cost $10 is now $20 or more, kinda steep for assistance if you ask me. Like I mentioned above, most guides can be found on the net, containing everything you're looking for and won't cost you a dime. That being said, not every online guide provides you with visual aid, but that's where YouTube videos come in.

When I did buy guides, my favorite ones were from Brady Games and Nintendo Power. Most guides from Nintendo Power were spot-on, giving you all the info you needed and then some. Same with Brady, though there were some blunders, such as the Final Fantasy IX Official Strategy guide, which mostly referred you to a website that never got off the ground. Sadly, all guides for games by Nintendo and it's second parties are handled by Prima, a company that has a reputation for putting out less than stellar guides. I outta now, because after purchasing a few years ago, I've steered clear of them ever since.

I still use guides on new and old games. I even break out my old Nintendo Player's Guide books for some of my favorite games from the Big N. With most recent games I consult YouTube videos or just go to MyCheats, the later of which helped greatly in getting 100% completion on Super Mario Galaxy. The way I see it, we all need help at times, and it's nice to know that it's available in so many places.