Manual Stimulation: Noobow (GameBoy)

Up until the early part of 2013, I had only a passing interest in Nintendo's GameBoy.

Oh, I owned one as a kid--got one as soon as I possibly could after it hit store shelves in the summer of 1989, in fact--and I loved it as much as anyone can love a bulky electronic gadget with a green-and-black screen.



After I sold my GameBoy system and catalog of carts a few years later, though, I rarely looked back. It just wasn't an experience I felt like revisiting, you know?

So, what happened in 2013? I came across a small blog post about the game highlighted here: Irem's Noobow.



That post included a short video of Noobow in action. I was hooked a second after I hit "start."

Over the next few months, I searched the Internet high and low for other Japan-only GameBoy games that had escaped my attention and that might appeal to me as much as Noobow.

All of that digital sleuthing resulted in me discovering import gems like Peetan, Painter Momopie and Osawagase! Penguin Boy. (OK, so that last one actually earned a Western release--as Amazing Penguin.)



Once I became aware of those titles, too, there was no going back. In the years since, I basically made it a goal to obtain complete-in-box copies of those Japanese GameBoy games and a slew of others (like Astro Rabby, Burning Paper and Cave Noire).

Curiously, each of the games I've mentioned so far were sold with stellar instruction manuals packed inside their colorful cardboard boxes.



Noobow's manual isn't as stellar as some of the others linked to at the bottom of this post, but I think it's still pretty nice.

Chiefly responsible for me calling it "nice" is that it sports a number of adorable illustrations of the eponymous Noobow, who apparently began life (and I believe continues to serve) as a mascot for a line of merchandise.



Strangely, this booklet doesn't contain even half as many illustrations as Noobow's outer box does, but at least almost all of the ones stuffed inside the manual are unique.

Also worth celebrating: the Noobow manual features three full pages of item drawings and descriptions.



If this is your first visit to this site, or if you haven't been visiting it for long, you need to know I love old game manuals that feature item drawings and descriptions.

Admittedly, the item drawings showcased here are on the rough side, but that just adds to their charm, if you ask me. (For another Japanese GameBoy manual that features rough item drawings, check out my post about the booklet made for the system's Bubble Bobble port.)



The second-to-last page of the Noobow instruction manual (see below) is supposed to be reserved for jotting down passwords, by the way. Whether or not the text a previous owner scribbled onto mine actually is a password, though, is up for debate.



Now that you've taken it all in, what do you think of the Noobow GameBoy instruction manual?

Also, if any of you have played this 1992 release, what do you think of it?

See also: previous 'Manual Stimulation' posts about Astro Rabby, Bubble Bobble Junior, Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru, Snow Bros. Jr. and Tumblepop

Nu-Bo, Nuubou, Noobow, New--oh, whatever...

I've wanted to own this curious puzzler-platformer since I first became aware of it three years ago. (You can read my thoughts on that introduction in "His name is Noobow and I want his game.")

A year after I made Noobow's acquaintance, I came across (and quickly snapped up, naturally) the complete-in-box copy of the game showcased in the photos below.

Considering the insane prices some other obscure Japanese GameBoy titles go for these days--search eBay for Phantasm or Peetan, if you'd like proof--I got this copy for an absolute steal.

Of course, I would've been willing to spend a lot more than I did to acquire Noobow, as its packaging is the definition of "top shelf."

I mean, just look at the photo above as well as the three that follow. Every edge of Noobow's box features a little illustration of the titular character, who was an anime and manga star back in the early 1990s. 

The adorable "Noobow waving" drawing seen in the snapshot below also appears on this game's cartridge label, by the way. 

Here's the back of Noobow's box. Actually, it's just two-thirds of the back of its box; I didn't include the rest of it because a partially removed price sticker covers its lower third. 

Don't worry, I'll get rid of it eventually. (I've read that Goo Gone works pretty well in these kinds of situations as long as you don't overdo it.) After I do, maybe I'll take a few new photos and add them to my Flickr photostream.

Thankfully, the game's instruction manual is in no need of that sort of attention.

Unsurprisingly, it's stuffed with a number of so-cute-I-could-puke illustrations.

If you'd like to see more of Noobow's aww-inspiring (FYI: I made that typo on purpose) instruction pamphlet, keep your eyes peeled for another installment of my long-running "Manual Stimulation" series.

In the meantime, have any of you fine folks played this 1992, Japan-only GameBoy title? If so, what are your impressions of it?

If you haven't, I'd highly recommend checking it out via emulation as soon as you're able. It won't blow your mind, but I'm pretty sure it'll bring a smile to your face.

His name is Noobow and I want his game

While perusing the SCROLL magazine blog this past weekend, I came across the following video of a rather obscure Japanese GameBoy title called Noobow (Nu-Bo is another possibility).

As you're made well aware during the video's first few seconds, Noobow was produced by the always able folks at Irem and released in 1992.

Although Noobow's protagonist is big and slow and even a bit creepy, I can't help but want a copy of it anyway due to its intriguing combination of platforming and puzzle elements.



Another reason I've added Noobow to my lengthy "wish list" of import-only GameBoy titles: its bright yellow box art, which features the titular character sticking out his tongue at all who come across it.

Unfortunately, I doubt I'm going to find a copy--complete-in-box or otherwise--anytime soon, so I'll probably have to content myself by watching the video above for some time to come.