Manual Stimulation: Moai-kun (Famicom)

Three years ago, I declared--in this post--Moai-kun's box art to be among my favorites as far as Nintendo's Famicom is concerned.

Well, now I'm declaring this Konami-made puzzler's instruction manual to be among my favorites as well.

This time, though, I'm going to go a step further and say that the booklet showcased in the scans below is one of my all-time favorite game manuals, period.



Some of you likely will feel the same way about it once you finish perusing this post. Hell, I'll bet at least a few of you will feel that way about it after taking in the front and back covers of Moai-kun's manual.





One of the best things about this how-to pamphlet, if you ask me, is that every single page of it features an illustration or some other piece of art.





The pops of color and the additional elements that keep each two-page spread from being anything even approaching boring only add to the appeal of this Moai-kun instruction booklet.

A few photos (and words) that hopefully explain why I consider Konami's Moai-kun to be my favorite example of Famicom box art

How many times have I become smitten with a game simply because of its beautiful cover art--before I had much of a clue as to how it played or even how it looked?

I'm not all that sure I want to know the exact number, actually, although I'm guessing the answer could be summed up with "a few too many times."

Regardless, that certainly was what happened with Konami's Moai-kun. I mean, it's definitely possible I heard about this Famicom puzzler-platformer before I first came across--and fell in love with--its box art, but whatever I heard wasn't enough to spur me to look it up or attempt to play it via emulation.

As soon as I laid eyes on its adorably energetic cover imagery, I just knew I had to give it a go in some form or fashion. The only problem with that plan was complete-in-box copies of it can be both hard to find and expensive.

So, I bided my time and waited until I happened upon a copy that wouldn't cost me an arm and a leg. That copy--picked up earlier this year--can be seen in the pair of photos included in this post.

Honestly, I'm not sure which side of Moai-kun's box I like more--the front or the back. The front is where all the drama takes place, of course, but the back impresses as well by featuring adorable depictions of the game's monolithic protagonist, one of which is shown saying, "I'm hero."

Thankfully, in the end, this pick-up was about more than acquiring a wonderful example of Famicom cover art, as the game itself is nearly as worthwhile as its packaging. If you've yet to experience it, it's a puzzle-centric platformer that plays not unlike a sideview version of HAL Laboratory's classic Adventures of Lolo series.

In practice, that involves the statuesque title character (controlled by the player) rescuing his similarly stone-faced buddies by hopping onto, and off of, platforms, pushing boulders, busting blocks and even head-butting baddies à la PC Genjin (aka Bonk's Adventure) before bounding through the exit door and moving onto the next single-screen stage.

Admittedly, Moai-kun isn't exactly a looker, but it gets the job done aesthetically and that's all that really matters in a game like this.

See also: "A few photos (and words) that hopefully showcase why I consider Yume Penguin Monogatari to be my second-favorite example of Famicom box art"