gameandwatch.ch: Manuals

FAQ tricOtronic manuals
by Gawaleus

F. How many Game&Watch games with a manual in German are known?
A. I know of 38 games with a manual in German.

F. Which ones are these?
A. I have listed all in following table. Some pictures are missing (Picture wanted) and I did list some, where I believe that they do exist, but I don't know for sure (pictures with a question mark).

Silver Series


Jolly Jongleur (Ball AC-01) Front	Jolly Jongleur (Ball AC-01) Back	Maulwurfsjagd (Vermin MT-03) Front	Maulwurfsjagd (Vermin MT-03) Back

Hilfe, es brennt! (Fire RC-04) Front	Hilfe, es brennt! (Fire RC-04) Back	Das Hammer-Duell (Judge IP-05) Front	Das Hammer-Duell (Judge IP-05) Back

Gold Series


Achtung Graben! (Manhole MH-06) Front	Achtung Graben! (Manhole MH-06) Back	Vorsicht Werkzeug! (Helmet CN-07) Front	Vorsicht Werkzeug! (Helmet CN-07) Back

Der Löwe ist los! (Lion LN-08) Front	Der Löwe ist los! (Lion LN-08) Back

Wide Screen Series


Sprung in die Hölle (Parachute PR-21) Front	Sprung in die Hölle (Parachute PR-21) Back	Schnapp' den Schatz (Octopus OC-22) Front	Schnapp' den Schatz (Octopus OC-22) Back

Popeye's Bootsausflug (Popeye PP-23) Front	Popeye's Bootsausflug (Popeye PP-23) Back	Die verrückte Küche (Chef FP-24) Front	Die verrückte Küche (Chef FP-24) Back

Mickey Mouse im Hühner- stall (Mickey Mouse MC-25) Front	Mickey Mouse im Hühner- stall (Mickey Mouse MC-25) Back	Rettung im Sprungtuch (Fire FR-27) Front	Rettung im Sprungtuch (Fire FR-27) Back

Die lebende Brücke (Turtle Bridge TL-28) Front	Die lebende Brücke (Turtle Bridge TL-28) Back	Blockhaus in Flammen (Fire Attack ID-29) Front	Blockhaus in Flammen (Fire Attack ID-29) Back

Snoopy spielt Tennis (Snoopy Tennis SP-30) Front	Snoopy spielt Tennis (Snoopy Tennis SP-30) Back

Multi Screen Series


Öl-Panik (Oil Panic OP-51) Front	Öl-Panik (Oil Panic OP-51) Back	Donkey Kong (Donkey Kong DK-52) Front	Donkey Kong (Donkey Kong DK-52) Back

Mickey&Donald (Mickey&Donald DM-53) Front	Mickey&Donald (Mickey&Donald DM-53) Back	Green House (Green House GH-54) Front	Green House (Green House GH-54) Back

Donkey - Kong II (Donkey Kong II JR-55) Front	Donkey - Kong II (Donkey Kong II JR-55) Back	Mario Brother's (Mario Bros. MW-56) Front	Mario Brother's (Mario Bros. MW-56) Back

Rain Shower (Rain Shower LP-57) Front	Rain Shower (Rain Shower LP-57) Back	Life Boat (Life Boat TC-58) Front	Life Boat (Life Boat TC-58) Back

Flipper (Pinball PB-59) Front	Flipper (Pinball PB-59) Back	? (Black Jack BJ-60) Front	? (Black Jack BJ-60) Back

Squish (Squish MG-61) Front	Squish (Squish MG-61) Back	Bomb Sweeper Bomb Sweeper BD-62) Front	Bomb Sweeper (Bomb Sweeper BD-62) Back

? (Safe Buster JB-63) Front	? (Safe Buster JB-63) Back	Gold Cliff (Gold Cliff MV-64) Front	Gold Cliff (Gold Cliff MV-64) Back

? (Zelda ZL-65) Front	? (Zelda ZL-65) Back

New Wide Screen Series


Donkey-Kong Junior (Donkey Kong Jr. DJ-101) Front	Donkey-Kong Junior (Donkey Kong Jr. DJ-101) Back	Mario's Zement Fabrik (Mario's Cement Factory ML-102) Front	Mario's Zement Fabrik (Mario's Cement Factory ML-102) Back

Tropical Fish (Tropical Fish TF-104) Front	Tropical Fish (Tropical Fish TF-104) Back	Balloon Fight (Balloon Fight BF-107) Front	Balloon Fight (Balloon Fight BF-107) Back

Panorama Screen Series


Snoopy (Snoopy SM-91) Front	Snoopy (Snoopy SM-91) Back	Popeye (Popeye PG-92) Front	Popeye (Popeye PG-92) Back

Donkey Kong Jr. (Donkey Kong Jr. CJ-93) Front	Donkey Kong Jr. (Donkey Kong Jr. CJ-93) Back	Mario's Bombs Away (Mario's Bombs Away TB-94) Front	Mario's Bombs Away (Mario's Bombs Away TB-94) Back

Table Top Series


? (Donkey Kong Jr. CJ-71) Front	? (Donkey Kong Jr. CJ-71) Back	? (Mario's Cement Factory CM-72) Front	? (Mario's Cement Factory CM-72) Back

? (Snoopy SM-73) Front	? (Snoopy SM-73) Back	? (Popeye PG-74) Front	? (Popeye PG-74) Back

Super Color Series


Spitball Sparky (Spitball Sparky BU-201) Front	Spitball Sparky (Spitball Sparky BU-201) Back	Crab Grab (Crab Grab UD-202) Front	Crab Grab (Crab Grab UD-202) Back

Crystal Screen Series


Super Mario Bros. (Super Mario Bros. YM-801) Front	Super Mario Bros. (Super Mario Bros. YM-801) Back	Climber (Climber DR-802) Front	Climber (Climber DR-802) Back

Balloon Fight (Balloon Fight BF-803) Front	Balloon Fight (Balloon Fight BF-803) Back

F. I see there are missing some. Does this mean that not all Game&Watch where released with a German manual?
A. Yes, that's correct.

F. Many of the manuals have the name tricOtronic imprinted, but others don't. Why that?
A. First, many Game&Watch where distributed in the German speaking parts of Europe with the name tricOtronic. These games have a tricOtronic box (please see the FAQ about tricOtronic). At a later time, the games were released with a standard box (the same used worldwide). The games still did come with a manual in German, but without the name tricOtronic on them.

F. How many of these manuals do exist?
A. I know of 16, but possibly there are more.


Life Boat (Life Boat TC-58)	Flipper (Pinball PB-59)	Squish (Squish MG-61)	Bomb Sweeper (Bomb Sweeper BD-62)

Gold Cliff (Gold Cliff MV-64)	Tropical Fish (Tropical Fish TF-104)	Snoopy (Snoopy SM-91)	Popeye (Popeye PG-92)

Donkey Kong Jr. (Donkey Kong Jr. CJ-93)	Mario's Bombs Away (Mario's Bombs Away TB-94)	Spitball Sparky (Spitball Sparky BU-201)	Crab Grab (Crab Grab UD-202)

Balloon Fight (Balloon Fight BF-107)	Super Mario Bros. (Super Mario Bros. YM-801)	Climber (Climber DR-802)	Balloon Fight (Balloon Fight BF-803)

F. Who did distribute the games in Europe?
A. Mostly it was the company Bienengräber from Hamburg. But there were other distributors as well, for example SISO and YENO (please see the FAQ about tricOtronic).

F. I have seen different manuals for the same game. Why?
A. One explanation is that there were different distributors for Game&Watch. But I don't know why the distributor Bienengräber itself did produce different manuals for the same game. Most differences are just small. But let's have a look at these manuals first:


Rettung im Sprungtuch (Fire FR-27) Front Version 1	Rettung im Sprungtuch (Fire FR-27) Front Version 2	Rettung im Sprungtuch (Fire FR-27) Back Version 1	Rettung im Sprungtuch (Fire FR-27) Back Version 2

Snoopy spielt Tennis (Snoopy Tennis SP-30) Front Version 1	Snoopy spielt Tennis (Snoopy Tennis SP-30) Front Version 2	Snoopy spielt Tennis (Snoopy Tennis SP-30) Back Version 1	Snoopy spielt Tennis (Snoopy Tennis SP-30) Back Version 2

Donkey Kong (Donkey Kong DK-52) Front Version 1	Donkey Kong (Donkey Kong DK-52) Front Version 2	Donkey Kong (Donkey Kong DK-52) Back Version 1	Donkey Kong (Donkey Kong DK-52) Back Version 2

Mario Brother's (Mario Bros. MW-56) Front Version 1	Mario Brother's (Mario Bros. MW-56) Front Version 2	Mario Brother's (Mario Bros. MW-56) Back Version 1	Mario Brother's (Mario Bros. MW-56) Back Version 2

Interesting fact is, that some manuals do have the logo of Bienengräber, others don't.
Another difference is the item number. On some manuals it's smaller and moved to the left.

F. Is there anything special about the item numbers?
A. Yes. The last two or three digits show the model number of the game! And some distributors did change the item numbers. For Snoopy Tennis (SP-30), Bienengräber did use the item number 645 0030. When SISO did distribute the same game at a later time, they changed it into 607 000 0030.
Or the game Rettung im Sprungtuch (Fire FR-27): 645 0027 turned into 607 000 027. Bienengräber did import the games Fire FR-27. In case of the item number 645 0027, Bienengräber was the distributor as well. It's not clear who was the distributor for item number 607 000 027, because I can't find anything in the manual. But I guess it was SISO, because the item number has the same scheme like other item numbers from SISO.

I hope I could answer some of your questions. Many will remain unanswered for sure, but maybe we'll find out more about tricOtronic ;-)

Note: I have researched the information in this FAQ as good as possible. But I can't promise that they are fully correct or completely. If you find something which is not correct, or if you have additional information, I would appreciate if you would drop me a line, thank you very much!

Many thanks to the G&W.ch members Undead and Cord for providing some of the pictures here.

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FAQ tricOtronic manuals