Some of those games were unplayable without the manuals or a map! Looking at you Star Control II! You needed a map for the coordinates to play that one.
I remember losing the manual for Star Trek 25th Anniversary (Interplay, 1992) and that was a disaster. I eventually got a photocopy from a friend.
I can almost smell them. Forget new car smell, whatever carcinogens were in those things were premium ones.