I'm having similar trouble to you... I got the Sega Mega Drive (aka Genesis) collection for PS2, and I'm keen to get stuck into the Phantasy Star series. But the bloody thing only provides the most rudimentary of instructions, so I don't have the foggiest clue what the battle controls, items, or spells are supposed to do. Hence much giving up in frustrated disgust.

It's a tremendous help to have even a brief reminder of what an action or item does, before putting it into use. The Final Fantasy games would've been a real pain in the arse without that.