Games that weren't released in the US, but should have been

[Zionmaster]

I'm not talking about great fighting games, or sequels/prequels as in the case of the Final Fantasy series.

I'm talking about games that had practically no reason not to be released in the states.

Two big examples I can think of are Sonic on the Master System, which while it was released, it was just the PAL version with an extra sticker.

Another, and one of my favorite games, was Mario & Wario. The game is 100% in English. It's an addicting puzzle-platformer type game, and it could have helped sell the Super Nintendo mouse! And yet it never made it beyond the Super-Fami.

Anyways, anyone else know of any games that had no business not being sold here?

[markusman64ds]

A few of the Super Sentai games were never released here as Power Rangers games.



Gekisou Sentai Carranger was never released as a PR Turbo game. Probably due to the fact that the SuFami Turbo was never released here either.



Denji Sentai Megaranger was never released as a PR in Space game.

[Parodius Duh!]

The Firemen for SNES

[kedawa]

Terranigma.

[starsoldier1]

I know a ton of PC Engine games like Out Run, Castlevania X, Gradius, and Fire Pro Wrestling just to name a few.

[Zionmaster]

I know a ton of PC Engine games like Out Run, Castlevania X, Gradius, and Fire Pro Wrestling just to name a few.

Yeah the Turbografx never really caught on here. Funny they didn't bring all the games over, considering they faithfully reproduced everything else, including those abysmally short controller cords

[The 1 2 P]

I know a ton of PC Engine games like Out Run, Castlevania X, Gradius, and Fire Pro Wrestling just to name a few.

I know the US Turbo Grafx never got those games but Castlevania: Dracula X came out on the Psp and we finally got a couple Fire Pro Wrestling games on the GBA. I've been importing those forever on several different systems so seeing them get a US release was a long time coming.

For me I'd pick The Wild Rings. It was a wrestling/mixed martial arts hybrid game released in Japan for the original Xbox during a time when wrestling was very popular over here and mixed martial arts was becoming more and more mainstream everyday. But I guess it was not meant to be.

[FoxNtd]

I don't count VC because it feels like it's forgiveness for the past mistakes. You still can't get USA N64 Sin & Punishment and you never will. I wanted to mention Arumana no Kiseki but I didn't think anyone knew it even exists. I bought that game brand new and got a no death run the next day. I seem to be good at FDS games or something.

[Aussie2B]

That's a good question, although I'm guessing most people who will respond aren't going to seriously read/think about it and just start listing off every game they wish had come out in the US even though there are plenty of blatant reasons as to why it wouldn't be a wise business move or was otherwise prevented. I think most games fall into that category, as sad as it may be to accept.

But, yeah, Mario & Wario is a good choice. It was incredibly close to being released in the US, and I just don't understand why they scrapped it. I guess they decided to give up on pushing support for the SNES mouse.

Hmmm, as for what I'd pick, that's pretty tough. Japanese games that got released in Europe but not the US are probably a good starting point. If they felt that the game had Western appeal to make Europe worthwhile, then they'd probably do about as well in the US. Konami did that a lot. TwinBee games, Parodius games, Rakuga Kids, etc. Maybe with some of those they thought Europe was bigger on shmups, but what's the excuse for TwinBee: Rainbow Bell Adventure? A great platformer with charming characters, colorful graphics, and fast, smooth gameplay. The US had loads of SNES platformers, and I'm sure that could've fit in just fine. If anything, it could've helped in the war against Sega and Sonic, back when gamers were obsessed with speed.

[davidbrit2]

The Famicom conversion/remake of Maze of Galious. It's like a side-scrolling Zelda, with a little bit of a Goonies II feel (it is from Konami after all). No clue how it didn't make it to North America.

[JSoup]

I remember Tomato Adventure being one of the first GBA games I was looking forward to playing, but it never made it to the states. I wonder if that translation patch project from years ago ever got finished....

[Zionmaster]

I remember Tomato Adventure being one of the first GBA games I was looking forward to playing, but it never made it to the states. I wonder if that translation patch project from years ago ever got finished....

That reminds me, weren't there sequels to Princess Tomato that never got released? And yes, I realize I broke from my original post there.

[treismac]

Konami's The Goonies for the Famicom had no reason for only being available in Playchoice-10 in North America.

Adventure Island 4 is also not excessively Japanesey and thus should have made the trip across the water, too.

So much of the Puyo Puyo (Puyo Pop) series should have came over here even if it meant regionalizing the charm out of the game's characters and story. I know we got Kirby's Avalanche and Dr. Robotnick's Mean Bean Machine, but still...

[mrmark0673]

For the NES:
U-four-ia

Genesis:
Monster World IV

Those two stick out as games that absolutely should have come to the states. Two of the best games on their platforms.

[hellraiser]

I know it was on sega channel but megaman wily wars should have been been made available on cart.

[Colorado Rockies]

Snes:
Secret of Mana 2
Terranigma

Nes:
Ghostbusters II

N64:
Bangai -O
Animal Forest

Gamecube:
Dishin the Giant

Dreamcast:
Headhunter
Rez
Evil Twin
Shenmue II

[Jack7]

ok i know im breaking the rules a little here, but i think the goemon series got kinda screwed over here.

but i deffinetly agree with mario and wario, i remember when i first discovered emulators it came with a pack of games and i loved it, when i started collecting again I looked for it before finding out it wasnt released here

[Tron 2.0]

Ys IV The Dawn of Ys:Yeah it has a fan translation but still if nec could have manage the TG16 better it would have been worth it.

[Steve W]

Dreamcast:
Headhunter
Evil Twin

There's a grungy little store that had copies of the UK versions of these games, and I really wanted them. But the confused immigrant guys running the place refused to sell them to me, on two separate occasions, because they couldn't find them on American eBay to figure out how much to charge me. Meanwhile, 98PaceCar went in there and bought a fat stack of Japanese Dreamcast games for next to nothing because the titles were unsearchable for them. So every time somebody brings up those games, I get really angry at that store.