Interesting Region name changes.

[njiska]

I know that alot of games undergo a name change from region to region because of cultural defferences and copyright issues, but i'm wondering which games either had really interesting names and lost them, or ones that have a good story.

Feel the Magic immediately jumps to my mind.

US: Feel the Magic: XY/XX
EU: Project Rub
AU: Project Rub
JP: I Would Die for You (Kimi no Tame Nara Shineru)

US: Rub Rabbits!
EU: Unknown
JP: Where do Babies Come From? (Akachan wa Doko Kara Kuru no?)

Those names in Japan are awsome, apparently unfit for our shores, but awsome.

US: Fatal Frame
EU: Project Zero
JP: Zero

Clearly the US has the best one but i'm not really sure why the other regions don't. I believe in the EU it was because they couldn't have the word "Fatal" in the title.

US: Resident Evil
EU:Resident Evil
JP: Biohazard

This change was because a band owns the Biohazard copyright outside of Japan. It's a shame too because biohazard is a cool and fitting name.

Any other really interseting ones?

[Whiskers the Wonder Cat]

Samurai Spirits
Samurai Shodown

Kamen Rider
Masked Rider

Pac Man
Puck Man

Dragon Quest
Dragon Warrior

Rockman
Megaman

And some of the SFII character's getting their name changed around as well.

[njiska]

Pac Man
Puck Man

Ah yes that was a good one. A P becomes an F so easily.

[roushimsx]

A favorite:
US: Devil Dice
Jp: Xi

US: Bombastic
jp: Xi Go

For these two, I really prefer the US titles as they're much more interesting and descriptive than the Japanese ones.

Now for the old ChoroQ HG Plug:
US: Gadget Racers
Jp: ChoroQ HG
Eu: Penny Racers

US: Road Trip
Jp: ChoroQ HG2
Eu: Road Trip Adventure

US: Road Trip: Adventure Avenue (never released, unfortunatly )
Jp: ChoroQ HG3
Eu: Gadget Racers

US: ChoroQ
Jp: ChoroQ HG4
Eu: ChoroQ

Talking about these games is a pain in the ass because you always have to be mindful of where the person is from that you're talking to. If you're from Europe and you're talking about how much you like Penny Racers, someone from the US will think you're talking about the N64 game, for instance. I prefer the US/European names for the games, but I try to refer to them by their japanese names just to make sure there's no confusion.

[McBacon]

Starfox became Starwing because a German company was called "StarVox" and they pronouce Vs and Fs similarly.

Gunstar Super Heroes - Gunstar Future Heroes
Dance Dance Revolution - Dancing Stage
Kirby Canvas Curse - Power Paint Brush

Can anyone help with the reasons for these US-EU translations?

[Whiskers the Wonder Cat]

Kirby Canvas Curse - Power Paint Brush

:/

[Julio III]

Fahrenheit - EU
Indigo Prophecy - US

Le Mans 24 Hours - EU
Test Drive Le Mans - US

Shotouku Battle - JP
Tokyo Highway Challenge - EU
Tokyo Xtreme Racer - US

Jet Set Radio - JP, EU
Jet Grind Radio - US

Made In Wario - JP
WarioWare - EU, JP

Star Fox 64 - JP
Lylat Wars - EU

[evildead2099]

Pac Man
Puck Man

Ah yes that was a good one. A P becomes an F so easily.

, Apparently, Namco thought so too.

US: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
UK: Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles

US: Castlevania
JP: Akumajou Dracula (Roughly translated to "Castle of Dracula")

[Lothars]

US: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
UK: Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles

Well that's something I never knew

lol well thank you

[njiska]

Pac Man
Puck Man

Ah yes that was a good one. A P becomes an F so easily.

, Apparently, Namco thought so too.

US: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
UK: Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles

US: Castlevania
JP: Akumajou Dracula (Roughly translated to "Castle of Dracula")

Akumajou = Demon Castle

[evildead2099]

Pac Man
Puck Man

Ah yes that was a good one. A P becomes an F so easily.

, Apparently, Namco thought so too.

US: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
UK: Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles

US: Castlevania
JP: Akumajou Dracula (Roughly translated to "Castle of Dracula")

Akumajou = Demon Castle

So what do you think the message is that Konami intended to convey through the title? The Demonic Castle of Dracula?

[njiska]

Pac Man
Puck Man

Ah yes that was a good one. A P becomes an F so easily.

, Apparently, Namco thought so too.

US: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
UK: Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles

US: Castlevania
JP: Akumajou Dracula (Roughly translated to "Castle of Dracula")

Akumajou = Demon Castle

So what do you think the message is that Konami intended to convey through the title? The Demonic Castle of Dracula?

I don't really know what the intended it to convey all i know is that the problerly translated title according to Mr. P, who's word on Castlevania matter's is never questioned, Is Demon Castle Dracula.

I don't beleive the implicantion was The Demonic Castle of Dracula, I beleive it was literally meant to be Demon Castle Dracula.

Kind of like Demon Castle is a title and Dracula is the Castle's name.

[lkermel]

My favourite (ironically) are the Mobile Light Force series for the PS1 and Ps2:

Japan : Gunbird
US: Mobile Light Force

Japan : Shikigami
US: Mobile Light Force 2

And I'm not even talking about the game covers with the three wonder-women ... this would be a nice topid though : How to ruin japanese game covers ? The Turbografx was pretty good at that
About the above titles, it is also funny to notice that shikigami 2 was released in the US as Castle Shikigami 2, and not Mobile Light Force 3 ...

[Richter]

Streets of Rage
Bare Knuckle

CV: Bloodlines
CV: New Generation (UK)

CV: Dracula X (SNES)
CV: Vampire's Kiss

[Haoie]

Everyone's read that feature column on region name changes right? Hilarious.

Just look at "Revengers of Vengence" and you'll burst.

[diskoboy]

I dunno how much crack Sega was smoking when they decided to rename Jet Set Radio to Jet Grind Radio.

What the hell is Jet GRIND Radio supposed to mean? Jet Set made a little more sense.

And two more -

US - Ghosts 'N Goblins
JP - Makai-Mura ("Demons World Village" in English)


US - In The Hunt
JP - Kaitei Daisensou

[njiska]

I dunno how much crack Sega was smoking when they decided to rename Jet Set Radio to Jet Grind Radio.

What the hell is Jet GRIND Radio supposed to mean? Jet Set made a little more sense.

I think it was because a major part of the gameplay was grinding. However i agree that Jet Set Radio was a better title. Thank god we got Jet Set Radio Future instead of Jet Grind.