Most Ridiculous Attempts at Censorship in a Game [Archive]

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Ascending Wordsmith

05-02-2003, 06:48 PM

Ever played a game where blood was supposed to be in it, yet it was replaced by something other than blood?

The Metal Slug series is an example of this. Before I got my Neo Geo CD unit and some Metal Slug games, I had to put up with the American PSX version of Metal Slug X. Instead of the blood and gore that makes it the series what it is, I'm treated to what appears to be gray water spurting from soldiers that have been blown away by a shotgun discharge. I'd figure a shotgun round would make a mess but thanks to censorship, these soldiers are full of nothing but gray water.

What are some ridiculous attempts at censorship you've seen in a game?

BenT

05-02-2003, 06:58 PM

The panties the perverted old man fancies in the first Famicom Dragon Ball game (Dragon Power in America) are changed to sandwiches in the American version. That guy sure wants his sandwiches!

Similarly, an old man in Goemon 64 refers to a stack of porno mags in the original version. In the US-localized Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon, they're car mags.

Kid Fenris

05-02-2003, 07:32 PM

Sega was known for being "edgier" than Nintendo, yet their censorship was often just as heavy and unconvincing. In Dark Savior, a Saturn action/RPG set on a prison island, cigarettes became "chocolate," alcohol became "empty bottles," and porno became "scary magazines." Heh.

Capcom's most amusing alteration was, I think, when they changed Poison into a guy for the American SNES version of Final Fight. Didn't Capcom's U.S. branch complain about Poison to the Japanese designers, who replied that Poison was supposed to be a transvestite?

And Working Designs edited out Cadette Babette's upturned middle finger from a scene in Cosmic Fantasy 2. The cut was understandable at the time, but it amuses me to think that Working Designs would later be known as the company that added crude and suggestive content to games instead of taking it out.

Hey Kwaj, does the Neo version of Metal Slug X have the same extra modes as the PSX version?

NE146

05-02-2003, 07:39 PM

What are some ridiculous attempts at censorship you've seen in a game?

Remember the english version of the PC-Engine Game Kato and Kan? (I think it was called JJ and Jeff). In the original, one of the primary weapons was farting. But in the U.S. version amongst other things, they replaced the farting with them carrying spray cans thus taking out half the humor and fun :roll:

katchoo

05-02-2003, 07:41 PM

Typing of the Dead for the Dreamcast...where they replaced the guns with keyboards and strapped Dreamcasts to the backs of the characters...

just really, really strange

Ascending Wordsmith

05-02-2003, 07:49 PM

Hey Kwaj, does the Neo version of Metal Slug X have the same extra modes as the PSX version?

I wouldn't know. The only Metal Slug games for the CD unit are 1 and 2.

Somebody substituted chocolate for cigarettes? On a prison no less?

NE146

05-02-2003, 07:58 PM

kainemaxwell

05-02-2003, 08:43 PM

And don't forget the famous grey blood in the SNES Mortal Kombat (which you could change to red or any other color for that matter via a Game Genie).

Gunstarhero

05-02-2003, 09:56 PM

I gotta be honest, as valid as your point about Metal Slug is PC Kwajelien, I seriously have no qualms about blood/other censorship. I know I'm not in the majority, but I really just don't care. If it doesn't affect gameplay, then I'm fine with it. Some things about games I'm really picky with, but with censorship, I just feel indifferent. I don't have a censored Metal Slug, but I do have MS3, which has green blood I think. Heck I just use my imagination and think its some special slime blood or something.

Speaking of censorship, isn't the NEO one of the most censored machines? I mean, didn't they even censor boob-bounce on some of the fighting games? I swear I've seen that talked about before.

NE146

05-02-2003, 10:04 PM

Speaking of censorship, isn't the NEO one of the most censored machines? I mean, didn't they even censor boob-bounce on some of the fighting games? I swear I've seen that talked about before.

I think it was something you could switch on and off via an option menu right? At least from my experience playing Neo Geo in mame you just go to the option menu and there you can turn the blood on or off..

Captain Wrong

05-02-2003, 10:37 PM

Some Neo games let you switch stuff in the dips, others it depends on the BIOS version you're using. The US BIOS, be it home or MVS, is the most censored. They usually cut out the blood and "bounce".

Oh, the grey stuff coming out of the guys in the Metal Slug series is supposed to be "sweat" I believe. Go fig...

House of the Dead 2 has the green blood too, at least till you beat it. Actually I like the green stuff better. More zombie like.

davidbrit2

05-03-2003, 01:32 AM

Typing of the Dead for the Dreamcast...where they replaced the guns with keyboards and strapped Dreamcasts to the backs of the characters...

just really, really strange

That wasn't censorship, that was the actual game! (Based off of House of the Dead of course)

And it's a hell of a game, too. Never before have I gotten an adrenaline rush from touch typing. And I write papers at the very last possible hour, so that's saying something. If you ever see it for DC, get it. You'll love it, as long as you can type well. It's intense.

zektor

05-03-2003, 03:20 AM

And don't forget the famous grey blood in the SNES Mortal Kombat (which you could change to red or any other color for that matter via a Game Genie).

I remember pulling off Kano's fatality on the SNES (the pulling out of the heart) and he would hold up NOTHING.....it was like they just edited out the heart graphic. From as far as I remember that is...been a long time since I played it on that system...

katchoo

05-03-2003, 09:23 AM

ManekiNeko

05-03-2003, 01:11 PM

People liked to complain about the censorship in the Super NES version of Mortal Kombat, but it was even worse in the Genesis version if you didn't enter the ABACAB code first. When Kano reached inside his opponent, all he would pull out was a misshapen silver ball rather than his heart (which, for the record, didn't look all that good either). In contrast, the censored fatalities in the Super NES game looked really cool... Raiden would eletrocute his opponent, turning them into ashes, and Sub-Zero would freeze, then shatter his enemy.
There was all kinds of censorship in some of the Hudson Soft games for the Turbografx-16. J.J. and Jeff took out Kato and Ken's urinating and farting, and one of Air Zonk's alternate forms (which turned him into a Madonna look alike with a real torpedo bra) was replaced with something less offensive... and entertaining.

JR

davidbrit2

05-03-2003, 01:35 PM

Typing of the Dead for the Dreamcast...where they replaced the guns with keyboards and strapped Dreamcasts to the backs of the characters...

just really, really strange

That wasn't censorship, that was the actual game! (Based off of House of the Dead of course)

oof..it's still crazy strange...i can understand the keyboards, but did they have to strap the Dreamcasts to their backs?

I'm pretty sure they did it for the dark humor effect. The juxtaposition of an undead horror scenario, and absolutely ridiculous costumes and weapons is just brilliant.

katchoo

05-03-2003, 04:39 PM

I'm pretty sure they did it for the dark humor effect. The juxtaposition of an undead horror scenario, and absolutely ridiculous costumes and weapons is just brilliant.
too true...there really isn't anything better than typing something akin to "crazy cats are good eats!" to take down a zombie. :D

davidbrit2

05-03-2003, 04:49 PM

Yeah. The paragraphs you type to fight the Colosseum boss are just so goofy and non-contextual, too. It's great.

WiseSalesman

05-03-2003, 06:20 PM

AB Positive

05-03-2003, 08:10 PM

The boob-bounce censorship was in one of the games, I believe it was either Fatal Fury 2 or King of fighters 94. Either way, Mai's bounce was disabled unless you entered a code in the home version. After the code, there was much bouncage.

However, let it also be known that SNK are very serious about their sprite designs. There is one move where for a split second, SNK might have wanted to censor the game. Ah, found it. King of Fighters '99:

http://planetdreamcast.com/orochinagi/cyberfan/facts/maiacc.htm

Mai Shirauni's fan throw. Showing that SNK both over-censors and obsesses over sprites. Still, I love the series.

Kid Fenris

05-03-2003, 11:56 PM

The cut was understandable at the time, but it amuses me to think that Working Designs would later be known as the company that added crude and suggestive content to games instead of taking it out.

Really? In what games did they add such content?

In many of the RPGs translated by Working Designs, you'll find ribald dialogue that probably wasn't in the original Japanese version. For the most part, it's just banter with the townspeople (One woman in Albert Odyssey utters something like "My rules are no biting and no livestock."), though in Lunar 2, Ronfar says "Winkie says yes but thinkie says I have to get back to work." Oh yeah, and during a conversation sequence in Vanguard Bandits, the cake-loving Barlow recalls that "Reyna said she'd let me dive into her muffins if I do a good job fighting the imperials!" Stuff like that.

I really don't mind the jokes since they're usually harmless and often quite witty, but some (read: fanboys with too much time on their hands) loathe WD for it. I remember how some Usenet folks flew into a rage over Jean from Lunar 2 dropping a line to the effect of "Don't be such a wimp or you'll grow up to be an interior decorator." RPG fans overreact a lot.