Lapse By Nintendo Censors

[Casati]

Jaleco's Goal 2 for the SNES has a French player named "Merde". Perhaps the Nintendo censors weren't multilingual?

[Aussie2B]

An explanation would help. :P Not all of us are multilingual either, especially not in French. Apparently (having Googled it), "merde" means "shit".

[skaar]

An explanation would help. :P Not all of us are multilingual either, especially not in French. Apparently (having Googled it), "merde" means "shit".

Yes.

Poop.

It's a poop joke.

[Ludwig]

Yes.

Poop.

It's a poop joke.

It referrers to french hygiene and food. :vamp:

[badinsults]

It certainly isn't considered as offensive as in English.

[skaar]

It certainly isn't considered as offensive as in English.

Shit happens.

[Cobra Commander]

Shit happens.
Apparently, merde has been known to occur once or twice as well.

[Sunnyvale]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8MzQxz3PYQ

[Cryomancer]

I say this should become a listing thread.

The boss guy at the end of Clash at Demonhead is seen smoking, which isn't supposed to be in NES games.

Golgo in general.

[InsaneDavid]

The US version of City Connection has your character lighting up a cigarette at the end of the first stage. The Japanese version is completely different so the smoking scenes were put there by the US localization team.

Screens here, as part of my NES'cade column from July 2006 (http://www.classicplastic.net/dvgi/publications-RTMnescadeCityConnection.html).

[SparTonberry]

So I hear the last boss of the Famicom version of Double Dragon III is a reincarnated Cleopatra. And on the NES, it's a possessed Marion.
And that's supposed to be less offensive?

Valvalis in Final Fantasy II SNES. She was near naked (which the ESRB noted in the VC rating). As a kid I found it strange that Nintendo wouldn't let Cecil and Rosa kiss, and then out of nowhere Cid comes up with a line about wanting to see their kids someday.

And I imagine Hitler's exploding head in Bionic Commando is well known. (and leaving us to wonder if that is a reason Nintendo supposedly refused to allow a VC release when Rearmed came to the other consoles.)

[Gameguy]

So I hear the last boss of the Famicom version of Double Dragon III is a reincarnated Cleopatra. And on the NES, it's a possessed Marion.
And that's supposed to be less offensive?
I think they just changed the story line so it would seem like they had more of a reason to help find the sacred stones, in the NES version they were trying to rescue Marion while in the original they were just asked to find the stones and just went with it because a fortune teller told them to. The original script wasn't really that good so I don't think they changed it for censorship. Plus Marion died in all versions of Double Dragon II except for the NES version, this is the only version of Double Dragon III where they could bring her back while still making sense.

None of the NES Double Dragon games were direct arcade ports, actual arcade ports were released on other systems and the scripts for those were pretty much left alone.

[Ryaan1234]

Don't forget Monster Party (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzxyVkIos34). A short while into the first level (seen @ 3:47 in the video) EVERYTHING turns bloody and gory, with blood and skeletons in the password and level start screens (I think in the pause menu too?). Visible blood and gore was something known to be censored from NES games, but in this case it was left in the game. The ending also has some slightly disturbing imagery, but I won't spoil it for anyone.

One site says that at least one boss in the game had the "blood" censored from it (It was the fried shrimp boss... yeah this is such a weird game), but why that was censored but the background graphics and whole levels with the stuff was left untouched is beyond me.

[BlastProcessing402]

I always thought it was weird that Nintendo made Konami take crosses out of Castlevania games, yet here's Link in the original Zelda with a big honkin cross on his shield.

[isufje]

I always thought it was weird that Nintendo made Konami take crosses out of Castlevania games

Then what the hey is Simon throwing!? Plus signs?

[The 1 2 P]

In Ring King for the Nes your cornerman gives you blowjobs between rounds. Apparently this.....um, rebuilds your strength.

[The 1 2 P]

In Ring King for the Nes your cornerman gives you blowjobs between rounds. Apparently this.....um, rebuilds your strength.

[scaryice]

Then what the hey is Simon throwing!? Plus signs?

I think they were called boomerangs, actually. The funniest is Hulk Hogan's crosses in Wrestlemania, which are referred to in the manual as golden x's.

[Duke.Togo]

I was always surprised that the cigarettes item made it in Metal Gear on NES. Smoking them was beneficial to add time to the escape sequence, and I'm sure that didn't send the right message to kids.

Also, what about the topless woman on one of the cards in Taboo?

[chrisbid]

if were going to honest, the entire sport of soccer is pretty offensive

[Astrosmash]

I think they were called boomerangs, actually. The funniest is Hulk Hogan's crosses in Wrestlemania, which are referred to in the manual as golden x's.

I seem to recall the Castlevania manual (or maybe it was the NES Game Atlas, or both) calling the holy water "fire bombs."

Of course there was also the briefing in Rambo: "You've got 36 hours to get in, complete your assignment, and get the hell out."

[old man]

Kefka sports a boner during the last battle of FF3(VI).

[SparTonberry]

Tomato did a comparison of the Japanese and US Super Mario Bros. manuals, and the English manual actually stated Mario was killing his enemies, whereas the Japanese manual text translated to "defeating" his enemies. Funny because NoA would soon prohibit any mention of murder/death in games.

[Rob2600]

Valvalis in Final Fantasy II SNES. She was near naked (which the ESRB noted in the VC rating).

Medusa in Super Castlevania IV (SNES) is topless. Not only did Nintendo of America leave that in, but there's a photo of her in the instruction manual, too. I was really surprised. Her torso isn't very detailed, but still.

[Graham Mitchell]

Commando for the NES depicts Super Joe smoking between levels.

Freedom Force, Sunsoft's zapper game (which is quite good, actually) treats the player with a big blood splat on the chest of everyone you shoot. My mom actually freaked out a little bit when she saw me playing this as a little kid.

Ashtar stabs Irene Lew in the back pretty graphically in Ninja Gaiden 2, and drops of blood are depicted dripping off the sword.

Kid Icarus has nude busts in the last level.

For some reason the japanese developers got away with this a lot in those days, but some western developers got really hammered on this. Ever read anything about the nes port of Maniac mansion? Nintendo was pretty petty about a lot of that stuff.

[SuperNewb]

On this topic... How on earth was Conker's Bad Fury Day ever published?

[Graham Mitchell]

On this topic... How on earth was Conker's Bad Fury Day ever published?

Nintendo relaxed their policy during the SNES era. Mortal kombat 2 is a bloody good port on the SNES.

[skaar]

After implementing the changes, Lucasfilm Games re-submitted Maniac Mansion to Nintendo, which then manufactured 250,000 cartridges.[1][26] The NES cartridge features a battery back-up to save data,[27] and a prototype NES cartridge with the original content is rumored to exist.[27][28] In early 1990, Nintendo announced the port in its official magazine and provided further coverage later in the year.[9][29] The ability to microwave a hamster remained in the game, which Crockford cited as an example of the censors' confusing criteria.[1][27] However, Nintendo later noticed it, and they removed it from the European release.[15][27] After the initial batch of cartridges was sold, Nintendo made Jaleco remove the content in future releases.[26][27] The Japanese Famicom release had some graphics and music missing, featured flip-screen scrolling, and had different-looking characters.


Anyone know if there's a way to tell by looking at a cart if you could nuke the hamster?

Amusingly, citation for 27: ^ a b c d e Santulli, Joe (2002). Digital Press Video Game Collector's Guide (7 ed.). Pompton Lakes, NJ: Digital Press. ISBN 978-0-9709807-0-0.

[Damon Plus]

In Nintendo World Cup (the one with Technos characters), there's a Spanish player called "Tonto". That means "dumb" in Spanish.

[Parodius Duh!]

Tiger Balls in just about any SNES capcom beat em up featuring Tigers as enemies.

[ishashobar]

Anyone know if there's a way to tell by looking at a cart if you could nuke the hamster?

Amusingly, citation for 27: ^ a b c d e Santulli, Joe (2002). Digital Press Video Game Collector's Guide (7 ed.). Pompton Lakes, NJ: Digital Press. ISBN 978-0-9709807-0-0.

All US carts have the exploding hamster, they just took it out for the PAL release, or so wiki tells me.

[ishashobar]

Oops. Connection error double post.

[Aussie2B]

As for Conker's Bad Fur Day, it's not so much that Nintendo relaxed their policies but rather the fact that the ESRB came into existence. Nintendo couldn't care less what goes in a game since then. Prior to that, they had to cover their asses because angry parent groups would complain straight to them and threaten law suits. Now the only complaining that can be done would be with the ESRB itself, and only if the rating is grossly off.

[SparTonberry]

Ignoring the clueless parents that will buy their 6-year-old GTA and then bitch at the store later, I don't think consumers can actually sue the ESRB for a rating. I think it would be the publisher's responsibility to ensure the packaging (including the rating) accurately represents the game content.
(though ESRB does have the legal right to fine or sue a publisher because the rating symbols could be considered copyrighted, and so the publishers are only given permission to use them in compliance with the ESRB's rating policies.)

[DDCecil]

8 Eyes had big and little crosses for Life/Magic power ups.

[RedMoogleXIII]

I'm surprised Breath of Fire II hasn't been mentioned. Numerous references to religion and death in that game. Hell the final boss is the "God" of the 'Church of St Eva'. And earlier in the Grand Cathedral of St Eva at least 4 named NPCs die, and 3 of those are somewhat well developed characters.

[aryoshi]

Can't forget Bionic Commando's infamous portrayal of Hitler, swearing and gore (exploding heads ftw).

I would like to note several different instances in Shadowgate and Uninvited, mostly Shadowgate's frequent referencing to Hell and Uninvited's.. Rather.. Gruesome and disturbing imagry and narrating. It's certainly not the creepiest game around, but for its time, there was certainly nothing like it, I'm honestly surprised a lot of the content of both games, mostly Uninvited, was allowed.

Another is from Secret of Mana. Those floating books that cast spells on you later in the game sometimes will open themselves up to a centerfold of a clearly nude woman lying on her belly. Guess the censors didn't get lucky enough to have that happen!

The Hunt for Red October and The Adventures of Bayou Billy both say "Oh my God."

In The Magic of Scheherazade, one of the bosses they call Curly (which is actually a mistranslation of the goddess Kali) is seen clearly topless during the fight.

[SonicBoom]

River City Ransom has a nude butt in it. The last stage of Kid Icarus Has naked statues. (Then again, The censor police probably couldn't get there!)
Nintendo Censors let a bit slip.

[Robocop2]

then what the hey is simon throwing!? Plus signs?

the power of math compels you!!!!

[Haoie]

Even in this day and age, games are still being censored.

Isn't that sort of hard to believe?

[aryoshi]

Even in this day and age, games are still being censored.

Isn't that sort of hard to believe?

It is considering Red Dead Redemption has sex, full frontial nudity and I believe they say "c***" in it, I know they do multiple times in GTA IV and GTA Chinatown Wars. There's also full nudity in L.A. Noire. And sex in several games, mostly sandbox games like GTA and Saints Row. Drugs are seen and used in several games these days, sometimes even allowing you to take them which technically can date back to Duke Nukem 3D and the steroids. I really don't know what else they could censor!

[SteveSpeeze]

switching mike tyson to mr dream on a nes cart...

[Famidrive-16]

The bleeding eye boss in Kirby's Dream Land 3 really caught me off guard when I first saw it.

[dgdgagdae]

The bleeding eye boss in Kirby's Dream Land 3 really caught me off guard when I first saw it.

Are you talking about this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoLfmCH7GgU

I've never played the game, but is that even blood? It's N64 quality, but I don't look at that and see a bleeding eye at all. I was prepared for something more disturbing.

[BetaWolf47]

I'm surprised Breath of Fire II hasn't been mentioned. Numerous references to religion and death in that game. Hell the final boss is the "God" of the 'Church of St Eva'. And earlier in the Grand Cathedral of St Eva at least 4 named NPCs die, and 3 of those are somewhat well developed characters.

Oh right, and also the golden fly swears.

[frogofdeath]

It is considering Red Dead Redemption has sex, full frontial nudity
Wait, when and where? I don't remember any sex, other than implied, and sure don't remember any nudity in Red Dead Redemption.

[jperryss]

The last stage of Kid Icarus Has naked statues. (Then again, The censor police probably couldn't get there!)

The manual for Kid Icarus had a topless Syren too, complete with visible nipples.

http://www.siliconera.com/2007/01/30/bare-breasts-found-in-kid-icarus/

[RP2A03]

Wait, when and where? I don't remember any sex, other than implied, and sure don't remember any nudity in Red Dead Redemption.

NSFW http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1tTNR0dKdI NSWF

I think that's a little bit more than implied.

[pseudonym]

The implied sex scene in Golgo 13 Top Secret Episode. Lots of shooting and killing in that game, too.

[Famidrive-16]

Are you talking about this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoLfmCH7GgU

I've never played the game, but is that even blood? It's N64 quality, but I don't look at that and see a bleeding eye at all. I was prepared for something more disturbing.

Nope, I'm talking about the SNES game:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_bgn0cqGXM

Looking back it's not too bad but it does make me squirm a bit.

[frogofdeath]

NSFW http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1tTNR0dKdI NSWF

I think that's a little bit more than implied.

Hahaha, okay, forgot all about that scene. Remember it now, but sure didn't realize there was any nudity when I first played through the game. Maybe I forgot because many of the Mexico missions were not on par with the rest of the game.

[Shulamana]

I never really understood why they were so busy getting crosses changed to ankhs and whatnot meanwhile the Star of David was just fine.

[dgdgagdae]

Nope, I'm talking about the SNES game:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_bgn0cqGXM

Looking back it's not too bad but it does make me squirm a bit.

Wow, yes. That's a bit much, especially when the small eyeball breaks out of the big boss.