Drastic Localization overhauls from Japan to North America

[treismac]

How many retro video games can you think of that were given a major face lift when they traveled from Japan to North America?

[TonyTheTiger]

I suppose Super Mario Bros. 2 is the quintessential example here. There are a bunch of others, though. Yo! Noid, Snoopy's Silly Sports Spectacular, and a ton of other games that were changed in theme to an entirely different I.P.

Are you talking about aesthetics only? Because the list expands considerably if you open up to major changes to mechanics, either for better or worse.

[treismac]

Kamen No Ninja Hanamaru became Yo! Noid, which was, sadly, probably a savvy business move by Capcom. While I think changing a ninja game into a commercial vehicle for Dominoes is close to sacrilege, the sales were probably higher with the face recognition of the once dead and, now, newly resurrected mascot of the sub par pizza chain.

https://encrypted-tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRVVDL4w7jdXEORpBjmUsDtdaRfss0-3jjKLAS0s8eID1y1TAOqiw

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Gj6fJIqGw6w/TwhqWd5yU_I/AAAAAAAAAE8/cUfan84jYKI/s1600/Noid1.png

I'd suspect that close to everyone who will read this thread will know that Super Mario Bros. 2 was originally Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic.

https://encrypted-tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQmpSAO4nXdfxp_b5XFWDWyogyyI8ARN wNemwU0tpgodpA2Fvicgw

[treismac]

Are you talking about aesthetics only? Because the list expands considerably if you open up to major changes to mechanics, either for better or worse.

Yeah, just aesthetics. If you count changes to mechanics, the list would be too overwhelming. I just want to know what games had a different mask slapped over them once they left Japan.

Sorry, by the way, about posting about two of the games you mention earlier, Tony. I was hunting for photos while you were beating me to the punch. :)

[TonyTheTiger]

Power Blazer became Power Blade, a pretty significant improvement all around.

[ishashobar]

Mickey Mouse 3 on the Famicom became Kid Klown in Night Mayor World for its US release. Also most of the Crazy Castle games usually had Disney characters instead of Bugs Bunny.

[kedawa]

The first Ranma 1/2 game for SFC was changed to a completely different game for SNES, I'm pretty sure it's just the character sprites and story that was changed, but I'm not sure.
The original game was bad to begin with, and I can't even remember what the north american release is called.

[Drixxel]

The first Ranma 1/2 game for SFC was changed to a completely different game for SNES, I'm pretty sure it's just the character sprites and story that was changed, but I'm not sure.
The original game was bad to begin with, and I can't even remember what the north american release is called.

That would be Street Combat, it's hard to imagine a more generic name for a one-on-one fighting game. The folks behind this localization were really shooting for mediocrity in all respects, although some of the character designs are kind of neat in an early '90s way. I distinctly remember renting this as a wee lad and my brother and I being severely disappointed.

One of the more famous aesthetic overhauls that comes to mind is Decap Attack / Magical Hat no Buttobi Tabo! Daibouken, a localization that transformed the anime adaptation original into an eerie comic horror thing.

[Gameguy]

From this;

http://img862.imageshack.us/img862/5445/20392941.jpg


To this;

http://img856.imageshack.us/img856/6339/lastl.jpg

[TonyTheTiger]

One of the early Famicom Dragon Ball games became Dragon Power, removing all references to the original IP.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

There are a number of Famicom games that were made much more difficult for western releases. This kinda thing pisses me off.

a few examples:

Akumajou Dracula -> Castlevania - you take at least double, sometimes triple the damage in Castlevania for NES.

Akumajou Densetsu -> Castlevania III - same deal

Ninja Ryūkenden -> Ninja Gaiden III - take an already difficult game and double the damage for the western release and limit the lives. WHO THOUGHT THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA?!

Mad City -> The Adventures of Bayou Billy - The NES version is extremely frustrating. Your attacks do little damage to enemies, they deal twice as much punishment as the Famicom version, and you aren't reminded to use the controller to play the goddamn game in the Japanese version.

[j_factor]

My first immediate thought is Decap Attack:

http://i.imgur.com/1PGqT.png

http://i.imgur.com/z2YAS.png

[Dirkfunk]

Magical Chase had a lot of minor graphical changes when it was brought to america.

http://www.superpcenginegrafx.net/dare_to_compare_mc.html

[Zoe F]

Magic John, a rather bland Famicom platformer, had its graphics changed and its text largely replaced with 1980s surfer slang and parodies of the original cut scenes. The result was Totally Rad.

[Tron 2.0]

Wrath of the black manta nes/famicom
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZcxSTjhqSo

Replacing it's anime cut scenes and replacing it's story beside every body having a bad haircut,also it's final boss being replaced from a alien to a oldman wtf !?

[Edmond Dantes]

Yeah, just aesthetics. If you count changes to mechanics, the list would be too overwhelming.

Really? I would think there are more games that JUST have facelifts, than games that have actual gameplay changes.

And to be honest, I think the latter is more interesting.

I've heard that Working Designs sometimes tweaks the gameplay in their localizations (Thunder Force V and Silhouette Mirage being two known examples, though I can't remember the specifics right off hand).

[dreamcaster]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v112/chriscubed/rival_turf_rushing_beat.jpg

Rushing Beat (Super Famicom)/Rival Turf (SNES)

The jap original isn't exactly an amazing title (competent enough beat'em up) so I'd hate to see just how much worse the western version is (if that cover is anything to go by).

[Crocket]

There was an Elevator Action game for the Game Boy Color that was changed to fit the show Dexter's Laboratory.

[Tempest]

There are a number of Famicom games that were made much more difficult for western releases. This kinda thing pisses me off.

a few examples:

Akumajou Dracula -> Castlevania - you take at least double, sometimes triple the damage in Castlevania for NES.

Akumajou Densetsu -> Castlevania III - same deal

Ninja Ryūkenden -> Ninja Gaiden III - take an already difficult game and double the damage for the western release and limit the lives. WHO THOUGHT THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA?!

Mad City -> The Adventures of Bayou Billy - The NES version is extremely frustrating. Your attacks do little damage to enemies, they deal twice as much punishment as the Famicom version, and you aren't reminded to use the controller to play the goddamn game in the Japanese version.

Yeah Working Designs was famous for doing this with all the games they ported to the Sega CD, TG-16, and Saturn. Popful Mail and Exile III come to mind immediately, but they always seemed to think that the original Japanese release was too easy and that American audiences enjoyed frustrating challenges for some reason. In fact when they tweaked Exile III they screwed up and made it too difficult so that you needed to cheat or be a gaming god to beat it.

[Flashback2012]

Exile III? :? I looked the series up and it calls Exile: Wicked Phenomenon the third game in the series but I'm failing to see how. It says the TG16 and Genesis versions are remakes of the MSX game, does that somehow make them sequels? :?

I can't think of any that haven't already been mentioned so far. There's Hebereke / Uforia: The Saga that got a UK/AUS release (and according to Wiki got a US VC release on the Wii).

[TonyTheTiger]

Panel de Pon = Tetris Attack. Lolicon fairies become the Yoshi's Island crew along with the completely arbitrary addition of the lucrative Tetris name. A pretty rational change, all things considered. :p

Trying to keep it to major changes since mentioning slight visual edits would make the list 10,000 entries long. Things like Vampire Killer to Castlevania: Bloodlines where Eric Lecarde was de-bishojoized are probably too minor to mention.

[Satoshi_Matrix]

Ah yes! I forgot about that! It's not only a graphics hack, but the soundtrack is also completely different. Panel De Pon has a rather great soundtrack, and Tetris Attack remixes Yoshi's Island tracks.

Panel De Pon has infact never been released in the west under its real name. It became Tetris Attack and then Pokemon Puzzle League for the N64 (no Japanese counterpart!) and then Pokemon Puzzle Challenge for GBC with again no Japanese counterpart. It wasn't until 2003's Nintendo Puzzle Collection that Japanese gamers saw Panel De Pon return, and then westerners were robbed of it.

Then came the GBA and DS versions simply being called "Puzzle League" now.

For those who have played Smash Bros though, the item Lip's stick is the wand the main loli fairy from Panel De Pon carries around.

[Blitzwing256]

Zelda 2 is a big one, the experience system was simplified (you can't choose what stat you level up as in the us version each level of each stat has a set exp requirment where the jap version you can choose any of the 3 when you level up) the requirments for level ups were less in the jap version. the graphics were greatly overhaualed and the exp enemies gives you is tweakied. there is also a new boss (level 5) that isn't in the japanese version. palaces have more tilesets. overall the na version is much better presented than the original fds version.

[treismac]

Really? I would think there are more games that JUST have facelifts, than games that have actual gameplay changes.

And to be honest, I think the latter is more interesting.

I've heard that Working Designs sometimes tweaks the gameplay in their localizations (Thunder Force V and Silhouette Mirage being two known examples, though I can't remember the specifics right off hand).

What I meant, Dantes, is that the list of facelifts AND gameplay tweaks combined would be too much. It seems that the games with gameplay changes are making the list anyway, which is fine. :)

What puzzles me is that it seems half of Japanese game designers make the games easier for "weak" North American gamers, and the other half make them harder. Why? I suppose it shows that the Japanese are not as monolithic as they are often made out to be.

[TonyTheTiger]

The original Dragon Warrior had a pretty significant visual upgrade from it's Japanese counterpart. Not as substantial as other changes listed but enough to notice at first glance.

[Wraith Storm]

Wasn't Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine a re-skinned Puyo Puyo game?

[FoxNtd]

Wasn't Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine a re-skinned Puyo Puyo game?

Yep, it's Puyo Puyo 1 for Mega Drive. There's also the Game Gear port that underwent the same change.

[theclaw]

Puyo Puyo for Game Gear took that weirdness further with a distinct localization exclusive to the system, never released in the west, AND requires a western hardware model to access.
Three strikes against it! Look up "Puzlow Kids".

[TonyTheTiger]

Throw Kirby's Avalanche on the list, too.

[StealthLurker]

(SFC) Youkai Buster Ruka --> (SNES) Jetsons

Comparison:

YBR
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OGFJS0cH7I&feature=related

Jetsons
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLiRiJdkCHI

.

[SparTonberry]

Exile III? :? I looked the series up and it calls Exile: Wicked Phenomenon the third game in the series but I'm failing to see how. It says the TG16 and Genesis versions are remakes of the MSX game, does that somehow make them sequels? :?

I think it was something like the original game was on MSX (called XZR), it's sequel XZR II got ported to Genesis and TG16 as the first Exile, and then Exile II was the last game in the trilogy (only on PCE/TG CD?).

One game I can think of that got changed was Spanky's Quest for the SNES. The first stage of the Japanese version was a tutorial level. It got removed from the western versions, but they kept the graphics. (so for example: stage 1 in the western version used the level data for stage 2 of the Japanese version, but with the graphics of the original Japanese stage 1)
Kickle Cubicle for the NES had a similar shift: the English version had easier levels at the beginning and harder levels were pushed further back in the game. I think the Japanese version might have also had faster enemies, too.

I noticed Superman for the NES lacks the Superman theme (which was included in the Famicom version) and was replaced with music from the Famicom-exclusive RPG Indora no Hikari.

[wingzrow]

Shatterhand and solbrain were developed SUPPOSEDLY at the same time, but I thought this should be mentioned

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9OvyVoj7I0

[Parodius Duh!]

Theres SOOOOOO many differences as far as Famicom to NES titles go, Off the top of my head these are all different, someone else can fill in exact details and Japanese titles....

XEXYZ
Bayou Billy
Bionic Commando
Ninja Cop Saizou
Raf World
Guerrilla War
Double Dragon
Double Dragon 3
Panic Restaurant
Shatterhand (@wingzrow, of course they were developed at the same time, its the same game just an altered Character Sprite and 1 different level to make it more Americanized)
Maniac Mansion
Monster Party (Unreleased in Japan, but the prototype HAS been found a few months back)
Whomp Em
Ninja Gaiden III
All Castlevania's
All FDS ports had to be heavily altered code-wise

Euro Exclusive alterations:
Doki Doki Yuuenchi (Trolls in crazyland)
Ufouria (Main character sprite is changed from Japanese version)
Probotector series (aka Contra)

[Edmond Dantes]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v112/chriscubed/rival_turf_rushing_beat.jpg

Rushing Beat (Super Famicom)/Rival Turf (SNES)

The jap original isn't exactly an amazing title (competent enough beat'em up) so I'd hate to see just how much worse the western version is (if that cover is anything to go by).

I used to have Rival Turf. Didn't exactly amaze me, but it wasn't bad. And the U.S. version still stars the two dudes from the Japanese cover. I always thought it was odd that one of them looked basically like M. Bison.

[wingzrow]

Monster Party (Unreleased in Japan, but the prototype HAS been found a few months back)

Oh wow, I hope there's a rom dump of this.

[Parodius Duh!]

Oh wow, I hope there's a rom dump of this.


SAME HERE. Not one, but 3 different protos of it have turned up the past 5 months, all are in Japanese collector hands so if/when its dumped it will most likely be on a Japanese ROM site before anything else....

[BlastProcessing402]

I've heard that Working Designs sometimes tweaks the gameplay in their localizations (Thunder Force V and Silhouette Mirage being two known examples, though I can't remember the specifics right off hand).


Yeah Working Designs was famous for doing this with all the games they ported to the Sega CD, TG-16, and Saturn. Popful Mail and Exile III come to mind immediately, but they always seemed to think that the original Japanese release was too easy and that American audiences enjoyed frustrating challenges for some reason. In fact when they tweaked Exile III they screwed up and made it too difficult so that you needed to cheat or be a gaming god to beat it.

One of the most infamous localization tweaks by WD had to be the change to Lunar 2 on the SegaCD, where you had to spend magic experience to save your game. Made it VERY hard to get started, as you didn't get much magic experience, and thus couldn't save your progress as much as you'd like in the starting stages of an old RPG when you are weak and easy to kill. Of course, later on, when you can kill anything in sight and nothing is a threat to you, you have all the magic XP you could ever want and then some, so saving is no problem. A very unbalancing change, probably the one thing WD ever did to a game that pissed me off.

Speaking of WD, before they got the rights for Popful Mail, Sega themselves had plans to port it at one point, in a manner that would've made it perfect for this thread. They planned to graphically overhaul it into Sister Sonic, a game about Sonic's sister (if the title wasn't enough of a giveaway, lol). Wow that would've been... interesting.

[Az]

What was changed for Double Dragon 1 & 3 for NES? I didn't know of anything beyond the cover censoring for part 2.

Speaking of Rival Turf, the 3rd part is a hell of a lot different for the US release, and pretty much every change is for the worse IMO. For the series as a whole I never understood why they felt the need to change the main character from white to black for the US releases.

[substantial_snake]

Persona's cast was pretty much white washed upon coming to the states, though back then that was not that uncommon.

[j_factor]

One of the most infamous localization tweaks by WD had to be the change to Lunar 2 on the SegaCD, where you had to spend magic experience to save your game. Made it VERY hard to get started, as you didn't get much magic experience, and thus couldn't save your progress as much as you'd like in the starting stages of an old RPG when you are weak and easy to kill. Of course, later on, when you can kill anything in sight and nothing is a threat to you, you have all the magic XP you could ever want and then some, so saving is no problem. A very unbalancing change, probably the one thing WD ever did to a game that pissed me off.

Ever play Silhouette Mirage? That's the one game that WD really butchered.

[BlastProcessing402]

Ever play Silhouette Mirage? That's the one game that WD really butchered.

No, I never played any of the Spaz titles.

[Parodius Duh!]

What was changed for Double Dragon 1 & 3 for NES? I didn't know of anything beyond the cover censoring for part 2.



difficulty level and some sprite changes

[FoxNtd]

Theres SOOOOOO many differences as far as Famicom to NES titles go, Off the top of my head these are all different, someone else can fill in exact details and Japanese titles....

XEXYZ
Bayou Billy
Bionic Commando
Ninja Cop Saizou
Raf World
Guerrilla War
Double Dragon
Double Dragon 3
Panic Restaurant
Shatterhand (@wingzrow, of course they were developed at the same time, its the same game just an altered Character Sprite and 1 different level to make it more Americanized)
Maniac Mansion
Monster Party (Unreleased in Japan, but the prototype HAS been found a few months back)
Whomp Em
Ninja Gaiden III
All Castlevania's
All FDS ports had to be heavily altered code-wise

Euro Exclusive alterations:
Doki Doki Yuuenchi (Trolls in crazyland)
Ufouria (Main character sprite is changed from Japanese version)
Probotector series (aka Contra)

Seems like this thread isn't about drastic changes anymore, but anything that was altered in general. At least we're not naming every game that received a title screen change, heh. (Rockman came to mind, but it's worth pointing out that Rockman 2 got an easy mode shoved into it for the overseas version..)

I wanted to elaborate on some of Parodius' examples since I'm aware of some of these off-hand.

Bayou Billy (Mad City) - Multiple endings on Famicom and the game is not irritating; the enemy HP is different. Apparently the controls for the jeep are better but I never played this game on NES so I cannot confirm.

Bionic Commando (Top Secret: Resurrection of Hitler) - Nazi references, unsure if the gameplay is different.

(Journey to Silius) Raf World - The main sprite is changed and the title screen is changed. Everything else is the same. Even the intro in English is still in English on Famicom. I was surprised by that too...

Ninja Gaiden III (Ninja Ryuukenden III) - Famicom version has a password system, dialogue isn't censored (this applies for all 3 games), and the enemy HP isn't messed with. You also have unlimited continues like the first 2 games.

All Castlevania's:

Akumajou Dracula is the same on NES except the save files are gone. The FC re-release also removed the save files but added easy mode.

Dracula 2 has save files instead of password which is on NES and of course you have the reduction in BGM since NES has no FM synth.

Akumajou Densetsu had Grant throwing knives as his primary weapon and the BGM was ridiculously more enhanced with the VRC6 chip and implementation of additional sound channels that the NES is missing. The statues are not censored like they are on NES and the enemy that is a fleaman on NES is a much scarier looking creature on Famicom. Some bosses were changed with their behavior (where on the screen they move or how their projectiles look).

All FDS ports had to be heavily altered code-wise

I think this is somewhat misleading because, like any other game, the changes are on a per-case basis really. For the most part you can expect audio to have been altered since a bunch of games used the FM synth. Disk games can save too so not every NES counterpart has a battery to preserve saving functionality (Metroid and Light Myth/Kid Icarus lost saves on NES, no batteries.) Games like Akumajou play the same but others like Green Beret (Rush'n Attack on NES right?) and Final Command (Jackal on NES I think) had changes to gameplay on NES.

There are so many changes it's ridiculous. I bet most people don't really notice changes such as Top Gun because hardly anyone in the west plays this on Famicom anyway. You may know about the BGM inversion change but there is also a screen the NES version doesn't show at all. You get a screen after each death to show how many lives you have left and what your score is, and you get a tally shown at the end of each mission with a picture of the side of your plane with stars being added to it. Also you can get a 1UP around 50,000 points and you hear a sound play to indicate this, and I had over 50,000 on the NES version and never heard any sound or got a 1UP either. So I guess Konami removed this for overseas versions. Lame.

[treismac]

https://encrypted-tbn1.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRFsr4_9oGyevr5TfK_TvBgy5gmfTFjs VuK8bXL7IYcgMn10Q-q

Obake no Q-tarō WanWan Panic became

Chubby Cherub

https://encrypted-tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQKmcXl6tdTtK9MZNHSFzl3LpHPn2gWx Uq6-3Z9t9bfUkt6IsDS

Basically, Bandai took a video game based on a long standing popular anime staring a ghost and swapped an angel for the ghost. Why? Did it really help move the game any better off the shelf?

Let us compare cover art, shall we?

https://encrypted-tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR6YsbxImaG5Hur93-TmJevTsuLD-9ZfFaS9aUHt8Ll4OmSN9TJ

https://encrypted-tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSThr2ldSLSrNwUfGTx_gNIMqmpOKOpa Z3HU3s6npr-zzg8UjzSMA

I understand the desire to appeal to the unique tastes of a particular culture's market, but come on! Then again, I don't think this game stood a chance in the North American market, regardless of how it was packaged.

[TonyTheTiger]

Why?


a video game based on a long standing popular anime.

There's your answer right there. Licensing, bro.

[treismac]

There's your answer right there. Licensing, bro.

Yeah... ^^;

Look, I understand that there are times that people will buy a game because it it a license, whereas they would have passed if the license was absent, but don't the license benefit from video game companies making interactive commercials for kids to play for hours on end? I know a Japanese cartoon in pre-anime invasion North America was not too likely to benefit from this exposure, but what did they have to lose.

[TonyTheTiger]

No, I mean the fact that it's a licensed product is probably why it had to be changed. You can't just distribute a license all willy nilly around the globe. You have to take the legal steps to secure the rights per territory. It's why the NES Superman game didn't use the movie theme when it came out in the U.S. It's overwhelmingly likely that while Kemco obtained the license for the music in Japan they didn't have it in America. Same for why Capcom had to remove Norimaro from the overseas versions of Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter.

So what do you do if you're Bandai and you want to bring your game to America but can't use the same characters? Ya change 'em, of course.

[treismac]

Ah... I forget the tenacity of the legal system and lawyers worldwide.

[SparTonberry]

It's why the NES Superman game didn't use the movie theme when it came out in the U.S. It's overwhelmingly likely that while Kemco obtained the license for the music in Japan they didn't have it in America.

That didn't stop Tecmo from blatantly copying it for the NES version of Rygar. :P

[theclaw]

Blaster Master Enemy Below added GB and SGB support for the west. It was GBC only in Japan.

Oddly however, Wetrix did near the opposite! Becoming GBC only in English.

[BlastProcessing402]

https://encrypted-tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSThr2ldSLSrNwUfGTx_gNIMqmpOKOpa Z3HU3s6npr-zzg8UjzSMA

I understand the desire to appeal to the unique tastes of a particular culture's market, but come on! Then again, I don't think this game stood a chance in the North American market, regardless of how it was packaged.

I remember my friend's kid sister wanting to get that game, so I guess it did have a market it appealed to, albeit not the right market to sell many copies, certainly not in the NES days.

[SparTonberry]

Konami GB Collections. The Japanese versions only had SGB support, the EU versions had GBC support. I'm guessing the SGB support was removed though (tried to play them in my NTSC Super Game Boy and they just ran as non-SGB games, so I don't know if SGB support was removed or if it requires a PAL SGB).

(though I think a few of the games in the EU sets were given generic games. Quarth became "Block Game" (and omitted link play, though I don't know if the JP version did) and Motocross Maniacs became "Bikers".)