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

Zionmaster

03-13-2012, 08:04 PM

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

03-13-2012, 08:19 PM

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

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e5/Carranger_SFC_Game_Cover.PNG/250px-Carranger_SFC_Game_Cover.PNG

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.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lLsdaCVk3Kk/TTZrSfR9BzI/AAAAAAACGIc/wuE4PYaAF8c/s400/14sgvp2.jpg

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

Parodius Duh!

03-13-2012, 08:31 PM

The Firemen for SNES

kedawa

03-13-2012, 08:44 PM

Terranigma.

starsoldier1

03-13-2012, 08:45 PM

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

treismac

03-13-2012, 08:45 PM

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

03-13-2012, 08:55 PM

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.

Aussie2B

03-13-2012, 08:56 PM

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.

Zionmaster

03-13-2012, 08:59 PM

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 :bad-words:

davidbrit2

03-13-2012, 08:59 PM

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

03-13-2012, 09:00 PM

Zionmaster

03-13-2012, 09:03 PM

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.

FoxNtd

03-13-2012, 09:23 PM

Bio Miracle was supposed to come to the US but Mr. Lincoln thought he knows best for the entire continent. :angry:

Better yet...

罪と罰 (Sin & Punishment) on N64. Fuck you, NoA.

staxx

03-13-2012, 10:37 PM

NES
Gradius 2
Summer Carnival
Kid Dracula

Sega Genesis
Golden Axe 3
Zero Wing (USA)

Turbo Grafx
Street Fighter 2 Champion Edition
Dracula X
Dungeon Explorer 2
Spriggan
Hellfire
ok many more games

Super Famicom
Mystical Ninja 2,3,4
Super Robot Wars Series

Steve W

03-13-2012, 10:43 PM

The original Xbox game Metal Wolf Panic (is that right?) is pretty much in English, including all the FMV. The company that published it had the choice of bringing that one to the US or some other forgettable mech game, so they went with the latter.

Alien Hominid didn't get released for the Xbox here, although the GameCube and PS2 versions did. That was weird.

wingzrow

03-13-2012, 10:49 PM

Pulseman for sega genesis and umihara kawase for snes

Not much to say about them. They're just excellent games.

Parodius Duh!

03-13-2012, 11:18 PM

Summer Carnival

Interesting choice....this game is so exclusively Japanese it hurts.

Duke.Togo

03-13-2012, 11:56 PM

Crisis Force and Holy Diver spring to mind.

TimeLady

03-14-2012, 12:43 AM

I'm seconding both Metal Wolf Chaos and Terranigma here.

Metal Wolf Chaos because it was pretty much completely in English, and it would have been so over the top awesome that it probably would have sold like hotcakes over here.

Terranigma because . . . well, I'm pretty sure a publisher could have been found for it in the USA despite it being released at the end of the SNES's lifespan. And besides, PAL land has/had been screwed for games for Nintendo systems since the NES - why did they get an exclusive like that!? ::cries::

hellraiser

03-14-2012, 12:45 AM

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

Colorado Rockies

03-14-2012, 01:55 AM

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

03-14-2012, 03:04 AM

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

03-14-2012, 03:35 AM

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.

Tron 2.0

03-14-2012, 03:39 AM

Dungeon Explorer 2

DE II has a u.s release i should know i have a copy of it.

Review of it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXpaLcy-0Rw

Gameguy

03-14-2012, 04:50 AM

I'm going to think about this, but for now I'll just mention Earthbound for the NES as it was already fully translated into English before they decided to not release it. Everything was already finished, they would have just had to publish it.

markusman64ds

03-14-2012, 05:14 AM

Better yet...

罪と罰 (Sin & Punishment) on N64. Fuck you, NoA.

But it came out for Virtual Console a while ago in the US.

theclaw

03-14-2012, 05:38 AM

Steve W

03-14-2012, 08:44 AM

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.

Frankie_Says_Relax

03-14-2012, 10:21 AM

JSoup

03-14-2012, 12:36 PM

But it came out for Virtual Console a while ago in the US.

A few of the game mentioned in this topic are available via a download service of some kind. And piracy.

charles__99

03-14-2012, 12:53 PM

I second Mystical Ninja 2,3,4 and Secret of Mana 2,

Mystical Ninja 2,3,4 would be even better if translated :D

Hawksmoor

03-14-2012, 02:25 PM

Rapid Reload for PS1

Bloodreign

03-14-2012, 03:01 PM

I'll second the Crisis Force mentioned earlier, there's nothing extremely Japanese about this Konami vert shmup, guessing the sound chip might be behind it. That chip also likely kept LaGrange Point in Japan.

SparTonberry

03-14-2012, 07:23 PM

Yeah I suppose. Good thing JP to US changing for N64 is goofy simple. 1 screwdriver bit. 1 unwanted sports game per donor back cover needed. Finally a use for that Madden 64 cobweb pyramid in the attic. :)

Or you could open up the console and file down the corner of the piece of plastic that goes around the cart connector (it's been awhile so I can't remember if you can just remove that piece entirely, or if you still need it to hold up the dust cover).
It's the same thing as the SNES. While the Japanese and PAL N64 have the "tabs" further away (about the same spot as the tabs in the US SNES), the tabs on the US N64 are in the corner.

The 1 2 P

03-14-2012, 07:40 PM

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

03-14-2012, 08:24 PM

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. :popcorn:

TurboGenesis

03-14-2012, 10:18 PM

two games for the NES come to mind� these two titles were slated for a USA release and one was an arcade port, the other was an adventure game�

Empire City 1931
Chesterfield

ChickenPotPie

03-14-2012, 11:26 PM

I would have liked to see a US version of Ringside Angel for the Genesis. It was a decent women's wrestling game released only in Japan. Not quite the best wrestling game ever made but still much better than the awful WWF/WWE titles released by Akklaim.

Kiddo

03-14-2012, 11:54 PM

I'll just summarize this really quick with "Any Japanese Disney game that never came out in the US", and there's a surprisingly large amount for Super Famicom and Sega Pico to mention.

Also, while I wouldn't normally suggest a Satellaview game due to the whole console add-on Japan only stuff...
http://bszelda.zeldalegends.net/pics/kiddo.jpg
BS Zelda, in Game Pak form? Why don't I have this on my SNES right now, Nintendo? Whyyyy?

Gamevet

03-15-2012, 12:23 AM

N64: Sin & Punishment

Genesis: Rockman: Megaworld (Wiley Wars was never officially released on a cart)

Saturn: Shining Force III: Scenarios 2 & 3.

Tron 2.0

03-15-2012, 12:40 AM

I second Goonies 1 for NES. That's a great platformer and I'm always thrilled to see it on a HK multicart.

I also wish that Konami would have seen fit to port the FDS game Arumana's Miracle.

http://youtu.be/Zkg0CMDJpm4
Agreed i have it for the FDS with it's indiana jones theme and gameplay 'with a,mix of bionic commando in it i find odd it wasn't released for the nes.

I can think of another fds title as well that should have been converted to the nes.

Ali Senshi Nicol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-o-zOOSe2c

It's gameplay sure reminds of the overhead stages in blaster master.

Baloo

03-15-2012, 12:51 AM

SNES: Magical Quest 3: Mickey & Donald.

Genesis: YuYu Hakusho: Sunset Fighters

SparTonberry

03-15-2012, 12:28 PM

I can only suspect Mickey & Donald 3 didn't come out on SNES (it did on GBA) because, when it was released in Japan, Capcom USA didn't want to publish 16-bit games anymore and/or Disney had just entered the console game publishing scene. (prior to that, they only published computer games, though I guess they may have developed console games and licensed them to other publishers)

ShinobiMan

03-15-2012, 04:35 PM

MachineGex

03-15-2012, 05:29 PM

Some really great answsers already....like Firemen,

A few that have not been mentioned:
NES:
Crackout - A breakout/arkanoid type game
Hammerin' Harry - Double Dragon-ish
Mr. Gimmick - Platformer greatness
Over Horizen - Simular to Gradius 2 but not as difficult
New Ghostbusters II - Another amazingly fun game

Genesis:
All the Micro Machine updates, including Skid Marks(which I still cant play)

kupomogli

03-15-2012, 06:05 PM

SparTonberry

03-15-2012, 07:27 PM

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Mr. Gimmick (or Gimmick!) for the NES.

One of the NES's best platform era released in Europe and Japan but strangely not the US. Maybe Nintendo feared it would hurt sales on Kirby's Adventure.

Pretty doubtful, Mr. Gimmick was supposed to be released in the US a year before Kirby's Adventure.
Some say Squashed (Ninja Jajamaru no Ginga Daisakusen) was denied because NoA thought it was too similar to SMB3. I tried playing a little of it, and the game is almost nothing like SMB3. So it's brightly colored and has a similar HUD. I think that's about it. :P

The 1 2 P

03-15-2012, 07:32 PM

Beavis and Butthead in Virtual Stupidity for PSX.

It did get released in the US and PAL regions for PC, but for some reason it was a Japan exclusive for the PSX. I'm sure it would have sold much more in regions where Beavis and Butthead are popular than in Japan.

From what I understand it got canceled in the 11th hour. It was on it's way here and I remember Best Buy advertising it as an upcoming game but the month it was suppose to be released it got straight up canceled and I can't remember any reason ever given.

aryoshi

03-17-2012, 07:37 AM

Tales of Phantasia
Star Ocean
Terranigma
Seiken Densetsu III
Sweet Home
Mother
The Firemen
Dragon Quest V and VI
Clock Tower (Maybe, but it's possible the reason it wasn't released was because of how creepy it was)
Parodius (Might be from the partial nudity of some bosses and it's pretty obvious why the Parodius sequels weren't released..)
U-four-ia
Esper Dream 1 and 2

tom

03-17-2012, 09:41 AM

Ghostbusters 2
Klax
Pick n Pile
Acid Drop

All on VCS

Damaramu

03-17-2012, 11:35 AM

After seeing the ads for this, my friends and I were pretty disappointed this never made it to the States. Undercover Cops is probably my favorite arcade beat 'em up.

http://img189.imageshack.us/img189/5503/undercovercops.jpg

treismac

03-30-2012, 10:26 PM

Mappy for the NES!!!! It was on the Famicom but it never made it to North America, which is a crying shame.

Atarileaf

03-31-2012, 04:13 PM

Mappy for the NES!!!! It was on the Famicom but it never made it to North America, which is a crying shame.

Agreed. I own one of those pirate multicarts just because of games like Mappy, Galaxian, Pooyan, and Dig Dug which, although being very popular arcade games in NA, never made it to the NES over here.