Strange NES/Famicom Regional Differences

[Immutable]

What are some of the oddest regional differences you have discovered between Famicom and NES games?

For me, it would be the "drastic change" between a seal and a fluffy, white Topi in Ice Climber.

[o.pwuaioc]

SMB 3 FC is harder: http://themushroomkingdom.net/smb3_j-e.shtml

Castlevania on the FDS has a save option and an easy option. Actually, a number of FDS games have save options that the carts don't. Censorship is huge for a number of games, especially those of a graphic nature like Maniac Mansion. You're going to see that on the SNES/SFC too, though.

[FoxNtd]

Castlevania on the FDS has a save option and an easy option.

Only the FDS version has a save function.

Only the FC version has an Easy Mode.

[davidbrit2]

Kamen no Ninja Hanamaru vs. Yo Noid. That one's a real head-scratcher. And they did a rather sloppy job with the hit boxes in the conversion.

[treismac]

Here's a similar thread I started a while back about the subject:

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?159681-Drastic-Localization-overhauls-from-Japan-to-North-America

[Stringfellow]

Airwolf was two totally different games

[Spartacus]

Chubby Cherub was known in Japan as Obake no Q-Tarou: Wan Wan Panic - literally Q-Tarou the Ghost: BowWow Panic. The ghost is a character from a Fujiko Fujio manga series titled Obake no Q-Tarou. Since the character would be unfamiliar to most non-Japanese, Bandai changed the ghost into an angel for its North American release and retitled it Chubby Cherub.
In Japanese culture, ghosts are afraid of dogs and so it made sense that beagles and bulldogs are the main enemies. Angels being frightened by dogs doesn't make any sense in western culture, and worse, the game is considered bad and rather ugly.
Bandai reportedly enlisted Fujiko Fujio himself to draw the Cherub on the English cover.

[davidbrit2]

Chubby Cherub was known in Japan as Obake no Q-Tarou: Wan Wan Panic - literally Q-Tarou the Ghost: BowWow Panic. The ghost is a character from a Fujiko Fujio manga series titled Obake no Q-Tarou. Since the character would be unfamiliar to most non-Japanese, Bandai changed the ghost into an angel for its North American release and retitled it Chubby Cherub.
In Japanese culture, ghosts are afraid of dogs and so it made sense that beagles and bulldogs are the main enemies. Angels being frightened by dogs doesn't make any sense in western culture, and worse, the game is considered bad and rather ugly.
Bandai reportedly enlisted Fujiko Fujio himself to draw the Cherub on the English cover.

Ninja Kid got a similar treatment. It was originally Gegege no Kitarou, another anime-license game. Generic ninjas were easier to relate to here in the US.

[Urzu402]

I found this site the other day, It doesn't cover many game but it does cover a few games in depth
http://legendsoflocalization.com/
it explains differences in the Japanese release of the game and the US release and maybe the PAL release but I'm not sure.

[Tanooki]

Cool site, thanks


And I can't even play Yo Noid it's just so bad with the hit detection and one hit deaths as it's maddening.

[BlastProcessing402]

It wasn't strange at the time but looking back it's funny how they turned Dragonball into Dragon Power.

[InsaneDavid]

It wasn't strange at the time but looking back it's funny how they turned Dragonball into Dragon Power.

...and then completely removed the tournament from the second half of the game.

[Ed Oscuro]

Ninja Kid got a similar treatment. It was originally Gegege no Kitarou, another anime-license game. Generic ninjas were easier to relate to here in the US.
It's also fun to note that Ninja-Kid and Ninja-Kid II are arcade originals by UPL, and released on the Famicom, with Jaleco making games (of a different character and less quality, I think) based off the series too. There's no relationship to the other Ninja Kid, however.

[Tony Lama]

Wasn't Whomp 'Em based on Journey to the West and had Dragon Ball Z type characters?! When we got it, they changed the main character to an American Indian. It irks me to see an American Indian traverse a stage that is definitely "Chinese" looking! Look at those mountains in the background!!

[InsaneDavid]

Wasn't Whomp 'Em based on Journey to the West and had Dragon Ball Z type characters?! When we got it, they changed the main character to an American Indian. It irks me to see an American Indian traverse a stage that is definitely "Chinese" looking! Look at those mountains in the background!!

Yup, it was a rework of Saiyuuki World II. Even stranger, the first Saiyuuki World game was just another rework of Wonder Boy in Monster Land.