How many retro video games can you think of that were given a major face lift when they traveled from Japan to North America?
Drastic Localization overhauls from Japan to North America
How many retro video games can you think of that were given a major face lift when they traveled from Japan to North America?
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.
Last edited by TonyTheTiger; 01-29-2012 at 08:05 PM.
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.
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.
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.Originally Posted by TonyTheTiger
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.
Power Blazer became Power Blade, a pretty significant improvement all around.
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.
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.
Last edited by Drixxel; 01-30-2012 at 02:36 AM.
From this;
To this;
One of the early Famicom Dragon Ball games became Dragon Power, removing all references to the original IP.
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.
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My first immediate thought is Decap Attack:
Magical Chase had a lot of minor graphical changes when it was brought to america.
http://www.superpcenginegrafx.net/da...ompare_mc.html
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.
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 !?
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).
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).
There was an Elevator Action game for the Game Boy Color that was changed to fit the show Dexter's Laboratory.
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.
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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).
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