Good Games That Never Made It Stateside

While the legality and quagmire of actually playing around with roms and emulators can be bantered back and forth until the end of time, one really good thing about them is that they let you play games that othwerwise have never seen the light of day in certain countries. On some cases I've played a few that made me ask just what the hell nintendo was thinking by not giving some titles a broader release - one such that I'm referring to is the Starfi trilogy for GBA which will now become a foursome since Starfi 4 was announced for the DS (and with his cameos in Superstar Saga and Super Princess Peach he may as well be the newest franchise character). The entire series is just as charming and fun to play as Kirby is and in fact, has a little more depth and challenge to it. I'm quite sad that yet again Europeans and Americans wont get to play much (if any) of the series.

Another good one IMO was Bomberman Jetters (also for GBA) which is quite possibly the single best Bomberman game for single player mode (one complaint I always hear about this series) I have ever played. It's the Legend of Zelda with bombs - taking elements introduced in Tournament and upping the ante tenfold to provide a very good game with what I can discern seems to be an engaging storyline.

i'm rather curious if there are any other Nintendo games which kind of left you scratching your head as to why Nintendo or various other companies chose to ignore it for international release.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Dubble

one such that I'm referring to is the Starfi trilogy for GBA which will now become a foursome since Starfi 4 was announced for the DS

Actually, Starfi 4 is already out in Japan. But yeah, it's definitely a good series, and with the kind of appeal it has I'm surprised Nintendo hasn't released it here.

Another game I'm surprised about is Magical Vacation for the GBA. I mean, the game was even announced for an American release, but Nintendo never brought it out here. I'm even more surprised now since they've announced that the sequel for the DS will be coming here. Why release the sequel if they haven't even released the first one? Anyway, the game looks appealing, as it's an RPG made by Brownie Brown, the same people who made Sword of Mana for the GBA.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I'd have to go with some of the Dragon Warrior/Quest/Monster series, for the GBA/DS. I have to say, I'd prefer these over FF anyday. These series are great, I don't see why Nintendo/Square Enix didn't go through with it.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I was always angry about Sin and Punishment. I downloaded a video of it once, it looked fucking amazing. Now even China gets to play it.

Virtual Console is our only hope.

Why Nintendo do it is beyond me. Cast your mind back to the last time they had a successful game in Japan and fritted about before finaly taking the "risk" of releasing it elsewhere a whole three years later. I'm talking about Pokémon of course. Did that hurt Nintendo? DID THAT HURT SO MUCH?

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by SILBER-3

Another game I'm surprised about is Magical Vacation for the GBA. I mean, the game was even announced for an American release, but Nintendo never brought it out here. I'm even more surprised now since they've announced that the sequel for the DS will be coming here.

Oh, it's a sequal? Aw man, I kinda forgot the first one was on GBA and thought they were finally bringing it over

Quote:

Why release the sequel if they haven't even released the first one?

I would ask this very same thing from a bunch of publishers in Europe, namely Namco *cough*Xenosaga*cough*Katamari Damacy*cough*

I was speaking idiomatically.

Giftpia. I'm still furious. The game looked awesome and weird and awesome and the music alone (which I've downloaded, but still) would have been worth the purchase.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Let's see... the Starfi series, Giftpia, Starfox 2 (looks like Starfox DS will be taking care of this though), Sin and Punishment, that Kirby platformer for Gamecube which I'm still not sure if it is cancelled or not, Seiken Densetsu 3, the Goemon series (remember Legend of the Mystical Ninja anyone?), Mother, Mother 1+2, Mother 3, Magical Vacation, Tetra's Trackers for The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (was it that fucking hard to get an English VA for Tetra?), Kuru Kuru Kururin, and Doshin the Giant.

I still can't figure out why Starfi hasn't made it over here. That series would have been a life saver for the Kirby drought we had for a while.

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All I can really add is Wonder Project J2.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Nintendo Puzzle Collection. I wanted four player Tetris Attack.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Haha, America missed out on one of the greatest SNES games ever.~ While we missed out on Mario RPG, every Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, Kirby's Adventu-ooh. I never understood why Nintendo Puzzle Collection didn't get released, either. They usually leap on the chance to release budget puzzle games, LEAP I TELL YOU.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Funny you should mention Terranigma. I'm playing it right now, and it is in my opinion an absolutely stellar Action RPG, one of the best I've played. I'm nearly finished with it.

A brilliant sense of humor, good music, an intriguing plotline (albeit a bit strange at times, partly due to its relation to its predecessor Illusion of Gaia) and some of the best dialogue in any RPG I've played.


"NO! I CAN'T SPEAK ENGLISH VERY WELL!"

Neotokio still has me laughing.

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Originally Posted by RABicle

I was always angry about Sin and Punishment. I downloaded a video of it once, it looked fucking amazing. Now even China gets to play it.

You speak the truth. The game is amazing (I have played it) and Nintendo is a bunch of shitheads for not bringing it here, yet they shoved shit like Mario Party, Mario Golf, Mario Colonoscopy down our throats.

Originally Posted by AcerBandit

Starfox 2

Well, it was never relased anywhere, so I think they could be forgiven there.

Also, why has noone mentioned the GCN Mr. Driller? It's definitely the best Driller title to date, and if you don't own it you need it now.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I'll also say Nintendo Puzzle Collection. If they do re-release it on the Wii or make it available, and Panel de Pon/Tetris Attack is made online multiplayer, I'm going to get so addicted to that it isn't even funny.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Super Robot War series... the ones featuring various robots from different animes.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I've tried playing Terranigma, but I found the combat to be way too lame and boring. I'm going to try it again sometime, though, I hear it's amazing, plotwise.
Same for Earthbound. The battles just suck SO much I can hardly get through the game. If they made me fight every enemy just once, and that was all, it'd be an incredible game. Instead, I'm bored.

So why does it have to be so interesting?!

FELIPE NO

Some neat RPGs:

Live A Live - Like SaGa but a ton more variety in the different character stories
Rudra no Hihou (Rudra's Treasure) - Okay this is cookie-cutter but still well done
Treasure Hunter G - unique grid system for battles
Bahamut Lagoon - This is so high-res and advanced! A wonderful strategy rpg!

A wicked platformer:

The Violinist of Hamelin - Why can't all platformers this clever? You can abuse Flute to your heart's content!

A different puzzle game:

Kirby Star Stacker - You had to "sandwich" stars with Kirby's animal friend pieces. The next person that tries to compare this to Tetris just because of the standard falling block concept gets a punch in the face

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Summonmaster

Kirby Star Stacker - You had to "sandwich" stars with Kirby's animal friend pieces. The next person that tries to compare this to Tetris just because of the standard falling block concept gets a punch in the face

Kirby's Star Stacker was a game for the Game Boy, and it was released in the U.S. I assume you're referring to the SNES version, Kirby no Kirakira Kizzu?

That game's goodtimes. Has my favorite rendition of Dedede's theme.

How ya doing, buddy?

It's probably been said many times, but Dracula X: Rondo of Blood should have made it to the non-Jap folk by now. With the advent of companies re-releasing old classics, even without any new additions, I don't see why Konami hasn't brought out this highly acclaimed gem. I believe IGA said something in some interview about it, but I can't locate it. If it's because they believe it won't succeed outside Japan, why not package it into a collection with some other golden oldies? And they did re-release Akumajou Dracula X68k, but why for? Good game, but not what the majority of fans wanted. Now I've resorted to finding a working emulation of it.. I've got the supposed files, but can't find a damn emulator to get it going proper! Argh.

There's nowhere I can't reach.