Games Where Konami Fucked It Up For The West
It's not really a secret that sometimes games are changed a bit for the western market, but Konami was by far one of the worst if not THE worst at adjusting their games to absolutely shit all over westerners. About time someone compiled all of it to give everyone a warning....
If anyone who stumbles upon this has a suggestion or a correction, feel free to yell at me.
If anyone who stumbles upon this has a suggestion or a correction, feel free to yell at me.
31 Games
For some reason they made Soma a transfer student, despite the fact that he's still apparently Mina's childhood friend. A slight detail, but stupid enough to warrant a mention.
Along with lacking the higher quality music from Akumajou Densetsu, CVIII has a bunch of mean-spirited difficulty increases in the form of enemies doing increased damage, adding enemies to rooms, nerfing Grant's knife attack, and having enemies tank a ton more hits similar to Streets of Rage 3.
Horrific release, avoid it at all costs.
Horrific release, avoid it at all costs.
Experience needed to level up was increased by 20%, and they inexplicably removed the subtitle from the PAL release.
Wonder how many parents fucked up buying this or the Classics NES release.
Wonder how many parents fucked up buying this or the Classics NES release.
They did some difficulty fuckie wuckies in here, Normal from Vampire Killer (The JP version) is equivalent to Easy in Bloodlines. Normal in our version nerfs the shit out of our attacks and features more enemies than there were originally.
In addition, In Vampire Killer the player is given a password after choosing "End" on the Game Over screen. Entering the password puts them at a specific checkpoint in a stage with all of their continues restored. In the international releases, passwords are only given after clearing a stage, and they keep track of the player's amount of remaining continues, making completing stages with minimal deaths much more crucial.
In addition, In Vampire Killer the player is given a password after choosing "End" on the Game Over screen. Entering the password puts them at a specific checkpoint in a stage with all of their continues restored. In the international releases, passwords are only given after clearing a stage, and they keep track of the player's amount of remaining continues, making completing stages with minimal deaths much more crucial.
Okay, for once this actually has nothing to do with difficulty. We just got a less polished version with less cool effects and text.
The Japanese version was apparently a fuckton easier, including having an extra layer of health if you picked up food while at full.
Cheat codes were completely dummied out from our release, and of course our continues were limited. We also could not fight the true final boss on normal, but JP could.
The jump kick is nerfed from the Japanese version and enemies are a ton more tanky.
For our version they took out the cross and replaced it with the axe. The cross is generally a much better weapon across the series.
Music in the sound test was also not named.
Music in the sound test was also not named.
The NA one was actually first, but I think it counts regardless since despite arguments about the life meter they still took out the infinite continues and cheat codes.
Okay, so for Rocket Knight they did some renaming of the difficulty levels. In the Japanese version they were called "Normal", "Hard", "Very Hard", and "Crazy Hard" (with a side of crazy bread). For North America they renamed them "Children", "Easy", "Normal", and "Hard. In the non-American versions Very Hard and Crazy Hard needed codes to unlock, while in NA they're immediately available. This matters because you're denied the final boss fight and the real ending if you play on "Children", which was originally the "Normal" mode.
A far cry from Streets of Rage 3 stopping you at the midway point for daring to play on "Easy" which was originally Japanese Normal, but you could make an argument that it's worse because it takes longer to realize the game's gonna break your balls over seeing the rest of it.
A far cry from Streets of Rage 3 stopping you at the midway point for daring to play on "Easy" which was originally Japanese Normal, but you could make an argument that it's worse because it takes longer to realize the game's gonna break your balls over seeing the rest of it.
iirc they actually did make the enemies more aggressive in this one, but I'm essentially using this also as a stand-in for the obnoxious names changes they kept slapping this franchise with.
Gradius -> Nemesis
Gradius II -> Vulcan Venture
Nemesis II(Game Boy) -> Gradius: Interstellar Assault
Keep in mind also that Nemesis is used for the first Game Boy game in Japan and is a mostly original thing.
Gradius -> Nemesis
Gradius II -> Vulcan Venture
Nemesis II(Game Boy) -> Gradius: Interstellar Assault
Keep in mind also that Nemesis is used for the first Game Boy game in Japan and is a mostly original thing.
The stage select code was absolutely fubar'd from our version, and our extra lives code only gave us 10 lives to the original 30.
They apparently removed the power ups from the western release, and fucked with the way mutant powers worked by making them drain health first before using spheres.
American cabinets of DDR supernova didn't support e-amuse online functionality and the upgrade kits weren't compatible with other DDR games. If you wanted to put supernova on a DDR cab you already bought it had to be the Japanese version, so most arcade operators didn't buy supernova at all and started the rolling ball of DDR dying stateside. ~ MB
We were allowed only two options compared to Salamander's three.
The title screen was a lot nicer in Salamander too. <_<
The title screen was a lot nicer in Salamander too. <_<
There's apparently one version of an Overseas set where a single bone thrown from a skeleton will take out half of your life.
Jiminy christmas on a stick.
Jiminy christmas on a stick.
Absolutely crabominable, I dunno who at Konami was determined to make Mad City flop in the west, but they made the game absolutely batshit insane to play. In addition to Streets of Rage 3'ing the enemies in the beat'em up section, they also made the driving sections an OHKO fest.
Almost unplayable.
Almost unplayable.
They changed your gun to only shoot north instead of the direction you're driving, which was preserved for the NES version. Maybe YMMV? Been a hot minute since I played.
We were given a total of only two continues, while the JP version had free play. The JP version also had unique icons for points of interest like bosses, key cards, and locked cells. Our version just had generic dots.
Thanks.
Thanks.
Forgot about one Konami game which is Twinbee: Rainbow Bell Adventure. It had a PAL release called Pop'n TwinBee: Rainbow Bell Adventures. There's a lot wrong with it.
- They made the game linear, originally there were multiple exits meaning there were different level paths you could unlock. This also means levels with more secretive or harder ways to get to in the PAL version are pointless cause they lead to the same level now.
- There is no saving in the PAL version, it was removed to be only passwords. It should be said though that there were passwords in the JP version but you could also just save.
- The multiple endings were removed due to the game being linear
- Dialogue before levels was also removed ~ Angel_Arle
- They made the game linear, originally there were multiple exits meaning there were different level paths you could unlock. This also means levels with more secretive or harder ways to get to in the PAL version are pointless cause they lead to the same level now.
- There is no saving in the PAL version, it was removed to be only passwords. It should be said though that there were passwords in the JP version but you could also just save.
- The multiple endings were removed due to the game being linear
- Dialogue before levels was also removed ~ Angel_Arle
A minor crime compared to everything else on the list, but you no longer get extends in the international versions.
Then DDR X 1 and 2's American cabinets were produced by raw thrills and were nigh unusable cause the pads used a physical spring-loaded button that you had to depress with your feet instead of a weight sensor ~ MB
Just like Crime Fighters they had your life decrease as the time goes by as if your character had horrifically high metabolism and would die of starvation in one minute.
The passwords were completely removed from our version with us only having two continues and our HP reduced from three to two.
Hope your car trips take a while.
Hope your car trips take a while.
For PAL many early entries into the Contra series had the human characters reskinned into robots, presumably to get around laws in Germany.
Probotector MD in particular iirc had one continue docked from it in comparison to the NA version.
Probotector MD in particular iirc had one continue docked from it in comparison to the NA version.
The game sucks, but the American version is far worse and features a life bar that drains overtime to drain your quarters faster and they removed the back kick.
Weapons were taken out, the stage order was jumbled, and they added these idiotic metal orbs that explode into homing/spread shots that are horrific to avoid.
In a switcheroo of predicaments with Babs' Big Break, the game was first released in NA to a chorus of pain from every child trying to beat this while riding in their mom's car.
The JP version was a fuckton easier, with levels made shorter and easier, the bonus games were easier, bosses had reduced HP, and passwords were added.
The JP version was a fuckton easier, with levels made shorter and easier, the bonus games were easier, bosses had reduced HP, and passwords were added.
And now Konami isn't offering DDR A3 upgrade kits to arcades unless they give them royalties for every credit spent on the machine. Round 1 agreed to it, Dave and busters didn't, so 5 years from now we're gonna have about 300+ DDR cabs be useless cause they killed the servers for the version we're stuck on ~ MB
Secondhand info here (from a book) but apparently Konami ruined their Gauntlet-by-way-of-Indiana-Jones game "Devil World" when they brought it west as "Dark Adventure" by changing the focus from projectiles to melee weapons (without rebalancing anything), replacing the Gradius-style power-up system with normal items, and changing from a linear set of levels to branching paths which can loop back around and make you repeat areas over and over before you find how to progress. Great job! ~ DJSCheddar
17 Comments
Would the whole thing with English releases changing Soma Cruz into an exchange student despite basically everything else about him contradicting that count or is that too minor of a detail?
There's enough of this where it all must speak to some kind of deeply held corporate ethos, and I think it's the difficulty situation on Rocket Knight that finally spells it out explicity: "Fuck American children"
@BigGnome it's minor, but stupid enough I feel like burying Konami for it.
@DJSCheddar "fuck them kids" as they always say.
@DJSCheddar "fuck them kids" as they always say.
Another annoying thing that's probably minor about Belmont's Revenge is in the Japanese version, songs in the sound test were actually named. This isn't the case over here where they are given the names like BGM 1 (which was "NEW MESSIAH" in Japan). Kid Dracula on the Game Boy has this issue too for some reason. Oddly the PAL rerelease that was in a Konami GBC collection actually retains those Japanese names, really confusing.
It might be worth considering that all those old Contra games were reskinned as Probotector for Europe, but if we're going down that route, you'd probably have to consider how many of these fast action games were hurt by lacklustre 50Hz conversion.
Apologies for another comment. Forgot about one Konami game which is Twinbee: Rainbow Bell Adventure. It had a PAL release called Pop'n TwinBee: Rainbow Bell Adventures. There's a lot wrong with it.
- They made the game linear, originally there were multiple exits meaning there were different level paths you could unlock. This also means levels with more secretive or harder ways to get to in the PAL version are pointless cause they lead to the same level now.
- There is no saving in the PAL version, it was removed to be only passwords. It should be said though that there were passwords in the JP version but you could also just save.
- The multiple endings were removed due to the game being linear
- Dialogue before levels was also removed
- They made the game linear, originally there were multiple exits meaning there were different level paths you could unlock. This also means levels with more secretive or harder ways to get to in the PAL version are pointless cause they lead to the same level now.
- There is no saving in the PAL version, it was removed to be only passwords. It should be said though that there were passwords in the JP version but you could also just save.
- The multiple endings were removed due to the game being linear
- Dialogue before levels was also removed
is it really that bad the cviii release on the west? i´ve seen a lot o pleople praising that instead the japanese version
@Angel_Arle no need to apologize. I'm just gonna quote you out of laziness. :P
@nervalitis Maybe I hang around dedicated circles a bit too much, but I seriously can't imagine preferring the localization. Like the highest praise I could give it is the crosses somehow making it through Nintendo's policy and the font looking a bit cooler. Like they even replaced the ghoul rabbit, and that's that most inexcusable change tbh.
@nervalitis Maybe I hang around dedicated circles a bit too much, but I seriously can't imagine preferring the localization. Like the highest praise I could give it is the crosses somehow making it through Nintendo's policy and the font looking a bit cooler. Like they even replaced the ghoul rabbit, and that's that most inexcusable change tbh.
Whenever someone talks about CV3 being underwhelming or brutal, I instinctively ask if they played the original JP or USA release. It's insane just how many changes and bullshittery was done to what is, from what I can remember, one of the best 2D platformers on that system. At least we have romhacks to correct this blunder.
I can't recall any Konami Fuckups right now, but I'm sure I'll remember one later to comment.
I can't recall any Konami Fuckups right now, but I'm sure I'll remember one later to comment.
Secondhand info here (from a book) but apparently Konami ruined their Gauntlet-by-way-of-Indiana-Jones game "Devil World" when they brought it west as "Dark Adventure" by changing the focus from projectiles to melee weapons (without rebalancing anything), replacing the Gradius-style power-up system with normal items, and changing from a linear set of levels to branching paths which can loop back around and make you repeat areas over and over before you find how to progress. Great job!
American cabinets of DDR supernova didn't support e-amuse online functionality and the upgrade kits weren't compatible with other DDR games. If you wanted to put supernova on a DDR cab you already bought it had to be the Japanese version, so most arcade operators didn't buy supernova at all and started the rolling ball of DDR dying stateside.
Then DDR X 1 and 2's American cabinets were produced by raw thrills and were nigh unusable cause the pads used a physical spring-loaded button that you had to depress with your feet instead of a weight sensor
And now Konami isn't offering DDR A3 upgrade kits to arcades unless they give them royalties for every credit spent on the machine. Round 1 agreed to it, Dave and busters didn't, so 5 years from now we're gonna have about 300+ DDR cabs be useless cause they killed the servers for the version we're stuck on
Then DDR X 1 and 2's American cabinets were produced by raw thrills and were nigh unusable cause the pads used a physical spring-loaded button that you had to depress with your feet instead of a weight sensor
And now Konami isn't offering DDR A3 upgrade kits to arcades unless they give them royalties for every credit spent on the machine. Round 1 agreed to it, Dave and busters didn't, so 5 years from now we're gonna have about 300+ DDR cabs be useless cause they killed the servers for the version we're stuck on
All added, thank you both very much!
Happy to get the deets on all the bullshit they did with DDR cabs. :u
Happy to get the deets on all the bullshit they did with DDR cabs. :u
Some of these truths I didn't even know. It's amazing to me to know, but now that I think about it, it makes a lot of sense.
In the case of the Castlevania games, I honestly think the difficulty changes weren't that bad, except for Castlevania III, it was a terrible change.
The change of the cross for the axe in Castlevania II Belmont's Revenge seems good to me since usually the axe is more useful for allowing you to attack upwards, while the cross is only straight, maybe it was for the best, although I couldn't really say, I haven't analyzed it in depth.
In the case of Contra III, the limited continues don't make the game impossible on normal difficulty, but I never imagined that it was something absent in the Japanese version, since the previous games handled limited continues.
Contra Hardcorps is a strange case because the original version is the hardest. That's a strange revelation to me.
Good list.
In the case of the Castlevania games, I honestly think the difficulty changes weren't that bad, except for Castlevania III, it was a terrible change.
The change of the cross for the axe in Castlevania II Belmont's Revenge seems good to me since usually the axe is more useful for allowing you to attack upwards, while the cross is only straight, maybe it was for the best, although I couldn't really say, I haven't analyzed it in depth.
In the case of Contra III, the limited continues don't make the game impossible on normal difficulty, but I never imagined that it was something absent in the Japanese version, since the previous games handled limited continues.
Contra Hardcorps is a strange case because the original version is the hardest. That's a strange revelation to me.
Good list.
@Maurith Only a few of these are super egregious cases like CVIII, Thunder Cross, and Bayou Billy I'd say. I actually need to play the Tiny Toon games to see how much the difficulty changes impact it for something that should be geared more towards kids, granted I don't think Konami cared much for where the target audience was lol. Love the company, but goddamn.
curse
5 months ago
version of CVIII we got sucks shit and I'll never understand how anyone thinks otherwise