The Translation Appreciation Station

[WavyGravy]

We've been talking a lot about what's maybe possible on the SNES, and you know what's definitely possible on the SNES? Getting to play amazing vintage games that feel brand new because they weren't available in your language back in the day and now they are! The SNES has a boatload of great games that never left Japan due to the cost of translation and the extended lifespan of the Super Famicom compared to the SNES. Let's talk about 'em!
 

Here are a few of my favourites:

Front Mission: Gun Hazard | Translation by Aeon Genesis
I don't actually like the original Front Mission that much. This, though? One of the best games of not just the SNES' life, but the entire generation. It's a mission-based sidescrolling action-RPG where you control a giant, customizable robot and pilot it through a great story with an amazing score by Nobuo Uematsu and Yasunori Mitsuda, the same partnership that brought us the Chrono Trigger OST.
Check it out: https://www.romhacking.net/translations/528/ 

 

Energy Breaker | Translation by Disnesquick

An isometric strategy RPG with a complex and interesting magic customization system. Beautiful graphics and sound, with a really novel feature where you can choose how friendly (or not) you want to be when talking to NPCs.
Check it out:https://www.romhacking.net/translations/346/

Ganbare Goemon 2 | Translation by DDSTranslation
The Legend of the Mystical Ninja was a great early SNES game. This sequel takes everything bad and chucks it, and takes everything good and amps it up to the absolutely absurd. Fantastic graphics, a very distinctive Konami soundtrack, and gameplay that occasionally involves getting eaten by a giant robot on rollerskates, and using said robot to destroy vast swathes of the Japanese countryside before using it in a first-person boxing match against ANOTHER giant robot. If you like Castlevania, Parodius, and I guess Punch-Out, you're gonna have a blast with this one. It's also 2-player simultaneous!
Check it out: https://www.romhacking.net/translations/5353/

Marvelous: Another Treasure Island | Translation by tashi
Made by Nintendo themselves, and Eiji Aonuma's first title, no less! This is a very interesting game. It looks a lot like an action RPG, but I'd call it more of a team-based adventure game. You control a group of kids, using their differing abilities to solve puzzles to uncover the legendary treasure of Captain Maverick over the course of your school field trip. If you took A Link to the Past, Earthbound, and Lost Vikings and mashed them all together, you'd get something like Marvelous.
Check it out: https://www.romhacking.net/translations/2006/

 

Gunman's Proof | Translation by Aeon Genesis

Take Zelda, make it about cowboys and aliens, and Link has a gun. The game is a really fun top-down shooter with a great sense of humour. If you aren't trampling alien-cowboy-bandits with an invincible space-donkey, you're probably doing it wrong, and I firmly believe that this applies to any situation in life.
Check it out: https://www.romhacking.net/translations/622/

I tried to pick some lesser-known stuff that I really enjoyed. I hope you found some stuff that you haven't tried yet!

What are some of your favourite SNES translations? Are there any games that haven't been translated that you're looking forward to or hoping for?

[SlidellMan]

Here's my definite choices:

DeJap's Star Ocean & Tales of Phantasia translations.

DDS' Bushi Seitryuudeon Translation: https://www.romhacking.net/translations/5997/

Mteam's Sailor Moon & Rayearth Translations: https://www.romhacking.net/translations/6591/

https://www.romhacking.net/translations/6650/

Sailor Moon - Another Story retranslation: https://www.romhacking.net/translations/4654/

Dynamic Designs' Shiki Eiyuuden trnaslation: https://www.romhacking.net/translations/5910/

Aeon Genesis' Holy Umbrella translation:

By the way, this was a joint project between Naxat Soft and Moto Kikaku.

 

Edit: Kudos for mentioning Front Mission: Gun Hazard, Energy Breaker, and Marvelous: Another Treasure Island.

Edited February 20, 2023 by SlidellMan

[WavyGravy]

I hadn't realized Holy Umbrella was finished! And a long time ago, too. AGTP put so many patches out back in the day, I must have missed it. I'll have to check it out!

[Bloodreign]

I was very happy to see the last 3 Goemon SFC games, and the Ebisumaru spinoff get translated as I own all 4 SNES/SFC Goemon titles in my collection, and since 3 was so text heavy, there was no way I was finishing it in it's original language, nor getting through a certain puzzle in the 4th game (which is still a difficult game, the stage design is insane) in the original Japanese language. I don't own a copy of the Ebisumaru spinoff (perhaps sooner or later I'll pick it up), and while not language intensive, I'd love to know what is going on it it storywise.

[Wayler]

Seiken Densetsu 3 translation was a huge thing when it first came out. I was so disappointed back then, when Squaresoft opted not to release it in the west. Tales of Phantasia was another big one, being the first game in the Tales-series. These titles have been of course released officially since, but the fan translations came first.

 

Here's a few others:

 

Clock Tower | Translation: Aeon Genesis

Being a fan of the old the Lucasarts/Sierra point & click adventure games, this is really up my alley. With an interesting horror theme to boot. https://www.romhacking.net/translations/302/

And then there's even a separate mouse support patch and other quality of life improvements, such as new content: https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/5397/

 

 

BS Out of Bounds Golf / Golf Daisuki!: O.B. Club | Translation: Dynamic-Designs

Minigolf in Kirby's Dream Course-style. Released only on Satellaview. 4-player support. looks so much fun. https://www.romhacking.net/translations/2583/

 

 

Majuu Ou / Majyūō / Majyuuou | Translation: Aeon Genesis

Aka King of Demons. This one I actually own as a cart and have played almost to the end. It's a bloody and gory action platformer where the translation isn't mandatory, but it would be nice to know the story: https://www.romhacking.net/translations/649/

 

 

Edited February 20, 2023 by Wayler

[Kirk_Johnston]

Yup, some great examples there.

 

Also, Tales of Phantasia: 

 

https://www.romhacking.net/translations/470/

 

Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together: 

 

https://www.romhacking.net/translations/1501/

 

All the Goemon games: 

 

https://www.romhacking.net/translations/5354/

 

https://www.romhacking.net/translations/5665/

 

https://www.romhacking.net/translations/5667/

 

https://www.romhacking.net/translations/5666/

 

And this ain't a SNES game--I wish it were--but I'm so glad it got an English translation, as it's one of the best experiences in gaming I've ever had: Mother 3:

 

https://inceptionalnews.wordpress.com/2015/05/11/mother-3-is-brilliant/

 

Also, just to add, while it's great to get English patches for all these old Japanese SNES games for everyone who's interested in that, I've honestly played/tried pretty much every classic SNES game I wish to play at this point, be they in English or not, so that's why I'm personally currently far more interested in seeing new content for it. And, regardless of what anyone else imagines, some more brand new content for the SNES is really only a good thing for everyone genuinely interested in this system, especially if it's of a really high quality like some of the new content we've seen on some of the other systems from that era. I'm very much looking forward to whatever future titles come to the SNES above all else.

 

Edit: Oops, I see Tales of Phantasia and Goemon 2 were already mentioned.

Edited February 20, 2023 by Kirk_Johnston

[WavyGravy]

There's still a lot of games that remain untranslated, games that could be retranslated, etc.
The well is far from dry, and I think that making these games accessible is often just as good as a release of a new title, especially since they're usually exclusive titles with higher budgets and production values than most indies and homebrew.
If you've played everything, then you're probably aware of a lot of projects in development. Is there anything you're looking forward to? I've been waiting for Madara 2 to be finished for ages, as an example. 

[Kirk_Johnston]

49 minutes ago, WavyGravy said:

If you've played everything, then you're probably aware of a lot of projects in development. Is there anything you're looking forward to? I've been waiting for Madara 2 to be finished for ages, as an example. 

Do you mean old translated or brand new, or something else?

 

Note: To be clear, I've not played every single SNES game, just the ones I'm personally interested in (and some others I'm not but checked out anyway for other reasons). I've checked out a bazillion more than I've actually played though, since a whole load of them just don't appeal to me at all after checking out the details and some gameplay footage, etc. I'm very picky about certain things, particularly when it comes to presentation, art, controls and gameplay mechanics. So, right now, I've largely exhausted the old existing SNES library and I'm looking for some brand new stuff to recapture that classic childhood SNES magic again.

Edited February 20, 2023 by Kirk_Johnston

[WavyGravy]

I mean translation projects that are in development or games that haven't been translated that you would like to see.
And, I should have been clear in the original topic, but I'll edit it to clarify, translations into languages other than English are great to hear about as well. There are big chunks of the library locked away behind language barriers for loads of people, not just English-speakers, so it would be great to raise awareness and help people find more games to play and discuss on the system.

[Kirk_Johnston]

16 minutes ago, WavyGravy said:

I mean translation projects that are in development or games that haven't been translated that you would like to see.
And, I should have been clear in the original topic, but I'll edit it to clarify, translations into languages other than English are great to hear about as well. There are big chunks of the library locked away behind language barriers for loads of people, not just English-speakers, so it would be great to raise awareness and help people find more games to play and discuss on the system.

Ah, there's none really that I'm personally interested in or waiting for specifically, if I'm being honest. Well, certainly none that I'm currently aware of or can immediately recall anyway. Although I'm more than happy to see all of them, for sure. I think it's great that people who couldn't play these games previously due to language barriers get a chance to play them now. The more the merrier.

 

Well, I'd take an official English translation of Mother 3, but that's not a SNES game. I certainly looks like it could be one though. Maybe someone could port it to SNES, with the brilliant fan-made English translation. That would be a win-win all round imo. 😛

Edited February 20, 2023 by Kirk_Johnston

[Wayler]

Personally I would like to see a translation to Taekwon-do, a semi-realistic take on the 1v1 fighting genre. Haven't played it but looks very interesting. 

 

And just as a quirk, I would like to play through the sound novel Otogirisou (1992, Chunsoft) only because there is a great rock cover of the opening theme on an obscure arrange cd that I have. 

[WavyGravy]

Otogirisou looks really interesting. Super moody sound design, I can see why they called it a sound novel.
Man, Chunsoft did some super cool stuff on the SNES. The two Mysterious Dungeon games on the platform are fantastic if you're into roguelikes and they were the developers on Dragon Quest 5, which is still my favourite game in that whole series. I'm not going to list DQ5, though, because the DS and Mobile ports of those are the definitive versions of those games, you should play those instead.

Torneko no Daibouken - Fushigi no Dungeon | Translation by Magic Destiny
https://www.romhacking.net/translations/480/

Shiren the Wanderer | Translation by Aeon Genesis
https://www.romhacking.net/translations/483/

[Tanooki]

I'm going to just go personal on this one as I could quite well add more to this list but some are already there like Goemon 2.

 

I get it has been re-issued since, but so what... I was on the original translation team doing largely test and some checking too for Final Fantasy 5 around 1997 into 1998 with the old original work SOM2Freak did.

https://www.romhacking.net/translations/353/

 

And I already saw it, but everyone must give Sailor Moon Another Story a play as it's really fantastic.

[SlidellMan]

@Tanooki Fun fact about Sailor Moon: Another Story: It was developed by Ark System Works before they became a Fighting-game-rehash mill.

 

Other translations I didn't get to mention:

-G.O.D: Growth or Devolution, Heed the Call to Awakening: https://www.romhacking.net/translations/3515/

-Mega Man & Bass/Rockman & Forte: https://www.romhacking.net/translations/6128/

-Alcahest (Square Soft and Hal Labs' take on Gauntlet): https://www.romhacking.net/translations/2286/

-Actraiser re-translated and de-censored: https://www.romhacking.net/translations/1063/

-Arabian Nights: Desert Spirit King: https://www.romhacking.net/translations/1785/

-Aretha: https://www.romhacking.net/translations/3836/

-Aretha II - Ariel's Mysterious Journey: https://www.romhacking.net/translations/5420/

-Byuu/Near's Bahamut Lagoon re-translation and Bug fix: https://www.romhacking.net/translations/5938/

-Breath of Fire 2 re-translated: https://www.romhacking.net/translations/1384/

-Chaos Seed: Feng Shui Chronicles: https://www.romhacking.net/translations/2181/

-The Magical Land of Wozz (As mentioned in my BPS thread): https://www.romhacking.net/translations/689/

-Mteam's Cyber Knight addendum: https://www.romhacking.net/translations/6723/

-Cyber Knight II: https://www.romhacking.net/translations/910/

-Aeon Genesis' Cybernator re-translation: https://www.romhacking.net/translations/775/

-Dragon Quest V, my personal favorite of the series: https://www.romhacking.net/translations/341/

-Dual Orb 2 (If only Mteam would take a stab at translating the original): https://www.romhacking.net/translations/345/

-Xak: The Art of Visual Stage: https://www.romhacking.net/translations/3170/

-Ys V: Kefin, The Lost Kingdom of Sand: https://www.romhacking.net/translations/2060/

-Laplace's Demon (If Clock Tower didn't whet your appetite enough): https://www.romhacking.net/translations/308/

-Angelique (The actual script to this game was translated, but Marfisa had to quit due to real life issues*): https://www.romhacking.net/translations/308/

-Breath of Fire: War of the Goddess (Honorable mention): https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/6611/

*=If it were up to me, I'd make some tiny, but noticeable changes: Julious to Julius, Lumiale to Lumière, Olivie to Olivier, Guardian of Green to Guardian of Greenery, and Guardian of Dream to Guardian of Dreams. It may not be a popular decision, but at least it would be understandable.

[Bloodreign]

Another SFC translation worth noting, Tokimeki Memorial, a game I once thought too daunting for anyone to even try to translate (the Saturn version is in the works for being translated as well). I own that version of the game, as well as the PS1, Saturn, and PC Engine CD version (the two GBC games split from the original game are kind of expensive now, along with the expensive as hell PSP version, which is just the PS1 version again). Still quite a daunting game even in English, I somehow stood up the main girl, Shiori early in the game for a date, felt kind of bad for doing so, but was still learning how the game works at the time.

 

It's a gorgeous game sprites wise, and it's nice to finally know what the hell is being said in the game. And it's from the same translation team, DDS Translations, that did the Goemon SFC games.

Edited February 21, 2023 by Bloodreign

[Wayler]

On 2/20/2023 at 4:55 AM, SlidellMan said:

DDS' Bushi Seitryuudeon Translation: https://www.romhacking.net/translations/5997/

Has anyone played this? Seems like such a weird kitchen sink approach to a game design with so many different genres and viewpoints combined. Does it work as a whole?

 

[Kirk_Johnston]

34 minutes ago, Wayler said:

Has anyone played this? Seems like such a weird kitchen sink approach to a game design with so many different genres and viewpoints combined. Does it work as a whole?

 

That's one I've actually not seen. Looks pretty cool, with a overall high quality of presentation and polish, which I appreciate. Gives me quite a modern vibes for some reason, in a good way, almost as if it were made for Steam or something like that but just made to look like an authentic SNES game. Will check it out.

Edited February 23, 2023 by Kirk_Johnston

[SlidellMan]

I have, and it does take some getting used to. Just don't approach it as a clone of Zelda II: Adventure of Link.

[WavyGravy]

It's one I've had my eye on since it was brought up. I'm giving Treasure of the Rudras another go at the moment (I actually really like the game, it's just a cursed game for me because every time I start it, life happens and I lose my place), but I think the reason it looks as modern as it does is that Game Freak had already really defined their artistic style at this point. As a Mysterious Dungeon fan AND an ardent Zelda 2 defender, I'm quite curious to try it out.
Also, since I'm playing it and it's not in the thread, Treasure of the Rudras!

Treasure of the Rudras | Translation by Aeon Genesis
This was kind of a landmark title for the translation community, as the game was thought for a long time to be un-translatable. That's because the magic system in the game is based on the player writing down mantras, which have their own language system based on root words, prefixes, and suffixes to create totally custom spells, but Aeon Gensesis managed to pull it off. It's also the last mainline Squaresoft title for the SNES and they went all out for occasion, so the game's presentation is absolutely wild, with huge animated enemies, really cool spell effects, and a great OST. The story is told through three different perspectives taking place over the same time, and you can switch between them, with some affecting other as they go. Very cool, quite unique, and a great example of how and why the SNES was the king of JRPGs in the 16-bit era. There is some controversy over the font. TotR uses the SNES's ability to mix graphics modes per scanline, using high resolution modes to render text boxes, so if you're playing on an emulator, make sure you're able to display the SNES 512x448 hires mode and split modes correctly, and you'll be fine. If you're playing on real hardware, your CRT will deal with it just fine, and most scalers shouldn't have an issue.
https://www.romhacking.net/translations/669/

[SlidellMan]

I thought I would bring up Arcana's Seal of Rimsala hack as it corrects the original's translation errors, amongst other things:

https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/4505/

 

[NE146]

On 2/20/2023 at 1:52 PM, Tanooki said:

I get it has been re-issued since, but so what... I was on the original translation team doing largely test and some checking too for Final Fantasy 5 around 1997 into 1998 with the old original work SOM2Freak did.

https://www.romhacking.net/translations/353/

 

Cool man. I'm actually playing through a translated (with some QoL additions) Final Fantasy 5 for the FIRST time ever, despite being a huge huge fan of FF1, FF2(US), and FF3(US).. until FF7 turned me into not liking the series anymore  

 

I decided to go with the SNES version rather than the later remakes since that is what I'd imagine I'd have gone for after FF2(US)/FF4 typically.  The Pocket has made it possible for me since sitting in front of a TV to play doesn't happen often and I'm much more likely to pay attention when doing certain bio-break activities *ahem*.  Anyway, been playing it for months.. a few minutes a day at a time and so far I'm 30 hours in. Loving the translation action. 

 

[Tanooki]

@NE146 You have chosen wisely doing that, definitely, both with the pocket for that ease of use and also the SNES release as you might as well keep it real.  I'm doing largely the same in spurts like once a week with Lufia II and while I have the SuperNt it usually rests on my desk and gets put into the SupaboyS which is fine by me.

 

I can totally relate to FF7.  I'm not sure if it was in the water there at the time, they fired a lot of old staff, whatever the case but FF9 aside there is a stark huge difference between what they once called the N-generation and the S-generation of the FF franchise.  If you grew up with N the S stuff really is a moderate to wide swing away from what made the series attractive, fun, and standing out as it just went off the rails.  To me 9 was an apology over specifically 8 but a bit for 7 too.  FF7 I grabbed it when I saw a steal of a pickup for the Windows version in the era, and in ways (many) it's the superior release too given the better resolution and the music too when you used the full effect of the yamaha sound synthesizer with some huge sample packages.  I found the game alright but also boring enough at times I couldn't sit through it, and 8 I tried a few stabs at with kiosks left on at various points etc and the new systems were a 100% stop for me, it was terrible.  9 I only ended up with in 2001 or 2002 and hoped they regained some sanity until 10 came along...then ergh...11.  I always was a FF fan first and Dragon Quest a good second, and well at least Dragon Quest stayed honest.

[Kirk_Johnston]

6 hours ago, SlidellMan said:

I thought I would bring up Arcana's Seal of Rimsala hack as it corrects the original's translation errors, amongst other things:

https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/4505/

 

Tried this game recently but wasn't really feeling it. The actual gameplay felt a bit too random and going through the motions without much real strategy imo. Shame I couldn't get into it, because it looks and sounds half-decent otherwise. And it's definitely something a little bit different on SNES.

Edited February 26, 2023 by Kirk_Johnston

[SlidellMan]

Great news, Breath of Fire now has a Definitive edition that includes the War of the Goddess enhancement:

https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/7597/

[Tanooki]

Arcana is great, there is no going through the motions, and you do need a little strategy on what you do and what you target with a party member.  You can't just dish out the pain by banging on the A button in a FF title and just speed kill stuff if you have a decent level behind you.  There's really nothing random about it anymore than any other JRPG, what gets you is the 3D maze style as it feels like it should follow the step turn step turn dungeon crawler mechanics but it doesn't.  It's a JRPG with the look of that, and if you can't get around that, I guess it would get confusing.