OK, so it's really been on my brain for the last eight or 10 months.
Anyway, as a result of my, er, obsessive thoughts (for lack of a better word) on the subject, I've been discovering and re-discovering all sorts of "gems" that were released for Nintendo's first handheld, including the four discussed below--each of which I was surprised to learn were never released in the system's home country.
Balloon Kid--I know this one was released in Japan eventually, but that didn't happen until 10 years after it appeared elsewhere, and even then it was only released (for the GameBoy Color) as part of the Nintendo Power flash RAM cartridge system. Which is a shame, as the GBC version of Balloon Kid (called Balloon Fight GB in Japan) is top notch and its packaging surely would've featured some awesome art.
Buster Bros--I only recently discovered that this odd, Capcom-developed action game had received a GameBoy port (courtesy of Hudson Soft). Shortly after, I discovered--much to my dismay--that while it was released in Europe (as Pang) and North America (as Buster Brothers), it never made it to Japan. I find that kind of strange, especially since similar games like Tumblepop and Snow Bros. Jr. saw the light of day in that region.
Dig Dug--This may be the worst offender of the bunch, as the "New Dig Dug" mode included in this portable release is all sorts of awesome (as well as hair-pullingly frustrating at times, it has to be said). Also, a Japanese release of this game would've allowed me to compare and contrast its cover art with that of its North American counterpart (which I actually find to be more than acceptable).
Update: shortly after I published this post, someone brought it to my attention that both of the above-mentioned Dig Dug games were included in the 1996 Japan-only release, Namco Gallery Vol. 2, which you can read about here.
Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters--Full disclosure: I've barely spent any time with this one over the years, despite the fact that the original Kid Icarus is one of my all-time favorite NES games. Of course, the main reason for that is I've heard some terrible things about it. So, maybe it's a good thing Of Myths and Monsters never earned a spot on the shelves of its country of origin?
See also: 'You really need to try these three GameBoy titles, if you haven't already'
One that also surprises me is Space Invaders. The gameboy port never came to Japan surpringly.
ReplyDeleteIt's always surprising to me when a game made by Japanese people isn't released in Japan! Publishing is a strange business!
ReplyDeleteThis is only tangentially related to your post, but your link to the wiki article on Kid Icarus got me started! This goes into my own "pet peeve" of the "reception" category citing modern reviews rather than ones contemporary with its release (there are a few mentioned this time, at least) which got me thinking about how I'd never actually seen it in a magazine, even though it came out right about the time I started picking up EGM every month. (It did appear in Nintendo Power, of course!) I still have those old issues handy, in fact, so I took a look to see what they said about it, and as far as I can tell they didn't cover the game at all in any of the issues surrounding its release (Nov. 1991). It isn't even listed in their monthly release schedules! What's the deal with that, I wonder?
Oh, I didn't know that, Rod. How strange--especially since that series also originated in Japan.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that's basically why I found all of these surprising, Michael--all originated in Japan, as far as I'm aware, and were from fairly popular series, yet never were released in their home country.
ReplyDeleteAs for Of Myths and Monsters: you don't remember seeing it promoted in magazines of the time? I do, although I can't back that up with anything.
Regardless, assuming you're right and non-Nintendo Power mags of the era didn't cover this game, I have no idea what that would be. I don't remember mags of that time hating Nintendo like they do today, so I doubt that's the problem. Was Of Myths and Monsters released near the end of the GB's life span? If so, that may be the reason.
BTW, in regard to the "reception" part of this game's Wiki page: I was actually shocked when I read that and saw that supposedly Of Myths and Monsters received pretty good review scores. My memory of the game is that word of mouth on it wasn't very good. Or maybe it's just that *I* didn't think it looked very good? I have no idea.
Anyway, maybe this means I should track down a copy and finally give it a fair shake...
In EGM's case they were definitely covering other GB games so it wasn't the timing. I'm sure other magazines covered it though (and some examples are given in the wiki).
ReplyDeleteAfter thinking a bit more about it I'm wondering if there might have been something going on between Nintendo and EGM at the time. Obviously they were still going to cover the big stuff whether they got review copies or not (especially with the SNES on the way) but Nintendo wasn't advertising in the magazine at all (I didn't go looking for ads--the "advertiser index" tells who was running ads :) and EGM covered import games quite a bit at that time and was also running ads from numerous shops happy to sell Americans a Super Famicom prior to the US release, so Nintendo might not have felt like dealing with them, especially with their own PR megaphone Nintendo Power around. I can remember a specific note in the back of an issue of Nintendo Power advising against buying Japanese hardware, as well. Anyway that's just my theory, but not including it in the release schedule is really weird regardless, unless Wikipedia has the release date wrong.
Nearly all my info about the game came from Nintendo Power so I had taken that at face value and assumed it was good, though I never played it either. :) It looks alright, though I have to admit never really getting into the original. You said it was one of your favorites, have you written about it before?
Ah, I'd totally forgotten about any of this, Michael. Anyway, I have a feeling you may be right. Very interesting, if so!
ReplyDeleteAs for the original Kid Icarus: I know I wrote about it way back when I started this blog, but I'm not sure I'd go searching for any of it.
I may have written about it since, too, but I can't quite remember.
Anyway, I fully realize the game is tough as nails and more than a little cheap, but I love it anyway--in part because it was one of the first NES games that really called to me (mostly because of its art style). Plus, I loved its gods and goddesses theme and its soundtrack :)
Heh! Despite having not really played it much the opening song is certainly one that I don't have trouble calling to mind! :) It's on my "try this again sometime" list for sure, it seems like my sort of thing, I do like difficult games after all.
ReplyDeleteActually, what did you end up thinking of the 3DS game? I picked it up but it ended up just barely making it out of the package, tbh! I didn't spend much time with it at all.
Nice write-up! I knew about Balloon Kid and Kid Icarus, but not the other two- Dig Dug in particular is very surprising, seeing as the Famicom version didn't make it out of Japan. As for Buster Bros., The Cutting Room Floor names Ocean (from England) as its developer, so perhaps that has something to do with it?
ReplyDeleteBalloon Kid's one of my favourite GB games, so I was really surprised it never made it to Japan at first... At least on the Game Boy. There was a Famicom reworking 2 years later called Hello Kitty World which replaces Alice with Hello Kitty (obviously). I personally prefer the GB version, though- HKW's stages feel a bit cramped, and the charm of BK (like Alice's expressions and the slightly menacing feel to stages like the factory) is gone. Oh well!
I haven't bought the 3DS version yet, Michael. Based on what I've seen of it and read about it, I'm just not sure it's my kind of thing. Still, I'm curious. Maybe I'll pick it up on the cheap sometime--assuming I can ever find it on the cheap, that is.
ReplyDeleteWhaaaatttt?? Who said bad things about Kid Icarus of Myths and Monsters? It's one of my all time favorite game boy games! ^^ Balloon Kid is also up there! Have you played the Game Boy version of Burger Time?
ReplyDeleteHey there, Ant. Thanks for the info about Ocean possibly developing the GB version of Buster Bros. That certainly could explain why it wasn't released in Japan, esp. given when it would've been released.
ReplyDeleteStill, it's kind of a funny decision on the part of Capcom and Hudson, as I doubt many Japanese gamers would've been able to tell it was made by a non-Japanese company.
As for Hello Kitty World: oh, yes, I know this game well. In fact, I own a copy of it and have played it quite a bit. (I think I even reviewed it here at one point...)
Anyway, I agree with you that while HKW is nice enough, Balloon Kid is by far the better game.
I don't know, Kaze--I'm just going off of memory here. Based on what I read at the end of the Wikipedia entry on the game that I linked to in this post, it's possible my GB-obsessed brain created these supposed negative reviews--or maybe there was some negative word of mouth that surrounded the game in my neighborhood? I have no idea.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, hearing that it's one of your all-time favorite GB games makes me want to give it a fair shake sometime soon.
As for the GB version of BurgerTime: oh, yes, I've played it, and I like it a lot! I really need to track down a Japanese copy of it one of these days...
I also enjoyed Of Myths and Monsters but I prefer the other 2 Kid Icarus games with Uprising being my favorite of the 3.
ReplyDeleteWell, that's certainly good to hear, Sam--especially since a few of us were just commenting on how we were a bit unsure about trying Uprising.
ReplyDeletea bit off-topic, but is there some way of contacting you? Can't find a contact form or anything
ReplyDeletezoogawahfooo 0877-0199-3066
ReplyDeleteNo worries, Jonas. I thought this info was in my Blogger "profile," but I guess not! Feel free to send an e-mail to me at bochalla (at) yahoo (dot) com.
ReplyDeleteI've played a few hours of Of Myths and Monsters, but I've never really felt that great about it. And I love the NES game (although the first time I ever played through it was a few years ago).
ReplyDeleteAh, another opinion on Of Myths and Monsters! I think what I'm going to do soon is play a bit of the game via emulation. Should I like it at all, I'll buy an actual cart and give it a proper working over. If I hate it, that'll be the end of it :)
ReplyDeleteInteresting! Now that you mention it I have never seen those games for the Game Boy here. I have a Game Boy but only use it occasionally and probably have about 25-30 games for it, so I don`t pay as close attention to the catalog as I do for the Famicom. If anyone had asked me though I would have just assumed those had all been released on the GB, especially if they have been released in North America.
ReplyDeleteThere is probably an interesting story as to why they weren`t released here (there are also a few NES games that never got released in Japan, though I think there are more Famicom games that were never released in North America).
Oh my goodness I love the first path (: haha
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jordan! Are you going to use that path design in your NL town? I use it in my main town and really love it. I also use the second path design in my alt town and really like it. So I guess what I'm saying is that you can't go wrong with any of the path designs I shared here :) Also, thanks for the nice words about the blog in general. I really appreciate them and I hope you continue to enjoy the site for some time to come!
ReplyDeleteOh, sorry, Derpy, completely forgot about this. I'll add you shortly!
ReplyDeleteoh my goodness! i love this "little boat on water" path its so great ^^!!!
ReplyDelete