It's easier than ever to take a Magical Vacation--even if you don't know Japanese

Like a lot of people, I've wanted to play the Brownie Brown-made (and Nintendo-published) Magical Vacation since I first became aware of it in the lead up to the GameBoy Advance's early-2001 release.

What's stopped me from doing so? The language barrier is the biggest reason, no question. Although I'm (slowly) learning Japanese, I still haven't learned enough to understand the story in games like this one.

Thankfully, that's no longer an issue--or at least it no longer has to be an issue. That's because an English fan translation patch hit the Internet the other day that makes Magical Vacation accessible to schmucks like me who aren't quite ready to stumble their way through an RPG that otherwise displays text they don't understand.

To learn more about this patch--or, you know, download it--go to romhacking.net.

Before you grab it, though, you might like to know the Magical Vacation patch contains a few glitches, typos and chunks of untranslated text. It's still quite playable, and even enjoyable, based on what I've been told, but I thought some of you would appreciate hearing about the above-mentioned issues before diving into this candy-coated (yet also surprisingly dark--again, based on what I've been told) adventure.

Are any of you planning to give this a try? Or maybe you're already making your way through it? If your answer to either of those questions is yes, please let me--and others--know in the comments section below.

Set aside two copies of Professor Layton and the Last Specter for me, will you?

Actually, make that one copy of Professor Layton and the Last Specter and one copy of Professor Layton and the Spectre's Call, if you don't mind.

The first game is the North American version of the fourth entry in Level-5's vaunted Professor Layton series, by the way, while the second game is the European version.

Professor Layton and the Last Specter's Japanese cover art. 

Why am I buying both? Well, I'm buying Professor Layton and the Spectre's Call, which will be released on Nov. 25, because I (strangely) prefer the alternate art that graces the covers of the Euro versions of the Professor Layton games to the art that graces the covers of the North American and Japanese versions and I'm buying Professor Layton and the Last Specter, which will be released on Oct. 17, because apparently it's going to be the only English version of the game that will contain Professor Layton’s London Life, a 100-hour RPG (developed by Mother 3-makers Brownie Brown) that I believe unlocks after you finish the main adventure.

I'd prefer to buy just one copy of the game (that being Spectre's Call), to tell you the truth, but, alas, I absolutely must experience the much-talked-about London Life. So, two copies it is.