You know how whenever the news media talks about video games, science, the internet, or anything like that and they somehow get everything completely wrong or completely miss the point? I get that same exact feeling whenever the gaming media – and sometimes gamers – talk about translation and localization. Most of the time it’s usually a lot of weird crazy talk. At best, discussions about game translation usually only focus on things non-translators can pick up – things like punctuation, grammar, names, graphical changes, and just everything else that only encompasses the final “editing” part of the process.
So I thought it’d be neat to use my professional experience to actually take deeper looks into the translations and localizations of some games. Together, we’ll look at a number of games and see how the localization process worked for each one. We’ll see how things were changed for the better or the worse, as well as the reason behind those changes. We’ll dig into the text of popular games and see what meanings and nuances got changed. And we’ll discover plenty of interesting tidbits most people never knew about.
I also see this project as a way to revisit old games I played as a kid, this time with a completely new view. Who knows, maybe it’ll be a nice, nostalgic ride for you too!
Game Comparison List
I’ve only just recently started this project so there isn’t a lot here, but I hope to take a look at more and more games over time. For now, check these ones out!
- Mother 2 / EarthBound – You’re gonna need to set aside an afternoon to read all this!
- Super Mario Bros. – A detailed look at this classic game’s localization!
- Coming someday: The Legend of Zelda
- Coming someday: Contra
Also, this one wasn’t done by me at all, but it’s too good not to mention here:
- Totally Rad’s localization – absolutely recommended reading!
Game Suggestions
If you know of a game that has a good, bad, interesting, or noteworthy localization – or you just want to get a closer look at one of your favorite games – let me know in the comments below!
Doing this localization analyzation stuff is really time-consuming (it took me years to finish my EarthBound one!) so for now I’m probably going to focus more on simpler games, probably from the NES era to the early Super NES era, but I’m definitely willing to take a look at later games too.
Off the top of my head, a bunch of games I think would be interesting are:
- Gitaroo Man
- Symphony of the Night
- Some of the early Zelda games
- EarthBound Zero
- Some of the early Final Fantasies
- Dragon Quest
- Super Mario RPG
- The Working Design Lunar games
- Secret of Mana
- Pokemon
- LandStalker
- Legend of Dragoon (just because the translation’s so hilarious and crappy)
- Soul Blazer series
- Breath of Fire 2 (again for the famously bad translation)
- Final Fantasy Tactics
In some cases, especially with later games, getting hold of the Japanese versions of games might be overly tough or expensive, so I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to do some games – for example, to get a complete copy of Japanese Contra (mainly to see the box and manual) I’d have to shell out $200 
I also have a hankerin’ to look at some of the old fan translations I did that actually turned out pretty crappy, and then explain why. And I think it’d be really interesting to see how some Western games were localized in Japan too, so maybe we’ll give that a shot too sometime.
Anyway, if you’d like any of the above games or if you have other suggestions, let me know!
Hey Mato! I thought it would be hilarious if you did an article on the NES game “Dragon Power”, especially since you translated episodes of Dragon Ball. Also, I just recently finished the Japanese version of “The Legend of Zelda 2: Link no Bouken”, and all I can say is that there are quite a bit more differences than many of us thought. If you ever get a chance, try it out – it’s actually EASIER than the NA version.
Ooh, good call with Dragon Power! I remember playing that very early on and it was just a weird-ass game. I’ll definitely keep it in mind.
And yeah, I kinda want to do Zelda II but at the same time I don’t, mostly because I don’t really enjoy it. Two years ago I finally sat down and played through it all without cheating (well except for that final boss strategy) and that was enough for me. But on the other hand the FDS version does have a lot of differences, so who knows, maybe I’ll do it anyway
And maybe knowing more about the Japanese version will increase my enjoyment for the game.
Do Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon for N64.
I love that game – this could be a good excuse to play it again after all these years
Oh hey, Gitaroo man! I’d love an article about that. I really love the dub in that game. It was so campy and awesome. Hearing Gregorio Siegfried Wilhelm III read out the character descriptions in the extras pages is one of my favorite parts, too.
This is a great idea. I’m excited to see updates.
I posted some suggestions for the Mario article on the feedbackpage, just FYI.
As for suggestions, I say the first Dragon Quest would be good, what with all the “Thou’s”, “Thee’s” and “Prithee’s” thrown into the script.
Also, a question. Would it be possible to suggest reverse localizations? As in, games released in english first, then translated over to japanese? If so, I would suggest Banjo-Kazooie and Tooie. (Maybe Nuts and Bolts as well, but i’m not sure how tricky that would be.)
Yeah, I definitely want to do cover some “reverse” localizations too. Right now I have God of War stuff in mind in particular, but the simpler/shorter the game the better usually. I have to sadly admit that I haven’t played Banjo Kazooie before, I got rid of my N64 right around the time it came out I think, and after I got another one people were saying how crazy of a “collect all the little items!” game it was so I was scared away from it. I feel shameful about it though, like I’m missing out on this big thing everyone else is in on, heh.
It’s funny you want to do Final Fantasy Tactics because man, that PS1 original was really mauled! Unless of course you want to tackle the PSP version with the new (clearer) translation?
Regarding Pokemon, Red and Blue would be a good start. However I think Gold and Silver versions would be also very worthy because of how Johto and Kanto parallel their real life Japanese counterparts and the cultural differences between Johto NPCs and Kanto NPCs. It would be like tackling not just a game translation, but also tackling a part of Japan as well.
It would be interesting if you were to do Red/Blue or Gold/Silver because they also received remakes as well which changed or refined the dialogue further which deserve a comparison within the comparison so to speak. It’s a lot to do, but I can help out on fact checking and other stuff regarding the Pokemon games if you decide to tackle them someday.
Pokemon games are such crazy complicated localizations that I think it’d be neat to take a look at them sometime. My main concern is that my knowledge is nothing compared to many Pokemon fans out there that it’d be like a first grader trying to teach a college professor
Well as a Pokemon fan I’d be more than glad to help out with any knowledge about gameplay elements or plot and whatnot if and when you need it :^D I have worked a few Bulbapedia articles (and know some admins that have a wealth of knowledge) and the old Gameboy games in particular are such a nostalgia trip.
It’s also interesting that at least with the Pokemon games, the glitches and shoddy programming are about as legendary as the games themselves. MissingNo.’s article on Wikipedia (a Featured Article too!) states, and I quote “Fans of the series have attempted to rationalize MissingNo. as canon, which has sparked discussion in sociological studies about the impact of video games upon society.” That’s very profound for a silly glitch people exploited for infinite Rare Candies!
I’m not sure what you mean by “complicated”, but I think that being aware of the influences behind the series is nearly impossible. There are Pokemon inspired by real animals, by mythology, by literature, by anime, all sorts of stuff.
I don’t think you can always rely on Bulbapedia or other online resources, either. I know Bulbapedia doesn’t mention King Ghidorah in its Hydreigon article (both being bat-winged, evil dragons that do nothing but destroy, and have heads instead of hands), or the ’70s anime Yatterman for Purrloin (the Pokemon’s head is shaped just like the villainess’ mask, its body’s colour matches the cut of her costume, and they’re both con artists that manage to get away).
I think the Time magazine interview with the creator guy mentioned Ultraman, too, and the cries of the Pokemon are probably inspired by old monster movies… You’d have to be the nerdiest sort of nerd to figure everything out.
Yeah, I mostly mean knowing all the little details behind all the names, places, etc. I only really played Red and Blue back in the day, I’d probably take a look at those two if any. There’d definitely be a ton to write about too, that’s for sure.
You probably already know this, but the company that made EarthBound (APE) turned into one of the companies behind Pokemon (Creatures). It would be cool to get your thoughts about that as an EarthBound fan, too. I mean, they both have kids in red hats fighting evilish psychic cats.
May I suggest Chrono Trigger?
I love Chrono Trigger, but I think the localization’s already been analyzed like crazy over at the Chrono Compendium. I might still give it a shot someday though.
Hey Mato, it’s been a while
.
Thanks for renovating this, it’s been years and years since I’ve read it. (12? Oh Lord. Youth is over.)
Excited to see whatever comes next, thank you for keeping a piece of our childhood going.
~Sam
Whoa hey, long time no see!
Hey,
Just wanted to say excellent work on that Super Mario article. As someone who is looking into cultural differences in games as a career, I greatly enjoy reading articles in that line, and you did some solid work.
As we seem to have similar ideas, here’s the series I’ve been running on cultural differences in localization – check it out if you like.
http://lvls.wordpress.com/category/features/cultural-anxiety-features/
Thanks again for the piece! I’ll pop it at my blog, too.
Oh, wow, awesome. I’m gonna have lots of reading material for my breaks now
Mega Man games were a huge part of my childhood too, so I might try to take a stab at them sometime too. I bet most of the early games have been documented like crazy by now, huh? So if anything I might just do it to look back on old memories. Man, Mega Man 1 STILL kicks my butt to this day though.
On your Megaman 4-6 article, you mention that Knight Man and Wind Man are designed by Americans. Knight Man’s actually designed by a Canadian. Which is still North American, but hey.
Oh, and the kid that came up with Crystal Man grew up to create the manga Eyeshield 21.
Hm, the things you learn. Thanks for the correction! *sorry to reply to things in my blog in yours, Mato*
I’d suggest Star Ocean, but I think you were involved in the fan translation, so I don’t know if there were any significant amount of differences or not. Final Fantasy 1, or 3/6 would be cool to see the differences.
Yeah, I did the translation for it, but it was one of my early works so I might revisit it to see how it ticked and see how I’ve improved. And to show what makes it good and/or bad. Or maybe I can compare it to the PSP version.
Hi Mato! Thanks for all the great work you do!! I learned many new things about one of my favourite RPG’s of all time. Earthbound is such an amazing game that despite the fact that I only beat it once like 10 years ago it’s left such a lasting impression on me that very few RPG’s (let alone games or other forms of media) have managed to do…
If would be awesome if you decided to localize classic JRPG’s like Suikoden 2, the Persona II and Xenogears. Other interesting projects would be Katamari Damacy and reverse localizations of games such as Portal and Bioshock (not sure if these games were released in Japan though).
Anyways, congratulations and keep up the good work!!
Hey Mato!
I love this idea. I can’t wait to see what you’ll churn out.
At first i wasn’t sure what games to suggest, but then i saw your list and saw saw games i’d love to see. Particularly, I’m interested in Super Mario RPG. I played that game so much when i was a kid i pretty much have it memorized inside and out.
Another game i obsessed over when i was younger was Zelda: Ocarina of Time. I’ve seen a lot of websites compare the various English versions (1.0, 1.1, etc.), but none of them ever really seem to look at the Japanese versions. The only problem is you said you didn’t want to do longer, more complex games, and i think OoT might fall into that category.
Whatever games you decide to do, I’m really excited to see them done. I can’t wait, and i hope you continue to have fun doing them.
Hate to double post, but i read at the end of the Mario article that your looking for a “Legends of Localization” logo. I just graduated last June with a degree in graphic design, and i’d love to give it a shot. How would i go about submitting some design ideas for you?
Ooh, I didn’t know you were a graphic designer, that’s cool. You can just send me an e-mail at tomato@starmen.net
Awesome. I’ll probably get started on some thumbnails tonight. Quick question, though: How do you right “Legends of Localization” in Japanese? I have a few ideas that would incorporate the Japanese and English text together.
Sadly, the “localization” part looks pretty unwieldy in Japanese. It’d be translated as ローカライゼーションの伝説. I can see native Japanese speakers calling this project “ローカライズの伝説” too, (Legends of Localize) it’s shorter but still awkward.
I actually originally was going call the thing “Legend of Localization” singular like that, as a play on “Legend of Zelda”, but later added the “s”. In Japanese, “Legend of Zelda” is ゼルダの伝説, I’m jealous of how nice and short and cool that sounds in comparison to the localization one
For some reason, there was no reply button under your last post.
Anyway, thanks for that. You and i must be on the same wavelength, cuz i, too, was thinking of a Zelda-like logo. I sketched up several thumbnail ideas and emailed them too you. Tell me which one(s) you like best and i’ll move forward with them.
I know a game that makes Breath of Fire 2′s translation look like a masterpiece. Secret of the Stars, another RPG on the SNES. I’ve been told the original writing was actually very interesting, but the script was botched so horribly for this market, you can’t tell. You just have to keep laughing at it.
I believe the original Japanese title of the game was Aqutallion, which makes considerably more sense than the one it got during localization (the only secret of the stars I can think of is the big old UFO you get as your last vehicle).
SotS is to video game translation what Plan 9 from Outer Space is to film; it’s a train wreck so grand you just have to experience it firsthand to truly appreciate it.
Back in the day I was actually interested in Secret of the Stars, mostly because I had played through most of the other SNES RPGs at the time. I never got a chance to though, so I’m tempted now, especially if it’s as bad as everyone says. All I know off the top of my head is that the text IS IN ALL CAPS THE ENTIRE GAME FOR SOME REASON
It’s been a really long time since I’ve played it, but The Adventures of Spike Mcfang for snes seemed like a very “Japanese” game, so maybe it’d be neat to know about its original text. Also, a Turbografx game from childhood, Magical Dinosaur Tour, was (I think) originally Japanese and had a lot of dry, educational text that I thought might be interesting to contrast, although it might also be totally boring. Anyway, thanks for taking suggestions, and I know I’m going to like more of these comparisons no matter what game you do.
Hey, Mato. I think maybe tackling Star Fox 64 would be a great idea. It had the greatest and largest amount of voice work at the time done for the game, and I actually have a boxed Japanese copy if you needed some scans done! Japanese N64 games also always came with this cool place-mat kind of thing explaining all of the controls, so that would be cool to mention.
Also, someone already mentioned Banjo-Kazooie/Tooie, and I can’t agree more! I have a boxed, complete copy of Banjo-Tooie I could also provide scans of. It would be great to do those because of the absolutely brilliant script both games had, and to see what kind of jokes the Japanese localization team came up with to replace language-based puns, etc.
Keep up the great work, Mato!
While we’re making suggestions, I’d like to throw you a toughie – Faria for the NES. Here’s a brief synopsis from my post about it:
GameArts’ early NES Action-RPG Faria is notable for its protagonist being one of the first transsexual characters in gaming history on our shores. Towards the end of the game, it’s revealed that the main character, who has been female for most of it, has been transformed by the evil wizard you’ve been chasing after, and upon his defeat you’ll revert back to your original form – a man. Sex-swapping is still a relative rarity in gaming today, so it’s kind of interesting Faria had such a plot device in it so early in gaming’s history. I’m assuming the Japanese version is similar, as I’ve had difficulty finding any info on that particular rendition.
If you’re up to the challenge, that would be most awesome, but it’ll be a tricky one!
One recent game you might be able to do in Sin and Punishment: Star Successor for the Wii. It’s got some significant changes, but it’s a rail shooter, so there’s barely any use of language at all. Most of the plot’s in the manual.
The original Sin and Punishment was all in English originally, but it was all in (hilarious) English from the start.
You think it would be interesting to look into something that was developed in English, then translated into Japanese, rather than the other way around? I’m thinking specifically of the Donkey Kong Country games here.
Or, yeah, the Banjo games, too. Bad on me for just Ctrl-Fing for DKC.
Don’t want to take up too much room here with a second post, but about translating instruction manuals, I was thinking the original Ninja Gaiden’s American instructions, with all its background information on the Malice Four and so forth, might be interesting to compare with the Japanese.Of course, all three Ninja Gaiden games themselves might be interesting to examine. Other games that could be interesting: Final Fantasy Legend; Magic of Sheharrazad (I know I probably spelled that wrong); Golgo 13 (both games); Bionic Commando; and (though I’ve never actually played it) snes rpg Robotrek.
Punch Out!! could be a lot of fun to probe for localization nuances.
Most of the SNK games would be fun too. There are so many head-scratcher moments in their translations. Could be expensive to get your hands on physical copies, though…
Yeah, I kinda want to do Punch Out, the only problem is that I’m not so good at the game and I think the farthest I ever got as a kid was Super Macho Man.
how about startropics? the game was so weird, but i remember loving the pants off of it.
I love StarTropics to death, the only problem is that it wasn’t released in Japan. If I could find something to compare it with though, like an unreleased ROM or something like that I’d do it in a heartbeat.
I’d love to see Final Fantasy I. I found the ending to be barely comprehensible, I wonder if it’s the same way with the Japanese version?
What about Crash Bandicoot? It’s not a Nintendo game, but when you’re finished with the NES/SNES era, maybe you could try? ( It was very popular in Japan…)
Legend of Dragoon or bust!
I second LoD, and would like to suggest the mega man battle network games.
I like the idea of doing work on either of the Lunar games. I always wondered how accurate their translations were, because I heard of them as “infamous”.
(I also saw a bit of their own commentary on it cause I bought a deluxe edition of Lunar 2, but I don’t remember much except they said they had to change some things)