Hudson Soft‘s infamous 1987 platformer, Kato & Ken, is known by a variety of different names, depending on where it was released.

In its native Japan it is known as Kato-chan & Ken-chan and is loosely based on a television show called Fun TV, and the madcap antics of its two hosts, Kato-chan and Ken-chan. In North America the game is known as J.J. & Jeff and features a couple of bungling detectives out to solve a kidnapping case…

The original Kato & Ken game is full of toilet humour (birds dropping big turds out of the sky, farting, and people peeing (or actually defecating in some instances) in the street), which was too much for the Americans. So, for the game’s 1990 American release, they ‘sanitised’ all the humour in it (ie. cut it out) and changed the main characters completely, effectively ruining the game.

The J.J. & Jeff debacle is a good example of what happens when idiotic marketing men get involved in making games. The original Kato & Ken is a PC Engine classic, not just because it is famous for being messed with, but also because it’s still a fun game to play and has stood the test of time quite well. The game’s many re-releases are an indicator of that.

I’ve posted grabs from both versions of the game here – the Japanese original and the American re-make. The American version is at the end, just for comparison sake.

More: J.J. & Jeff on Wikipedia