Tag Archives: Japanese

Super Monkey Ball 2: Sakura Edition, Android

Like the majority of Android games (although certainly not all of them), this 2010 mobile version of Sega‘s classic Super Monkey Ball is available as an advertisement-filled free version, or a paid version with no ads.

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Magical Hat no Buttobi Tābo! Daibōken, Megadrive/Genesis

Developed by Vic Tokai, and based on the “Magical Hat” manga series by Yōji Katakura, Magical Hat no Buttobi Tābo! Daibōken was first released, by Sega, for the Megadrive in Japan in 1990. It is a colourful platform game with smooth movement, easy-to-understand controls, and gameplay that is fairly forgiving overall.

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Decap Attack, Megadrive/Genesis

Decap Attack is a side-scrolling platform game, developed by Vic Tokai and published by Sega in 1991. This game was originally released in Japan, in 1990, as “Magical Hat no Buttobi Tābo! Daibōken“, but developer Vic Tokai failed to secure the Magical Hat license for use outside of Japan, so decided to remove all traces of it, and completely re-skin the game. So Decap Attack is essentially a Westernised re-skinning of Magical Hat no Buttobi Tābo! Daibōken.

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Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Nintendo Wii

The 2007 release of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption was something of a milestone for Nintendo, the game’s publisher, and Retro Studios, the game’s developer. For Nintendo this was a landmark release, showing off the Wii‘s impressive capabilities as a games console, and for Retro Studios it was the end of years of experimentation with the control system. In the end, it turned out to be a masterpiece…

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Tōgi Ō: King Colossus, Megadrive/Genesis

Released in Japan only, by Sega, in 1992, Tōgi Ō: King Colossus is an obscure JRPG with real-time combat that has been fan-translated into English (and Spanish) and is therefore playable to gamers outside of Japan.

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Sword of Mana, Game Boy Advance

Sword of Mana on the Game Boy Advance is an enhanced remake of the first Seiken Densetsu game, which was released as Final Fantasy Adventure on the original black and white Game Boy in English-speaking territories. It was developed by Square Enix and Brownie Brown and was first released as “Shinyaku: Seiken Densetsu” in Japan in 2003.

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Hagane: The Final Conflict, Super Nintendo

Developed by CAProduction and published by Hudson Soft in 1994 for the Super Nintendo, Hagane: The Final Conflict is a side-scrolling action/platform game in which you control a cyborg ninja – called Hagane – who is on a revenge mission against a rival clan.

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Sorcerer’s Kingdom, Megadrive/Genesis

Developed by NCS Corporation and published exclusively for the Sega Megadrive/Genesis in 1992, Sorcerer’s Kingdom is a relatively obscure JRPG with tactical, turn-based combat.

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Cosmo Police Galivan II: Arrow of Justice, Super Nintendo

Developed by Cream (aka “Creative Amusement“) and published exclusively for the Super Nintendo by Nihon Bussan Co., Ltd. (aka “Nichibutsu“) in 1993, Cosmo Police Galivan II: Arrow of Justice is the sequel to the arcade game Cosmo Police Galivan, and it is definitely one of the worst SNES games I’ve ever set my eyes upon.

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Cosmo Police Galivan, Arcade

Often shortened to just “Galivan“, this arcade platform game from Nichibutsu first came out in arcades in 1985. Outside of Japan, the game was little-known, but it did get ported to the C64, Spectrum, and Amstrad CPC in the West, and to the Famicom in Japan, to little or no success.

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