Tag Archives: Japanese

Donkey Kong, Game Boy

The 1994 Game Boy remake of Nintendo‘s iconic arcade game is something very special. It is an enhanced re-imagining of Donkey Kong that begins with the original game and then transforms into something amazing – a brand new game with nine themed stages and 95 individual levels.

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Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, Nintendo DS

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia was the third Castlevania game released for the Nintendo DS and was released by Konami in 2008. In this one you play as a member of The Order of Ecclesia – a clan dedicated to defeating Dracula.

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Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, Nintendo DS

Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin was the second Castlevania game released for the Nintendo DS and was released by Konami in 2006. Portrait of Ruin is set in 1944, before the end of the Second World War, and Dracula‘s castle has appeared in man’s darkest hour, to push humanity over the brink into ruin.

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Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, Nintendo DS

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow was the first Castlevania game released for the Nintendo DS and was released by Konami in 2005. It is a direct sequel to Aria of Sorrow on the Game Boy Advance and continues the story of that game.

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H.E.R.O., SG-1000

Activision‘s classic underground rescue game, H.E.R.O., was released on Sega‘s SG-1000 console – in Japan only – in 1985, and it is somewhat different to all the other versions of the game out there.

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Lucienne’s Quest, 3DO

Lucienne’s Quest is a Japanese Role-Playing Game developed by Microcabin for the 3DO. It is, in fact, the only traditional JRPG released for the 3DO and was initially released in Japan in 1995. The game was localised into English and released in North America in 1996 by Panasonic.

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Ordyne, Arcade

Released in Japan only, Ordyne is a cute and colourful (and very Japanese) one or simultaneous two-player ‘bullet hell’ shooter that was developed and distributed by Namco in 1988.

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Yellow Submarine, MSX

It’s not often you get a game that’s based on a Beatles song, and Yellow Submarine for the MSX is one such rare example. Published by Takeru in 1987 Yellow Submarine is of course not an official license and was slipped out to the Japanese MSX market – on cartridge – in the hope that no one at Apple Records would notice. If they did, it appears that nothing was done about it.

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The Fairytale Dreams of Alice, PC Engine

Originally released for the PC Engine in 1990 in Japan only as “Fushigi no Yume no Alice” (aka Alice in Wonderdream), this challenging and colourful platform game was fan-translated in 2021 as The Fairytale Dreams of Alice and is now fully playable in English.

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U.N. Squadron, Arcade

Released in Japan as “Area 88” and based on the Manga series of the same name, U.N. Squadron is a horizontally-scrolling bullet hell shooter arcade game developed and distributed by Capcom in 1989. It features three playable characters, each flying a different aircraft, and one or simultaneous two-player gameplay.

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