Tag Archives: Konami

Konami, PlayStation

Ganbare Goemon: Uchū Kaizoku Akogingu, PlayStation

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Yippee! A Goemon game on the PlayStation! This one called Ganbare Goemon: Uchuu Kaizoku Akogingu (in English: “Ganbare Goemon: Space Pirate Akogingu“), and it’s apparently a direct sequel to Ganbare Goemon 3 although Sasuke and Yae are not playable characters in this game. This was the first Goemon game on the PlayStation and it was first published by Konami in 1996.

Thankfully this game was given an English fan translation in 2020 by Adventurous Translations, which makes it playable to non Japanese speakers. According to the readme file on the translation patch the game was not much fun to translate (mostly for technical reasons), and isn’t seen as being a very good game by the person who translated it. That said: I got the translation patch to work fine and am overjoyed that I can now play it in English, so a big thank you to Adventurous Translations for their efforts (they are much appreciated).

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Arcade, Konami

Quarth, Arcade

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Quarth is a brilliant mixture of Tetris and shoot ’em up and was first played in arcades in Japan in 1989. Outside of Japan it is known as “Block Hole“, which – let’s face it – is a stupid name, so I’m sticking with the original name, Quarth.

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Konami, MSX

Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake, MSX

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Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake is a direct sequel to the original Metal Gear and was first released for the MSX2 by Konami in 1990. It was again written and designed by Hideo Koijima and is much better than the half-baked pseudo sequel, Snake’s Revenge, by Ultra Games on the NES.

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Konami, NES/Famicom, Ultra Games

Snake’s Revenge, NES

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Snake’s Revenge is a sequel to Metal Gear that was developed specifically for the North American and European NES markets by Konami and Ultra Games. It first came out in North America in 1990, and in Europe in 1992. Why there was a two-year gap between those releases is anyone’s guess.

Hideo Koijima wasn’t involved in the making of Snake’s Revenge and it is considered ‘non-canonical’, but he did make Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake for the MSX in response to it. I’m guessing that he wasn’t particularly enamoured with the idea of another team working on his signature series, but ultimately he (rather diplomatically) says that Snake’s Revenge is “not a bad game“.

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Konami, NES/Famicom, Ultra Games

Metal Gear, NES

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This reworked Nintendo Entertainment System port of the MSX version of Metal Gear first came out in 1987 (1988 in North America), just three months after the original. While it’s considered (rightly) to be inferior to the original MSX version it was a major hit and went on to sell over a million units in the United States alone.

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Konami, MSX

Metal Gear, MSX

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The very first Metal Gear was originally released in 1987 by Konami for the MSX2. It was Hideo Koijima‘s first fully-developed game and went on to spawn a successful series across many platforms. The hero, Solid Snake, has since gone on to become a video game icon.

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Konami, Super Nintendo

Ganbare Goemon Kirakira Dōchū: Boku ga Dancer ni Natta Wake, Super Nintendo

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Also known (in English) as: “Go for it! Goemon: The Twinkling Journey – The Reason I Became a Dancer“, this fourth instalment of the much-loved Goemon [Super Nintendo] series is about as crazy, challenging and fun as a video game can be.

Many feel that this final Goemon game on the Super Nintendo is the best in the series, so it’s great that it’s finally been given an (unofficial) English translation. The game follows the same pattern as previously, with isometric exploration sections, interspersed with side-scrolling platform/action sections.

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Konami, Super Nintendo

Ganbare Goemon 3: Shishijyūrokubei no Karakuri Manji Katame, Super Nintendo

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The second sequel to the wonderful Legend of the Mystical Ninja, Ganbare Goemon 3: Shishijyūrokubei no Karakuri Manji Katame was again only ever released in Japan and was recently given a fan translation, allowing English-speaking audiences to finally enjoy it.

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Konami, Super Nintendo

Ganbare Goemon 2: Kiteretsu Shougun Magginesu, Super Nintendo

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The sequel to the wonderful Konami hit, Legend of the Mystical Ninja, Ganbare Goemon 2: Kiteretsu Shougun Magginesu (translated title being: Goemon 2: The Strange General McGuinness) was released in 1993, but only in Japan.

A brilliant fan translation was released just this year – February 2020 to be precise – which now makes this fantastic game more accessible to Western audiences.

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Konami, Megadrive/Genesis

Castlevania: Bloodlines, Megadrive/Genesis

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Castlevania: Bloodlines was released for the Sega Megadrive by Konami in 1993. It was the only Castlevania game ever released for the Megadrive.

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