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Must-Play SNES Games (That Never Left Japan)

S

SOLDIER

Member
With the SNES Classic getting very close to being modded, I figure now would be a good time to raise awareness of games that have been previously exclusive to Japan in order to build up your custom library.

As a good primer, consider subscribing to DidYouKnowGaming, which has a Region Locked section that covers a lot of these games as well as the fan translations to put them in English:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwR5sX8tmFI

List your recommendations, as well as the fan translation if available.

P.S.: I understand there are a few games that got localized for PAL regions, such as Terranigma and Fire Men. Feel free to list such exceptions as well.
 
T

Triforce141

Member
Marvelous: Mouhitotsu no Takarajima is an RPG designed by current Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma

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There's a fan translation available
 
F

FiveSide

Banned
Sanrio World Smash Ball is one of the best multiplayer games on the system.

Whenever me and my friends get together and play SNES (not as often as we used to, but still), we keep it in constant rotation. It's my favorite Japan-only SNES game. It's to the SNES what Mario Tennis is to the N64.

EDIT: YouTube footage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oN1r22EJWM4
 
I

iamcenok

Member
My submissions are:

Front Mission. (Translated)
Front Mission: Gun Hazard. (Translated)
Tales of Phantasia. (Translated)
 
B

bounchfx

Member
seiken densetsu 3 is the one I have been dying for since I was young. I'm sure there are also a bunch more amazing ones, but damn do i want that game here.
 
S

SOLDIER

Member
iamcenok said:
My submissions are:

Front Mission. (Translated)
Front Mission: Gun Hazard. (Translated)
Tales of Phantasia. (Translated)
Click to expand...

Again, make sure to include which translation to download if you have that info.

It would help sort out which fan translation is the best for each game, if there are multiple available.
 
I

iamcenok

Member
SOLDIER said:
Again, make sure to include which translation to download if you have that info.

It would help sort out which fan translation is the best for each game, if there are multiple available.
Click to expand...

My mistake! Im not home right now so I don't have access to it atm.
 
R

randomscribbles

Neo Member
Seiken Denitsu 3 is a masterpiece. While the seeds of the Mana-series' future mistakes are here, it's still fundamentally the same gameplay as Secret of Mana, only with a ton more customization and replayability.
 
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L Thammy

Member
My picks are Godzilla: Kaijuu Daikessen and Shin Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-tachi no Banka.

Kaijuu Daikessen is probably one of the most legitimate Godzilla games. It's a Street Fighter II era fighting game with super moves and a rage meter a la Samurai Shodown, but there's a lot of weight, and you've got a dedicated grab button which you can use to do super grabs, something like Saturday Night Slam Masters 2. Looks good for a SNES game too. You also have a roar move which you can use to top off enemy's stun bar and a run button.

Shin Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-tachi no Banka is a beat-em-up game in the same series as River City Ransom, but it's a diferent beast altogether. There's no RPG elements but the combat's a lot better, at least once you unlock your special moves. It's got diferent characters you can switch between with their own special moves, and more ground work.
 
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bigmac996

Member
My favourite is Magical Pop'n!

Magical_Pop%27n_box.jpg


It's an action platformer with extremely tight gameplay rivaling the SNES' best. I managed to snag a copy a couple of years ago on Ebay for just over 100$ but now the prices are pretty ridiculous. The best option to play might be emulation.

Some gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zgMAandcX4
 
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L Thammy

Member
If you're referring to the different characters with stories thing, Octopath may have got that from Romancing SaGa.
 
B

Big Nikus

Member
Mickey and Donald : Magical Adventure 3

idt9wrj.png


1 and 2 were great, it's a shame the third one didn't get a western release. It's also the best because Donald is in it.
 
P

Platy

Member
I like that non Japanese beat em up that was Japan exclusive but I can't remember the name right now =|
 
Tizoc

Tizoc

Member
L Thammy said:
My picks are Godzilla: Kaijuu Daikessen and Shin Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-tachi no Banka.

Kaijuu Daikessen is probably one of the most legitimate Godzilla games. It's a Street Fighter II era fighting game with super moves and a rage meter a la Samurai Shodown, but there's a lot of weight, and you've got a dedicated grab button which you can use to do super grabs, something like Saturday Night Slam Masters 2. Looks good for a SNES game too. You also have a roar move which you can use to top off enemy's stun bar and a run button.

Shin Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-tachi no Banka is a beat-em-up game in the same series as River City Ransom, but it's a diferent beast altogether. There's no RPG elements but the combat's a lot better, at least once you unlock your special moves. It's got diferent characters you can switch between with their own special moves, and more ground work.
Click to expand...

Kunio series were localized as River City Ransom though :X Unles syou already knew that.
 
M

Mzo

Member
Super Mario Picross, no translation needed.

Violinist of Hameln, not sure if it ever got one.

Umihara Kawase, no translation needed.

Clock Tower, has an Aeon Genesis translation patch.

I second the vote for Kunio-tachi no Banka is amazing. I finally played it a few years ago and it blew my mind.
 
T

Thud

Member
The super famicom Fire Emblems.

Mystery of the Emblem is a good way to start. Genealogy and Thracia up the ante a lot.
 
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L Thammy

Member
Oh, Gundam Wing Endless Duel is another one. Probably the closest thing to Marvel Vs Capcom on the SNES.

I'll note these, though I haven't played them and so can't really recommend them:

There are a whole bunch more Goemon games on the SNES, several of which are like Mystical Ninja, although I think they also add their own things. I'd imagine that the later ones might be some of the better SNES platformers.

The Angelique series started with the SNES. It was the product Koei's attempt to create a market for girls by establishing an all-women development studio. I imagine that the games are probably a little childish since they're aimed at a shoujo demographic, but they're supposed meant to have the same kind of appeal as Koei's strategy games, albeit in a fantasy setting where you're torn between the job of being the queen of the universe and your love life.

I don't really know too much about the Hercules no Eikou series, but some of the games were had Kazushige Nojima as the scenario writer, who went on to do the PlayStation Final Fantasy games. Apparently the story was a strength of this particular series.

Tizoc said:
Kunio series were localized as River City Ransom though :X Unles syou already knew that.
Click to expand...

It did? Specifically the SNES games? Unless it happened recently when I wasn't paying attention, a buttload of the games in the series were not translated. Both the SNES beat-em-ups, the samurai Famicom game that plays just like River City Ransom, etc.
 
S

SOLDIER

Member
randomscribbles said:
It has a great one that's been around for a good decade now. Look around and you should find it.
Click to expand...

Is that the one that has an NPC named Jose, which results in the character saying “No way, Jose!”?

Way back I dabbled with a fan translated Secret of Mana 2 (Seiken Densetsu 3) for a couple of hours. I really want to play that game proper, but it’s not looking to ever get officially localized at this point.
 
U

Ultratech

Member
Hmm...I'mma go with Romancing SaGa 3 then.

Good game, though obviously not for everyone as it's pretty open-ended.

There's an old English Patch for it, though it's pretty spotty since it was made back in 2000.

On the flipside, there's an excellent Spanish Patch that was completed a few years back that looks way better with VMF support and so on.
The same guy's working on a revised English Patch as well, but it's a work in progress.
 
D

Dizzy-4U

Member
Gourmet Sentai Bara Yarou

It's a beat 'em up. Recommended to those who enjoy weirdness like Denjin Makai 2 or Cho Aniki.
 
D

Drazgul

Member
L

L Thammy

Member
Zeneric said:
Wonder Project J.



It's surprisingly a fun game. Highly recommended. It's a point and click adventure game for SNES. It has an English translation patch out there on the net.
Click to expand...

That's selling it a little short, it's like a hybrid of a point and click adventure and Princess Maker. Very unique and cool game.

Drazgul said:
Huh, I was only aware of this one, "Shodai Nekketsu Kouha Kunio-Kun":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FrnyHcom0s
Click to expand...

This messes me up surprisingly often. I keep thinking that Shin is Shodai.
 
K

Kientin

Member
You like RPGs? I got some RPGs.

Live-A-Live
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Made by Squaresoft. Experience multiple short stories featuring characters spread across different eras that all tie into a satisfying finale. Each story has a complete different feel to them. One is set up like a fighting game where you pick from a list of opponents and defeat them all to challenge the champion. Another is combat light and set up like a horror story. The battle system is simplistic but good.

Fan translation link:
http://agtp.romhack.net/project.php?id=lal

Treasure of the Rudras
5eDyKfd.jpg
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Another unreleased Squaresoft game. Like Live-A-Live this game also has multiple main characters that you pick from. Except the stories are much longer and take place at the same time. You could be playing one character and some big world event might happen that you had nothing to do with and you wouldn't find out until you played one of the other character's path. It has a unique magic system where you type out a string of characters in the menu and a spell is added to your list. You can literally type in anything and it's a spell. Though most random stuff will be absolute trash. You learn prefixes and suffixes through playing the game that tell you what to type in for spells. You might want to keep a notebook handy for that! The game has gorgeous sprite work and animations, IMO some of the best the SNES has to offer. The music is great. Also just look at the box art!

Fan translation Link:
http://agtp.romhack.net/project.php?id=rnh

Dark Law: Meaning of Death
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Made by Ascii Entertainment (I think? Maybe it's published by them. If someone knows please confirm). Ok, I personally like this game, but this is hard to recommend. It's kind of a pen and paper styled RPG. The game has an amazing atmosphere and has a great soundtrack at times. It looks great. The story is made up of a bunch of small scenarios that sometimes are stand alone and don't matter to the main story, other times it does matter to the main story. There are a decent amount of these stories that have some real engaging stories that occasionally get DARK. I really haven't seen any SNES games that go to some of the places that this game does with the exception of one other SNES game that lets you play as the bad guy called Dark Half (Look into this too!). Lots of life and death themes.

Here is the downside of this game that makes it hard to recommend. It's near impossible to find out how character growth works without a guide. Heck even then, while a good chunk of it is found out there are some parts that no one knows to this day. It's incredibly easy to slip up and lock yourself out of certain abilities. There is just so many unexplained systems in this game. Not to mention you will also need a guide if you want to get the best ending in the game as it is so easy to mess up. There are items that you can easily miss that you would have probably would never find unless someone told you it was there. That stuff is just a mess. Though if you are like me and can put up with this stuff and closely follow a guide, the good parts of this game are really good and I think you will enjoy it.

Fan translation link:
http://agtp.romhack.net/project.php?id=darklaw
 
woopWOOP

woopWOOP

Member
Keym said:
All of the Parodius after the first one.
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First SNES one is fun too!
Released in Europe, but not US so it fits here.

Pop'n TwinBee: Rainbow Bell Adventures is another PAL/JP only and I remember liking it, tho most the later levels turn into maze-like cave levels. It's a 2D platformer that allows for 2-player splitscreen, neat.

Seconding Terranigma, Seiken Densetsu 3, Front Mission, Umihara Kawase and Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War, all amazing.

Star Ocean and Tales of Phantasia are great too, but I think those got official Playstation/GBA releases here eventually
 
S

Sir Ilpalazzo

Member
Thud said:
The super famicom Fire Emblems.

Mystery of the Emblem is a good way to start. Genealogy and Thracia up the ante a lot.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure how I saw this thread and didn't have these immediately come to mind lol.

All three games are excellent. Thracia 776 is probably the best game in the Fire Emblem series; it's a must-play.
 
S

SatoAilDarko

Member
Not any specific must-play games but I liked how the SNES had a ton of fighting games for anime one Toonami from the early 2000's. Dragon Ball Z, Yu Yu Hakusho, G Gundam, Gundam Wing and Sailor Moon.

I hope to import at least one cart from each series.
 
cj_iwakura

cj_iwakura

Member
Shin Megami Tensei is the best RPG we never got. Still one of the best even counting the ones we did get. Aeon Genesis patched it.
 
E

EricB

Member
Ganbare Goemon 2, 3, and 4.

Despite no existing English translations, 2 and 4 are very playable even without knowledge of Japanese.

I'm still waiting for a translation of 3, but I'm losing patience and may need to just use a guide.

Also, Sesiken Densetsu 3 for sure.
 
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