N/A in NA: Games North America Missed
If you listen to the podcast, you know that I’ve recently been gaining an interest in games unreleased in my own region. Due to the wonders of region-free hardware and fan translation patches, it’s become possible for me to experience some truly great games that wouldn’t be available to me otherwise. But these games deserve to reach a wider audience, and they can only do that through an official re-release or remake localized for all areas. Luckily, retro re-makes and re-releases abound these days, and the most recent Nintendo Direct presentation announced more than one un-localized game making its way to the platform. That taste leaves me wanting more, so I’d like to take a look at some of the other games I’d like to see made playable on current systems in all regions, and consider how that might happen.
Front Mission Series
Front mission is a strategy RPG series that began on the SNES and continued through five installments on the Playstation and Playstation 2. It’s like Fire Emblem, but with mechs and therefore better. Square attempted to reboot the game as an action series with Front Mission: Evolved for PS3/Xbox 360/PC, but the series lay dormant after that. While neither the original game nor the enhanced Playstation version Front Mission 1st were released outside Japan, the DS remake did see a North American release (sorry PAL territories). The recent direct confirmed that the first and second game will be fully remade and are releasing for Nintendo Switch, which is a first for the second game in any form, so lets hope we can get the full series. Strangely, Front mission 3 released in Japan, North America, and Europe, but Front Mission 4 dropped Europe and Front Mission 5 remained exclusive to Japan. I also hope Front Mission: Gun Hazard, also Japan-exclusive, can make the cut for a remake as well. It’s a spinoff that was developed by the same team that made Cybernator, and it combines 2D action-shooter gameplay with rpg elements in a way I haven’t seen done anywhere else.
Terranigma
An action RPG serving as the captstone to Enix’s loosely connected trilogy alongside Soul Blazer and Illusion of Gaia, this one came out in Europe but not North America, and it has a high reputation there. As such, the game has already been translated in English, and a re-release on an emulation-based platform could get the job done well enough. I wouldn’t want to change the game too much for people who never got to experience the original, but a remake could be done well if handled with care. Perhaps something more in the style of the recent Actraiser: Renaissance that goes so far as to even include the original OST as an option? Square does seem to be looking to keep their back-catalog of IP relevant, and they seem to opt for remakes fairly often.
Goemon Series
This series of co-op adventure/platformers that combine side scrolling and top-down segments along with lots of minigames was quite the cash-cow for Konami in its heyday, but only a handful of games released outside Japan, presumably because almost everything about them would have been a bit of culture shock. But this was Konami at its best, and it deserves to be appreciated worldwide. Konami may not release a lot of new games these days, but they sure do like their emulation-based collections, and all 4 SNES games would fit nicely onto a single purchase. If it does well, maybe we could start hoping for the handheld titles and even the ones on Playstation and N64. If Pocky and Rocky can make a come-back in 2022, there shouldn’t be anything stopping Goemon.
Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War
While there are a few other Fire Emblem games that have yet to make it to the west, this one stands out as being the best-regarded of them all. It featured large multi-objective maps and a multi-generational story involving the main characters children joining the battle to finish a conflict their parents started, 16 years before Awakening would use the same concept to great acclaim. The game is currently available on the Super Famicom version of the Nintendo Switch Online App, but I’m hoping for it to get the same treatment as Fire Emblem Gaiden did with a ground up remake under the Echoes subtitle, possibly incorporating some of the story content of Thracia 776. a game that followed it and actually takes place in the middle of its own story. If nothing else, it would be a real treat for Fire emblem fans who still have misgivings about the direction the series has taken since Awakening.
Bishi Bashi Special
Originating as a series of Arcade games later collected onto one Playstation disc, Bishi Bashi Special plays like a Wario Ware vs. Mode. It’s a series of quick minigames that keeps a tally of which player scored higher to see who can rack up the most wins. Special released in Europe but not in North America, and was even on the PSN store there for a while. I don’t see a remake as terribly likely, but maybe a re-boot featuring new mini games alongside old ones could be what the series needs. I’ll take this however I can get it.
Doshin the Giant
An odd simulation game from Nintendo’s back-catalog, this game required the N64 DD and thus did not release outside Japan at first. The gamecube port did release in Europe and was planned for a North American release, but was cancelled. I don’t know if the N64 version could make it onto the NSO app as it is now, and if it did the game would still be in Japanese, but perhaps a gamecube app could be added. I’m not sure I see Nintendo going the full re-make route with this one.
Mother 3
Come on, Nintendo
