The Video Games of Japan You Never Knew About
/Have you ever walked past the video game shelf in a store, only to see a sequel to a game you’ve never heard about? Well, that isn’t uncommon because Japanese game companies will not always release games to other parts of the world. Sometimes it’s due to translation issues or maybe those of us not from Japan would not understand the context. One thing for certain though is many of these games are likely to never be brought to us, so allow me to show you some of these games.
If you asked about Nintendo, a lot of people would know the company you’re talking about. If you go deeper and ask what their favorite game is, you’ll hear common responses of Super Mario Bros., Legend of Zelda, and various games in the Kirby series. You’ll also hear some talk about Earthbound, and you might wonder about it.
Title screen of Mother 3
Earthbound, or ’Mother’ from Japan, is a game series that has very few games in its line up and only recently had two games released here in the west. The core aspect of the game is your typical Role-Playing Game (RPG) where you take control of a character and go through their story. What made it unique was the lack of fantasy and the increase of realistic elements like using a baseball bat or frying pan. Mother 3 is one of the most desired games by fans of the series but has never been officially released. Instead, fans have created fan translations of the game that are not owned by the company. It really shows people will do anything for Mother.
Manga is like a comic from Japan, and with it comes amazing stories about different characters. Stories like One Piece, Dragon Ball Z, Death Note, and many more. Now what if they were combined into one single game?
Jump Ultimate Stars is a 2D fighting game that combines over 40 different manga from all across Japan. This game combines various manga panels from their stories to create backgrounds for the players to fight on. It was a great experience for players as it allowed anyone to play as their favorite character like Batman or Superman. This game has quite the competitive scene for tournaments to be in place much like the Super Smash Bros. series that is released worldwide. With that covered, let’s JUMP to the next game.
Fire Emblem: The binding Blade cover art
So, how many animated sword fighters are existing in the world? We keep making more and more of them, and for what reason? New games from the Fire Emblem series? Half of those games never even made it out of Japan. Games like Mystery of the Emblem and The Binding Blade have a presence in the American region, yet the games were never brought over. As a fun fact, the Fire Emblem series has the most characters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, a game like Jump Ultimate Stars that combines several game series into a fighting game, even more than Mario characters who have had a larger series released in America.
The idea of the game is you are given the role of tactician from a trusted friend and asked to lead your troops in a strategic turn-based battle. Over time, your units will grow and it’s up to you to decide how they grow as characters and units. The more you care for your units, the better they will perform and the strategies they will allow you to use. These games always have a place in my heart, with a burning mark to my heart.
Many other games and series are also locked to Japan, but these are some of the ones a lot of people heard about. The reason why they are locked is honestly a good question, but it mostly comes down to money or translation issues. It’s a real shame when a good game is held back from the world to see.
Graham Curry - is a writer who’s aspiring to becoming a graphic novelist. Graham will prioritize writing about Japanese topics on the blog as he has plenty of knowledge of Japanese media and culture. In his spare time, Graham plays video games as a way to inspire his stories that he writes. These are not fan-fictions but completely different stories aimed in a similar universe.
