In 1990, Nintendo released Startropics, a fantastic action/adventure game that plays like a mix of Zelda and the early Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior games. To this day, the game remains unreleased in Japan. bolstered. Perhaps you allow this pride to degenerate into fevered hoots of “USA! USA! USA!”stic high, but I need to inform you of something, something you may already know.
COMPLETELY FINISHED AND TRANSLATED.
Now, Earthbound’s sequel, Mother 3, has been released in Japan, thanks in part to the series’ massive, extraordinarily dedicated fanbase in America (largely located at Starmen.net). Despite the truly astonishing level of support, Nintendo STILL refuses to risk releasing another Mother game in America. The reason? “There’s not a large enough audience.” But is this belief really founded?
Ha! I had you going for a second. It’s cute when I do that.
Still, the Mother games will probably never be released here. It’s far from the first time this has happened. Many games have run into the same problem, some true classic of their genre, some incredibly creative innovations, some complete, incomprehensible shit. So what exactly causes this? Is the cultural gap between the two countries so wide that some games are completely unmarketable in America? Or are American publishers so concerned with their bottom line that they’re unwilling to take a chance?
I don’t know. Here are some dick jokes and commentary.
Seiken Densetsu 3 (1995, SquareSoft)
The Game:
Commonly known online as “Secret of Mana 2″ (although, technically, Secret of Mana was actually Secret of Mana 2, it is not referred as such because such a paradox would create a vacuum of dimension-destroying proportions), Seiken Densetsu 3 (Legend of the Holy Sword 3) took it’s predecessor’s qualities to a whole new level. A truly amazing adventure/RPG, the game featured 3 main storylines, 6 concurrent backstories for the characters, and a class system.
Why was it never released in America?
3 main storylines, 6 concurrent backstories for the characters, and a class system. The game was actually in the middle of being translated when it was decided to shift focus to Super Mario RPG, which I suppose is a point that’s pretty difficult to argue with. Some argue that the somewhat similar Secret of Evermore was released in lieu of Seiken Densetsu 3. Nobody really knows if that’s true or not, but frankly, I wouldn’t be mad if it was. Considering the common quality of games coming from America at the time, it was nice to have at least one great game to notch on our belts since Asteroids. Personally, I believe the suggestion that the game wasn’t released due to the possible need for a recall. The game had a very difficult time being debugged; many times, when a bug was fixed, it would cause two more to pop up, both worse than the last. So frankly, I’m kinda glad. I’d rather wait, potentially forever, to play a game that works rather than play a game that glitches so bad that it makes my Super Nintendo radioactive. Not causing cancer is a rather important yet understated criteria when choosing a game. That’s why I ‘m declining to pick up a PS3.
(More to come! Check back later, or I’ll eat your brains)
