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What is your favourite system in terms of Japan exclusive games (games only released in Japan) only?
- Thread starter Discontent
- Start date
In games exclusive to Japan? Sir, you need to educate yourself.
Definitely a strong contender. So many amazing games were trapped in Japan.
In that case it's either PC Engine or Saturn. I will have to think on it.
I'm not seeing what makes the DS a better choice for the poll inclusion than the PC Engine.
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Maybe I need to have another look but when I was really starting to get into imports I started looking at all the major consoles Japan exclusive games and pc engine seemed to really shine in the shmups department but I'm not the biggest fan of 16 bit shmups. I still did try a few of them and none really stuck with me. Rondo of Blood is obviously straight fire though. What would you recommend from its Japanese lineup?
On the strength of the following games ( all are classics):
Jump Ultimate Stars
Ace Attorney Investigations Miles Edgeworth
Ketsui (it was only really boss battles but loved it)
Fire Emblem New Mystery of the Emblem
Retro Game Challenge 2
Ouendan 2
Far East of Eden games are a great place to start (though they are RPGs, so it isn't import friendly for non-Japanese speakers). As you said Rondo of Blood is straight fire (and I would argue an ATG), but another one to consider is Kaze Kiri (which is, unfortunately, pretty damn expensive). Mr. Heli is another wonderful game that never made it to NA. I know you said you don't like shmups, but Mr. Heli is a very different beast (and I think is a game that non-shmup fans could get behind). At the end of the day, there are a lot of great shmups on the PCE, which is a genre that is very import friendly, but there is actually a pretty wide selection of cool games on the console.
Good choices. Ys IV is a great one with an English fan translation.
Shubibinman 3, Faussete Amour, Shinobi, Valis 1 remake and Valis IV, Liquid Kids, and Zipang are some other platform-ish games I like on PCE. Shooters are the bulk of the best import exclusives, though.
The more I think about it, I would choose the Saturn over the PC Engine for this thread but the latter is still impressive.
DS has Jump Ultimate Stars, both Ouendan games, and Puyo Puyo 20th Anniversary, so that's it for me.
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For me, it's the XBox 360... because it is my cave shmups machine and hosts games that were only ever ported on this platform, only sold in and region locked to japan.
So, short of owning the arcade PCB, that's the only way to play these games at home.
Second to it is the sony PSP, i have plenty of exclusive games on there :)
So, short of owning the arcade PCB, that's the only way to play these games at home.
Second to it is the sony PSP, i have plenty of exclusive games on there :)
For me, it's the PS3. I didn't import many games, but E.X Troopers and the Gundam Vs games were a blast to play.
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I'm also curious what some examples would be.
Probably PCE or Saturn for me.
I don't think people are reading the title correctly...
PS2 should be close to last place. There's no way it can come close to most of the others. Like, what even is happening in this poll?
Saturn and PC Engines were essentially entirely different systems in Japan, as the library is exponentially stronger in Japan than NA/US.
Saturn in particular could've put up quite a fight against PS1 if half the good Japanese exclusives came west.
Super Famicom has some amazing exclusives as well, though most of the system defining games were released in NA.
But, PlayStation 2?? I can't think of a single system/era defining game on PS2 that did NOT have a Western release. Heck, western releases were partially what defined the PS2.
PS2 should be close to last place. There's no way it can come close to most of the others. Like, what even is happening in this poll?
Saturn and PC Engines were essentially entirely different systems in Japan, as the library is exponentially stronger in Japan than NA/US.
Saturn in particular could've put up quite a fight against PS1 if half the good Japanese exclusives came west.
Super Famicom has some amazing exclusives as well, though most of the system defining games were released in NA.
But, PlayStation 2?? I can't think of a single system/era defining game on PS2 that did NOT have a Western release. Heck, western releases were partially what defined the PS2.
Gonna go with Snes iot had a lot of jp only games including stuff from Square like Bahamut Lagoon, Sieken 3 (until the recent re-release), Live a Live, and Treasure Hunter G that I can remember off the top of my head. Lots of others too and a lot of these games have been fan translated too which makes it even more appealing.
Here's what I think of when I say the PS2 was still "pretty good" for importers (aside from fighting games and shmups that were mentioned):
Another Century's Episode (series)
Boku no Natsuyasumi 2
ChainDive
Code Age Commanders
Dragon Quest V Remake
Dragon Quest: Yangus' Mystery Dungeon
Fire Pro Wrestling Z
Front Mission 5
Generation of Chaos (series)
Growlanser VI
King of Colosseum (series)
Monster Hunter G
Namco X Capcom
PoPoLoCrois (series)
SEGA Ages (everything outside of the Sega Classics Collection)
Spectral Force (series)
Summon Night (series)
Vib-Ripple
Still some decent genre titles in here, not nearly as many as the PS1 or SNES or Saturn or PC Engine, and that's largely because so much of the weird stuff like Disaster Report/Raw Danger, Mister Mosquito, Steambot Chronicles, Katamari Damacy, Killer7, Gitaroo Man, Rule of Rose, Ribbit King, Stretch Panic, ChuLip, and Nippon Ichi's entire library of SRPGs all managed to come west. If these were all PS1 games, almost all of them wouldn't have been translated. A lot of this was thanks to SCEA's willingness to give cult games a chance.
Those are all great mentions - but I don't think many posters here think super highly of those (or are even aware of them), but maybe I'm not giving people enough credit.
Regardless, I don't think too many of those are necessarily the best on the console, or even the best in their respective series.
It actually makes me think of how many great PS1 games didn't come over, either.
I would certainly put PS1 above PS2 as well, although the nature of the games are similar to the PS2 games listed - that is, niche games, RPGs, and Japan exclusive series.
Not to mention, more than a few of those PS2 games started on PS1 - and those ALSO didn't cross the pond.
But, yeah, it is also a testament to how many niche 3rd party PS2 titles DID make it over!
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WonderSwan's japanese library is absurdly better than the western one
Of the choices on the poll, I would probably choose among Super Famicom/SNES, Saturn and PS1.
that's because it never landed to the west ;_; Probably the biggest japanese console to remain secluded to its home land and a few other asian Countries.
Of the choices on the poll, I would probably choose among Super Famicom/SNES, Saturn and PS1.
I'd like to add that SRW Original Generations + Gaiden and SRW Z were amazing games. Also, the Sega AM2 Macross game was so freaking cool.
I didn't wanna say it because I've been feeling too mean, but yeah that's totally my line of thinking. Only Front Mission 5, Namco X Capcom, and Monster Hunter G only ever really get mentioned on a wide scale, occasionally the DQ5 remake and much less occasionally everything else. I know nobody's clamoring for the Yoshitsune Eiyuuden games (FromSoftware's spin on Musou games with RTS elements thrown in) or Sakurazaka Shouboutai (probably the last great firefighter game), even if they should, so I didn't list them.
yeah, i don't think a lot of people get the premise of the thread
It's PC-Engine and Saturn.
Action/Platform: Castlevania Rondo no chi, Momotaro Katsugeki, Bakushou Yoshimoto Shinkigeki (it's an easy cinematic platformer based on comedy), Shubibinman 3, Valis (the remake of the original game), Genji Tsushin Agedama, Gekisha Boy, Liquid Kids, Kaze Kiri, Legend of Valkyrie, Son Son II, Popful Mail, Fray in Magical Adventure .
Fighting: Asuka 120%, Kabuki IttĹŤryĹŤdan, Double Dragon II
Racing: F1 Circus
Adventure: Gotzendiener (an interesting if unfinished isometric adventure game by Gainax)
Puzzle: Bazaru de Gozaru, Bomberman '94, Gomola Speed, Volfied
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I forgot about Gekisha Boy and Son Son II. Those are great. Tonma did get a North American release although it was very limited.
Let's not sleep on Ouendan 1, now...
I believe the poster was simply making a point that the PC Engine is a particularly egregious omission considering what you asked about. Let's bear in mind it was both a 4th gen system and simultaenously the second strongest system in it's generation in Japan (relevant because japanese developers overwhelmingly crushed western devs in output quality those days, it wasn't until the 5th gen where the lines truly started blurring... now take the fact into consideration that it was very solidly outperforming Mega Drive/Genesis in Japan throughout the entire gen) and combine that with the fact 70%+ of it's library was J-only and you'll likely understand why the PC Engine is one of the most unquestionably strong candidates for this particular subject and as such it's absence seems really bizarre considering consoles like the DS did make it.
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Thanks, I'll have a look at some of those. Loved the PS1 Asuka 120% games and I've played Legend of Valkyrie arcade version but I'm down to try some of the others.
Yea, I totally get that. You can pry that DS poll option from my cold, dead hands though.
This is a tough one! I think my personal collection of Saturn exclusives might be my largest, but there are probably even more noteworthy Japanese exclusives on the SFC. The PC Engine has been mentioned and the amount of high quality Japan exclusives is probably insane.
Keep in mind that some titles I've cited are good to round off the PCE library if one already have all the better games (case in point Gotzendiener, game with potential but clearly unfinished).
So check out the gameplay yourself to understand what's worthy for you.
Also don't underestimate the WonderSwan library :-)
Saturn has a bunch of arcade games like Dungeons and Dragons and things like Elevator Action Returns that get past language barriers by being simple to play. I'll go with Saturn.
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