Post by Grandy02 on Mar 15, 2010 12:20:06 GMT -5
It is interesting to see when the localisations of Nintendo's games influence the original releases. The following comes to my mind, mainly from the Mario series:
- The very name of Mario was first used by Nintendo of America and soon became the worldwide name of Jumpman.
- Likewise, Lady was renamed Pauline, but it took much longer for this name to be used in Japanese versions (first time in Game Boy DK in 1994).
- The anglicised spelling of Kuppa, Koopa (Bowser), was adapted to Japanese versions.
- The Japan-only Doki Doki Panic was remade into Super Mario Bros. 2 for the Western market. It was released years later in Japan as Super Mario USA in 1992, and the Japanese manual gives both the Japanese and English names of the enemies. Doki Doki Panic enemies have made it into dozens of Mario games.
- The Koopalings originally had no individual names in Japan, but NoA decided to name them for the American release of SMB3. With Super Mario World, their English names were adapted to Japanese, but without the "Koopa" surname.
- Yoshi was romanised Yossy in earlier Japanese materials, but they eventually stuck with Yoshi (kind of a "deanglicisation").
- The Japanese manual of Mario's Tennis states the English names of Kinopio and Nokonoko (Toad and Koopa) next to the Japanese names. However, next to Peach's name in Japanese you can read "Princess Peach" rather than Princess Toadstool, which was her English name at the time.
- The English The Legend of Zelda logo has also been used for Japanese releases since Ocarina of Time.
- The Nyarth's Party / Meowth's Party demo shown at Nintendo Space World in Japan prominently featured Nyarth's English name Meowth in the background.
- Since the voice acting in Mario games is in English all versions, the English names are also spoken out in the Japanese releases.
- Mario Story was renamed Paper Mario for Western releases. The latter name was eventually adapted to Japanese releases, as the second game was released as Paper Mario RPG in Japan.
- In Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, the letter K is seen on the kart of Nokonoko, standing for his English name Koopa Troopa. Earlier screenshots showed the letter to be N, standing for the Japanese name, but K was eventually used in all versions. This is no issue for the kart of Patapata / Paratroopa, as both names begin with "P."
- The Japanese version of Super Mario Advance 3 features the English logo of Yoshi's Island (without "Super Mario World 2") as part of the first map screen, which looks quite different from the Japanese one.
- In the first Made in Wario / WarioWare, Inc., it reads "WarioWare, Inc." on Wario's staff card in all versions of the game. Not sure if this really is a reference to the Western title or if it actually was the inspiration for the localised name, though.
- In Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, HeartGold and SoulSilver, it is possible to get foreign Pokédex entries in all releases of the games.
- Of course, Smash Bros. X aka Brawl is of Japanese origin, but it features some British-created characters, including King K. Rool. In Japanese localisations of DKC2, Kaptain K. Rool has been the King's brother rather than alter ego. In the English version of Brawl, the Kaptain is told to be King K. Rool's brother for the first time in English, and I wouldn't even wonder if we see King K. Rool meeting his "brother" in a future Japanese-developed game.
- As a reference to the Western name of Koopa, a bike is known as Super Bowser in the Japanese version of MKWii (Bowser Bike or Flame Runner in English).
Do you know any more?
- The very name of Mario was first used by Nintendo of America and soon became the worldwide name of Jumpman.
- Likewise, Lady was renamed Pauline, but it took much longer for this name to be used in Japanese versions (first time in Game Boy DK in 1994).
- The anglicised spelling of Kuppa, Koopa (Bowser), was adapted to Japanese versions.
- The Japan-only Doki Doki Panic was remade into Super Mario Bros. 2 for the Western market. It was released years later in Japan as Super Mario USA in 1992, and the Japanese manual gives both the Japanese and English names of the enemies. Doki Doki Panic enemies have made it into dozens of Mario games.
- The Koopalings originally had no individual names in Japan, but NoA decided to name them for the American release of SMB3. With Super Mario World, their English names were adapted to Japanese, but without the "Koopa" surname.
- Yoshi was romanised Yossy in earlier Japanese materials, but they eventually stuck with Yoshi (kind of a "deanglicisation").
- The Japanese manual of Mario's Tennis states the English names of Kinopio and Nokonoko (Toad and Koopa) next to the Japanese names. However, next to Peach's name in Japanese you can read "Princess Peach" rather than Princess Toadstool, which was her English name at the time.
- The English The Legend of Zelda logo has also been used for Japanese releases since Ocarina of Time.
- The Nyarth's Party / Meowth's Party demo shown at Nintendo Space World in Japan prominently featured Nyarth's English name Meowth in the background.
- Since the voice acting in Mario games is in English all versions, the English names are also spoken out in the Japanese releases.
- Mario Story was renamed Paper Mario for Western releases. The latter name was eventually adapted to Japanese releases, as the second game was released as Paper Mario RPG in Japan.
- In Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, the letter K is seen on the kart of Nokonoko, standing for his English name Koopa Troopa. Earlier screenshots showed the letter to be N, standing for the Japanese name, but K was eventually used in all versions. This is no issue for the kart of Patapata / Paratroopa, as both names begin with "P."
- The Japanese version of Super Mario Advance 3 features the English logo of Yoshi's Island (without "Super Mario World 2") as part of the first map screen, which looks quite different from the Japanese one.
- In the first Made in Wario / WarioWare, Inc., it reads "WarioWare, Inc." on Wario's staff card in all versions of the game. Not sure if this really is a reference to the Western title or if it actually was the inspiration for the localised name, though.
- In Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, HeartGold and SoulSilver, it is possible to get foreign Pokédex entries in all releases of the games.
- Of course, Smash Bros. X aka Brawl is of Japanese origin, but it features some British-created characters, including King K. Rool. In Japanese localisations of DKC2, Kaptain K. Rool has been the King's brother rather than alter ego. In the English version of Brawl, the Kaptain is told to be King K. Rool's brother for the first time in English, and I wouldn't even wonder if we see King K. Rool meeting his "brother" in a future Japanese-developed game.
- As a reference to the Western name of Koopa, a bike is known as Super Bowser in the Japanese version of MKWii (Bowser Bike or Flame Runner in English).
Do you know any more?
