4 Best Cult Classics Translations
We may be dating ourselves a bit here, but nothing in gaming holds as big a place in our hearts of those games from the early generations. We’re sure it’s the case for many gamers, that what remains their fondest memories are the games and systems they grew up with. What annoyed us about these earlier days, however, is how many games which we wanted wouldn’t see official translations of releases. Luckily for us today, the translation scene between the east and west is bigger and healthier than ever, and with this comes which might have once been considered niche, but which went on to become cult-classics. So which of these titillated the most, and still have our obsessed attention to this day?
The Hell of Touhou
One of our favorite games growing up was 1942, a vertically scrolling shooter set in World War 2, as you might have guessed. Playing this game always left us with a question – what if instead of WW2 we had anime, and what if instead of a few planes and cannons we had more bullets than the US armed forces? The answer, as it turns out, was Touhou.
Taking the Hand of God
Shinji Mikami is no stranger to the world of successful video games. Following directing Resident Evil 4, which many people consider one of the best games of all time, he wanted to move to a different genre to evolve. With God Hand for the PS2, he managed just that. Despite being underappreciated at the time, with an awful review of the game from IGN even reaching gaming meme status, God Hand would go on to become one of the most highly regarded beat-em-ups of all time, and one of the best games on PS2.
It is also quite strange.
Plinking with Pachinko
An odd series of games based off of the popular Japanese gaming machines, yet ones which have consistently held our attention since the release of the Aladdin version all the way back in 1989. These not only brought us a form of game perfect for gamblers, they also helped build gaming interest in the industry in such a way so that later developments like William Hill Japan could bridge the gap into full east-west translated online casino games.
Dicing with the Devil
This one might be a bit of a cheat, but since we enjoyed it less than a day before going writing this article, we can’t help but hope for a sequel. We talk, of course, about Devil Dice. Released for the PS1, this puzzle game was actually built from the Net Yaroze home developer console, making it one of the few to ever see a full release. With simple match the dice gameplay, we really have to wonder why we haven’t yet seen a mobile version.
What Have we Missed?
One of the best things about modern gaming is translations to and from the east are far more common and far easier than ever. With better infrastructure, a bigger player base, and more diligent minds, those formerly region locked are now becoming a major part of our gaming lives, where they will remain as the gaming industry only grows stronger.
But what have we missed, and what are the translated cult games you love the most?