All of our incessant conversation about Mother 3 (it’s worth every word, believe me—I’ve read essay anthologies about less meaningful, layered work than this game) seems to bring us inexorably back to the pros and cons of emulation. John and Mackey have covered the bases on this pretty well—though I do want to add for the record that hacking an Xbox Classic and getting one of those Street Fighter Anniversary controllers with the awesome d-pad will square you for pitch-perfect couch-based emulation.
But let’s talk more about emulation’s wonderful translation scene. Mother 3 is without a doubt the most high profile fan-created ROM translation ever, but it’s not the be all and end all by any means. The translation scene is perhaps the best thing to come out of rampant internet-based ROM sharing, as it has allowed plenty of games to be rendered enjoyable for people that previously would not have been able to play them. And this doesn’t just mean English speakers finally can play the craziest Japanese Famicom RPGs, either—it’s also given South American and European non-English speakers games we’ve been enjoying for decades.
You’re probably concerned about the English stuff though, and there’s plenty of it. Romhacking.net, probably the best resource for this kind of thing, records no less than 46 complete translations being made this year. And it’s not all crap, either. There’s no beating Mother 3 for quality and relevance, but unfortunately overshadowed by that mammoth release was a complete translation of Persona 2: Innocent Sin, the precursor to Eternal Punishment that Atlus never felt fit to bring to these shores. Mackey’s told you about it, and after fiddling around with it I have to say it looks like good work.
Then there’s Dragon Quest Monsters: Caravan Heart, widely considered the best game in the DQM spin-off series. Japan-only SNES classic Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem was also rendered fit for western consumption by crazed fans this year. So was PlayStation Rez precursor Internal Section, and a variety of interesting Langrisser games. Ever been curious about Famicom Wars, the first game in the series that spawned the beloved Advanced Wars titles? Now you can check it out for yourself.
Individually, this may just come off as the obsessive work of a few bilingual zealots working way too hard for fairly little payoff. Together however, they’re doing something great. With so much of gaming’s incubation stages taking place in Japan, it’s inevitable that the west would lose some of that region’s important early works. Translation Hackers are saving those games, allowing people like you and me to have a more informed understanding of the totality of the medium.
Or, you know, we could just have fun with finally being able to understand Bahamut Lagoon. So, do you translate? What’s your favorite non-Mother 3 translation? Me, I was charmed by the pictured Gunman’s Proof.