A game by any other name...

[Bubba]

Can you remember any times when the same game was renamed for release in a different country?

We all know the confusing numbering issues with the early Final Fantasy releases in Japan and US/Europe.

I also remember when Starfox was released for the SNES in the UK and they had to rename it Starwing. This is because there was already a title called Starfox released for the Spectrum/C64. Don't even get me started on Lylat Wars for the N64. :argh:

Any other interesting/amusing game name changes that you know of?

[Fynn]

Another big one is Dragon Quests I to IV and VII being renamed to Dragon Warrior in the West due to a licensing issue. Apparently there was a tabletop RPG series system Dragon Quest so we couldn't have that.

[Wolf Kanno]

Lufia is actually called Biography of Estopilis (Estopolis Denki) in Japan. Which is more of a reference to the Sinistrals home base.

The Mana franchise is called Seiken Densetsu which translates to Legend of the Holy Sword in Japan with no reference to Mana.

The first Persona game Atlus made doesn't actually carry the Shin Megami Tensei title in it. Instead it's called Megami Ibunroku Persona (Goddess Odyssey Persona) and when released in the west, it was renamed Revelations: Persona. In fact the MegaTen games released in the West were meant to have the Revelations title in them, as their other port was Last Bible, which became Revelations: The Demon Slayer in the West.

[Sephiroth]

Terranigma's original name is The Creation of Heaven and Earth. That is an overkill name though.

Drakengard is called Drag-on Dragoon.

Resident Evil is Biohazard.

[Bubba]

Contra 3 in the UK was actually called Super Probotector. They replaced the two macho guy sprites with two macho robot sprites.

70684

[Mirage]

Drakengard is called Drag-on Dragoon.


did not know that and it explains a lot

[Sephiroth]

Oh and of course Pokémon in Japan goes with its un-abbreviated version of Pocket Monster. That does not mean though that they do not mean Pokémon at all. They do.

Project Zero is Fatal Frame.

Earthbound is just the sequel of the Mother RPG series, actually called Mother 2.

The Legend of Zelda A Link to the Past is called The Legend of Zelda (Zeruda no Densetsu of course) Triforce of the Gods.

Resonance of Fate is End of Eternity.

Rune Factory Oceans is Rune Factory Tides of Destiny.

Indigo Prophecy is Fahrenheit, not even Quantic Dream liked that change to Indigo Prophecy.

Nier Gestalt has a Japanese version called Nier Replicant. Those are significant changes though that are intended to make an actual difference in story telling and the change of character role is acknowledged in both Japan and the West by introducing the middle-agged man model of Nier via DLC for Nier Replicant and the young man model of Nier via DLC for Nier Gestalt.

[Bubba]

I'm testing my memory a bit here but I'm pretty sure Super Mario Bros. 2 on the NES was actually Doki Doki Panic! in Japan.

[Fynn]

It's more than just a name change though - it was a completely different game that was realigned into a Mario sequel. TVTropes calls this a "Dolled-up installment"

[Bubba]

It's more than just a name change though - it was a completely different game that was realigned into a Mario sequel. TVTropes calls this a "Dolled-up installment"

Ah right, I knew they were at least similar though.

[Mirage]

yeah it was just sprite swapping at work

[Vyk]

Farenheit and Indigo Prophecy

Dark Cloud and ... something else

A couple that jump out as name changes between the NA and EU releases

[Mirage]

Dark Cloud 2 was called Dark Chronicle in Europe.

[Karifean]

Gyakuten Saiban 4 being called Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney in the west seems to have given a lot of people the idea that it's a spin-off instead of the proper fourth instalment in the series.