RPGHQ

This topic is not quite a fit for the "Dogshit Localizations" thread, as I'd like to focus on the changes to the name of the games themselves.

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Grab your space banjo, because it is time to journey again into the realm of foreign title localizations. During translation, some games very names were transformed either in an attempt to better reach our market or to prevent overlapping with an existing english property.

For example Rockman became Mega Man, although the Rock and Roll pun was completely lost in the process. Dragon Quest was changed to Dragon Warrior to avoid a trademark held by a tabletop RPG, but on the plus side, we did get the cool box art.

Sometimes the subtitle was also changed or removed. For example, the Rockman series had several entries with interesting subtitles like:
"Dr. Wily's Time to Die!?"

English	Foreign Name	System
Mega Man 2	Rockman 2: The Enigma of Dr. Wily	Nintendo
Mega Man 3	Rockman 3: Dr. Wily's Time to Die!?	Nintendo
Mega Man 4	Rockman 4: An Evil New Ambition!!	Nintendo
Mega Man 5	Rockman 5: Blues' Trap!?	Nintendo
Mega Man 6	Rockman 6: The Biggest Battle in History!!	Nintendo
Mega Man 7	Rockman 7: Destiny's Greatest Battle!!	Super Nintendo
Mega Man 8	Rockman 8: Metal Heroes	PlayStation
Mega Man 9	Rockman 9: The Ambition's Revival!!	Wii, Playstation 3, Xbox 360
Mega Man 10	Rockman 10: Threat from Outer Space!!	Wii, Playstation 3, Xbox 360
Mega Man 11	Rockman 11: Gears of Fate!!	PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC
Mega Man Xtreme	Rockman X: Cyber Mission	Game Boy Color
Mega Man Xtreme 2	Rockman X2: Soul Eraser	Game Boy Color

I have no doubt there are a lot more games where the title was changed during the import process. Which ones do you know about, and are there titles you think where the change worked out in the games favor?

They did lose something.
They lost my interest.

Resident Evil mogs Biohazard heavily

Earthbound isn't exactly great, but it sounds way better than Mother.

Tweed wrote: ↑ April 2nd, 2026, 07:29

Earthbound isn't exactly great, but it sounds way better than Mother.

*Mother 2

Another one that was changed was the Game Boy Color entry in the Metal Gear series, no doubt to cash in on the success of their PlayStation title of the same name.

English	Foreign Name	System
Metal Gear Solid	Metal Gear: Ghost Babel	Game Boy Color

If that was their goal, it had the opposite effect on me. Why buy a handheld version of 'solid' instead of the PS1's 3d one? If they'd gone with the cool name of 'Ghost Babel', I'd have probably given it a look.

SpellSword wrote: ↑ April 2nd, 2026, 05:10

Dragon Quest was changed to Dragon Warrior to avoid a trademark held by a tabletop RPG, but on the plus side, we did get the cool box art.

Dragon Warrior is also a better name.

[x] of Mana gives the games a more mystical feel than the Japanese "Legend of the Sacred Sword."

Downtown Hot-Blooded Story Special — River City Ransom
Hot-Blooded Tough Guy Kunio — Renegade

Russian: "Access code: Paradise" - English: "Paradise: Cracked"
Russian: "Power of Law" - English: "Cops 2170"
Russian: "Eye of the Dragon" - English: "I of the Dragon"
Russian: "Vangers" - English: "Vangers: One for the Road"
Russian: "Allods: Seal of Mystery" - English: "Rage of Mages"
Russian: "Cursed Lands" - English: "Evil Islands: Curse of the Lost Soul"
Russian: "Inhabited Island: Afterword" - English: "Galactic Assault: Prisoner of Power"

DemoGraph wrote: ↑ April 3rd, 2026, 20:48

Russian: "Access code: Paradise" - English: "Paradise: Cracked"
Russian: "Power of Law" - English: "Cops 2170"
Russian: "Eye of the Dragon" - English: "I of the Dragon"
Russian: "Vangers" - English: "Vangers: One for the Road"
Russian: "Allods: Seal of Mystery" - English: "Rage of Mages"
Russian: "Cursed Lands" - English: "Evil Islands: Curse of the Lost Soul"
Russian: "Inhabited Island: Afterword" - English: "Galactic Assault: Prisoner of Power"

Wow, some of these are serious downgrades. What's up with the Eye/I of Dragon one?

Sonikku za Hejjihoggu -> Sonic the Hedgehog was a good change

WhiteShark wrote: ↑ April 3rd, 2026, 21:36

What's up with the Eye/I of Dragon one?

Dunno. Maybe "you'll be looking through the eyes of the dragon" kind of name was deemed too abstract?

I think that all those English translations are pulpier.

Oh, also,
Russian "Pestilence (Utopia)" is English "Pathologic".
Russian "Turgor" is English "The Void".

Elnard — The 7th Saga there's seven heroes, but it still doesn't make any sense, this isn't the seventh time this has happened.
Shining and the Darkness — Shining in the Darkness which one is better?
Vermillion — The Sword of Vermillion you don't even need the sword to beat the game, but American audiences probably wouldn't care as much about a game just named for a color.
Bomber King — RoboWarrior God as my witness they released some of these in the states with the original name because I knew it by the jap name somehow.

The third Zelda game's subtitle suffered a rewrite due to nintendo's policy of censoring anything religious.

English	Foreign Name	System
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past	The Legend of Zelda: Triforce of the Gods	Super Nintendo

I hate the censorship, but 'A Link to the Past' is a pretty memorable name.

SpellSword wrote: ↑ April 4th, 2026, 04:43

I hate the censorship, but 'A Link to the Past' is a pretty memorable name.

But the Dark World is a different dimension, not a different point in time

A Link to the so-called Past has no time travel of any sort

Havitner wrote: ↑ April 5th, 2026, 20:44

SpellSword wrote: ↑ April 4th, 2026, 04:43

I hate the censorship, but 'A Link to the Past' is a pretty memorable name.

But the Dark World is a different dimension, not a different point in time

A Link to the so-called Past has no time travel of any sort

It's a prequel to the other games

English	Foreign Name	System
Rygar	Warrior of Argos: Reckless Big Charge	Nintendo

The hero being named Rygar appears to also be the result of localization, as originally he was just an unnamed "Legendary Warrior". In the japanese version, it is actually the villian who is the one named Rygar, or Ligar.

Tweed wrote: ↑ April 3rd, 2026, 22:13

Shining and the Darkness — Shining in the Darkness which one is better?

You defeat Dark Sol with the Sword of Light (and Armor of Light, and the Spirit of Light) so the translated title is cooler

English	Japanese	System
Wizards and Warriors	Legendary Knight Elrond	Nintendo

I don't remember this adaption of Lord of the Rings.

SpellSword wrote: ↑ April 6th, 2026, 04:50

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English	Foreign Name	System
Rygar	Warrior of Argos: Reckless Big Charge	Nintendo

The hero being named Rygar appears to also be the result of localization, as originally he was just an unnamed "Legendary Warrior". In the japanese version, it is actually the villian who is the one named Rygar, or Ligar.

► The 'Ligar' being a half human half lion monster.

I always wondered why they changed the music for the American port.

Listing only the ones that are different:

English	Japanese
Paper Mario	Mario Story
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door	Paper Mario RPG
Paper Mario: Sticker Star	Paper Mario Super Sticker

The English titles of the first two are certainly more evocative.

DemoGraph wrote: ↑ April 3rd, 2026, 20:48

Russian: "Access code: Paradise" - English: "Paradise: Cracked"
Russian: "Power of Law" - English: "Cops 2170"
Russian: "Eye of the Dragon" - English: "I of the Dragon"
Russian: "Vangers" - English: "Vangers: One for the Road"
Russian: "Allods: Seal of Mystery" - English: "Rage of Mages"
Russian: "Cursed Lands" - English: "Evil Islands: Curse of the Lost Soul"
Russian: "Inhabited Island: Afterword" - English: "Galactic Assault: Prisoner of Power"

Paradise: Cracked sounds more cyberpunk to me.
I of the Dragon is hilarious.
Rage of Mages is fun to say.
The last one is just some nonsense.

English	Japanese
Wrath of the Black Manta	Ninja Cop Saizou

Aside from the name, it also has a drastically different presentation for its cutscenes and bosses as well.

SpellSword wrote: ↑ April 16th, 2026, 23:10

English	Japanese
Wrath of the Black Manta	Ninja Cop Saizou

Aside from the name, it also has a drastically different presentation for its cutscenes and bosses as well.

► The same boss and cutscene in each version

That is a striking example of an improvement in the English translation. Wow.

Kalarion wrote: ↑ April 17th, 2026, 14:59

SpellSword wrote: ↑ April 16th, 2026, 23:10

English	Japanese
Wrath of the Black Manta	Ninja Cop Saizou

Aside from the name, it also has a drastically different presentation for its cutscenes and bosses as well.

► The same boss and cutscene in each version

That is a striking example of an improvement in the English translation. Wow.

I was also thinking it was all a major improvement. Unfortunately it looks like they removed a lot of stuff as well, including an entire level.

English	Foreign Name	System
The Final Fantasy Legend	Warrior in the Tower of the Spirit World: Sa·Ga	Game Boy
Final Fantasy Legend II	Sa·Ga 2: Legend of the Secret Treasure	Game Boy
Final Fantasy Legend III	Sa·Ga 3: The Ruler of Time and Space [Final Chapter]	Game Boy
Final Fantasy Adventure	Legend of the Sacred Sword	Game Boy

Final Fantasy Adventure is actually the first part of the Mana series, and the Final Fantasy Legend games are renamed entries from the SaGa series.

@Tangerine I agree with you about the series name. Secret of Mana has a better ring to it.

Dark Cloud 2 is the only game I know of by a japanese developer that became a sequel after export to USA. First game flopped in japan but was a hit in USA, in japan it was called Dark Chronicle to distance itself from the first game.