00:06Welcome to Mojo Plays and I just ate a biscuit. Welcome to Mojo Plays. Today we're looking at
00:11how different countries consume different media. But why the hell didn't I get that version? I
00:15want to play that version. These are 10 retro games that were completely different outside
00:19North America. I'm gonna have a drink of water and then let's go. Before we continue, we publish
00:24content all week long, so be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to get notified of our latest
00:29videos. Crash Bandicoot. Did you know that getting Crash Bandicoot approved for Japan
00:39apparently required a 15-minute emergency makeover? Sony Japanese executives liked the game itself,
00:45but thought Crash looked too aggressive and potentially unappealing to local players.
00:50I mean, his name is Crash. What the hell did you expect, Japan? During a break, co-creator Andy
00:55Gavin asked artist Charlotte Francis to quickly soften his design by closing his huge grid
00:59shrinking his hair spike and changing his green eyes into simpler black shapes. The redesign was
01:04enough to win Sony over. The Japanese release also made a few small changes, including having only
01:09one crate fall and crash after missing boxes and making Tawna disappear after bonus stages. Nothing
01:14huge, but enough to show how carefully Naughty Dog tailored the game to particular audiences.
01:24Fallout 3. This is going to be a heavy Japanese theme throughout this video, and I don't know,
01:35that's just how it is. Anyways, Japan received a noticeably different version of Fallout 3,
01:41largely because one of its earliest quests hit far too close to real history. In the power of the atom,
01:46players can normally choose to destroy Megaton by detonating the nuclear bomb sitting in the middle
01:51of the town. Bethesda removed that option from the Japanese release by taking Mr. Burke out of the
01:55quest entirely, leaving players only able to disarm the bomb. The Fat Man launcher was also renamed
02:00since the original name directly references the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki in 1945.
02:05Some Japanese fans reportedly disliked the censorship, but given the subject matter,
02:10Bethesda clearly decided that sensitivity mattered more than preserving every possible wasteland atrocity.
02:15Damn, lucky they scrapped that dual tower quest.
02:18Damn, you're duly elected, representative.
02:21Street Fighter 2.
02:26Two people could play Street Fighter 2 in the early 90s, swear they knew the game perfectly,
02:30and still be dealing with slightly different rules. Capcom regularly updated the Japanese arcade
02:36versions first, while cabinets overseas sometimes ran older revisions or builds with their own
02:40balancing changes. Moves could behave differently, computer opponents were adjusted,
02:44and bugs might be fixed in Japan months before international players saw the same improvements.
02:49Console releases only added more confusion by occasionally being based on different arcade
02:54versions depending on the region. Today, competitive fans carefully specify which revision
02:59they mean when discussing match-ups. Back then, most players just assumed Street Fighter 2 was
03:03Street Fighter 2. How could they?
03:10Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker
03:20Fun fact, Japan received a strangely softened version of one torture sequence in Metal Gear Solid
03:26Peace Walker. During the scene, Snake is normally subjected to electric shocks from cattle prod-like
03:31devices, fitting the series' long tradition of making its heroes have absolutely miserable days. For the
03:37Japanese release, however, the equipment was changed into so-called laughing rods, making the sequence
03:42noticeably less harsh. It's an interesting bit of censorship because Japan is often more relaxed about
03:47certain content that gets altered elsewhere, yet torture can face stricter treatment. The scene still
03:53gets the same basic point across, but Laughing Rod sounds considerably less like interrogation equipment,
03:58and considerably more like something sold besides sex toys.
04:06Final Fight
04:14The 1989 beat-em-up final fight received quite the clean-up job when Capcom prepared it for Western
04:21audiences. Several names were changed immediately, with Damned becoming Thrasher and Sodom being renamed
04:27Katana, presumably because even boss names needed to be gentle. References to drugs and alcohol were also
04:33stripped out, but the funniest alteration came from one of the game's most famous lines. After discovering
04:38his car has been destroyed, Hagar's Oh My God was changed to the wonderfully awkward Oh My Car. Technically,
04:44that is what he was upset about, but it completely destroys the dramatic punch of the moment.
04:52Final Fantasy 2 through Final Fantasy 6
05:04For years, North American Final Fantasy fans were basically given a numbering system that required
05:08a flowchart. The original Final Fantasy 2 and Final Fantasy 3 never released there during the NES era,
05:14so when Final Fantasy 4 arrived on Super Nintendo, Square simply renamed it Final Fantasy 2. Then Final
05:20Fantasy 6 came along and was sold as Final Fantasy 3, skipping Final Fantasy 5 entirely. That meant
05:25American players jumped from the first games straight to what were secretly numbered 4 and 6,
05:29without knowing that anything was missing. Once the skipped games eventually became available
05:33internationally, Square switched back to the proper Japanese numbering. Suddenly, an entire generation
05:38discovered that Final Fantasy 3 that they grew up with was actually Final Fantasy 6. It was really nice,
05:43it was totally straightforward, it wasn't hard to get your head around. F*** you, Square Enix.
05:55Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
06:07Depending on where you played it, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the NES could feel surprisingly
06:12different. The Japanese Famicom versions kept the same basic game, including that nightmare-inducing
06:17underwater dam section, but dressed everything up with better presentation. Cutscenes were improved,
06:21extra dialogue gave the adventure more personality, the music sounded cleaner, and several visual
06:26details were polished compared to the NES release. Even the title screen had a little more effort
06:30behind it. None of this completely transforms the game, but it does make the Japanese version feel
06:34less stripped down. For fans revisiting it today, the Famicom release often comes across as the more
06:39complete package, while everyone else apparently got the budget edition.
06:49Mega Man
06:51North American players meeting Mega Man for the first time were greeted by one of gaming's most
06:56baffling box covers. A strangely proportioned adult man holding a pistol like he'd taken the wrong turn
07:01on the way to work. Japan avoided that entirely. Released there as Rock Man, the game used artwork much
07:08closer to Capcom's colourful anime-inspired character design, immediately making the hero look like
07:13the blue robot actually inside the game. The gameplay itself was mostly unchanged, but the difference in
07:18presentation was enormous. Japanese players knew exactly what kind of adventure they were buying,
07:23while American kids had to trust that the confused bloke on the cover somehow turned into Mega Man
07:27after pressing start. Contra
07:39Europe didn't simply receive Contra with a different title, it got an accidental entire robot makeover.
07:45To satisfy strict German censorship rules surrounding human-on-human violence, Konami renamed the game
07:51Probotector and replaced its gun-toting soldiers with robotic characters. The basic gameplay stayed almost
07:56exactly the same, so players were still running, jumping and firing through waves of enemies,
08:00only now everything looks slightly more like a Saturday morning sci-fi cartoon.
08:04This change carried over into several later European releases as well,
08:08making Probotector its own strange regional identity. American and Japanese players were controlling
08:13muscular commandos, while European kids were apparently told that endless gunfire was perfectly
08:18acceptable, as long as everyone involved had enough metal parts.
08:28Super Mario Bros 2
08:36Western players never actually received Japan's original Super Mario Bros 2 when it first launched.
08:42Nintendo of America thought the sequel was far too punishing, thanks to nasty tricks like poison
08:46mushrooms, fake warp zones and levels seemingly designed by someone having a bad week.
08:51Rather than release it overseas, Nintendo took Yume Koja Doki Doki Panic, swapped its cast for
08:57Mario, Luigi, Peach and Toad and sold that instead as Super Mario Bros 2. The Japanese sequel later became
09:03known as The Lost Levels. Strangely enough, the replacement ended up introducing plenty of ideas that stuck
09:08around for years. Sometimes the fake sequel becomes the more memorable one.
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