Any good JPN-only Super NES games.

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Been thinking about wanting to get some import Super Famicom games. I don't know japanese so I'm not getting games like Star Ocean or any others that're text heavy.

I'm planning on getting:

Mega Man & Bass (There's a GBA version, but I don't like playing the MM games on a small screen, and I don't like the GBA version music.)
Super Back to the Future II

If you use an emulator you can get SNES games like Star Ocean and Final Fantasy V in
English using a translation patch

That's how I played them. In some cases you'll find roms that are already patched, for others the patch is separate.

I sucked at SO1 though because I hadn't read the manual and the system is closer to 3 and 2 (3 wasn't even out yet!). You'll notice minor tie-ins to SO2 (Roxanis) and SO3 (Time Gate) and about 90% of the main story was shamelessly reproduced in SO4 (anything that happens on Roak) alongside fragments from SO3 ("seeds of hope"? really?).

EDIT: Bahamut's'Lagoon is also decent with a translation patch.

I tend to play my GBA games using my Gameboy player on the Gamecube, not a fan of the small dim screen myself. But home console games are always a better option. If you look for ROM's online, you will probably find that a number of the Japanese exclusives have been patched with English text. Emulation is how I play all of the SNES games as it is a VERY expensive console to collect for in the UK, partly due to the Mega Drive almost always being the preferred option at the time. I only knew one person who had one.

They had a Mario's Picross for the SNES that's pretty easy to play without knowing Japanese. It's got a pretty interesting two-player mode, too.

...I can't think of too many other ones I would care to play without a translation patch...

Konami's "Legend of the Mystical Ninja"(Goemon) series had a number of japan-only releases. The one SNES version that was released in the U.S. is one of the most underrated Super Nintendo games in my opinion. It's available on the Wii Virtual-console too, so I recommend buying it.


The Japanese version of this Nintendo game was completely finished but never released unfortunately.

If you're playing on an emulator the text heavy games should be fine provided they have translation patches. The best Japanese games I've played on SNES include Star Ocean, Tales of Phantasia and Seiken Densetsu 3 (Secret of Mana sequel). They're all JRPGs, with an emphasis on action in combat and have patches available.

Terranigma is another Japanese action RPG that actually has an official English release but was only ever released in PAL regions, and plays kind of like Zelda. Another game I love that has a patch but doesn't necessarily need it as it doesn't have much text is Super Puyo Puyo 2. Its a falling blocks puzzle game that had a number of clones tied to other gaming franchises but its the superior version. It is the best multiplayer game on SNES in my opinion.

Apparently the version that's out there isn't even finished...I forget exactly what they said needed to be finished, I think they said it was supposed to be more random?

If you're into turn-based RPGs, check out Shin Megami Tensei 1 and 2. An important element of the games is that you can talk the monsters you encounter into joining you (usually for a cost), and you can fuse those monsters to create new ones.

Back to the Future II!! !! !! !! !!