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Japanese PS2 games that never got to the US, but were released in Europe

mrtl

mrtl

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
827
I'm mostly referring to the budget games that were released in Japan either stand-alone or as the "Simple 2000" series and localized by Midas, D3/Essential Games and 505 Game Street for the European market. Obviously a lot of these were sub-par or just plain shit (there are about a 100 of these), but there are some interesting ones:

Also known as OneeChanbara, the first 3 games were never released in the US:
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Train/city simulator by Artdink, there are almost 20 of these on a variety of platforms:
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Dreamcast to PS2 port, Atlus didn't bother in the US:
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EDF, stripped of all voice acting, most likely because of budget reasons:
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And if you've got a ton of games, why not release a compilation of these as a shitty fighter?
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Miss Nippon 1992 got her own tactical shooter as well:
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Let's not forget Suda51 with this (he claims he didn't know about the localization):
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What do you think? Any other oddities that are worth mentioning?
 
asmith906

asmith906

Member
Oct 27, 2017
27,677
You can get Gregory horror show. It has a 60hz mode and is in English. Also the pal version of haunting grounds has a 60hz mode so it's worth grabbing.
 
Simone

Simone

Member
Oct 27, 2017
332
Italy
Swords of Destiny, a very low-budget (I remember I bought it new for 15€ right when it launched) action game, it vaguely reminded me of Otogi for the Xbox.
 
oneida

oneida

Banned
Oct 29, 2017
1,912
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how about the inverse? aero dancing 4 was released in the USA as aero elite combat academy, and never in Europe. it's got an incredibly good soundtrack and it's dirt cheap. basically if you wish the ace combat games were more sim oriented and less action oriented you should absolutely play this game! it's got a great tutorial too.
 
Akumatica

Akumatica

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,755
The Glass Rose from Cing (Another Code, Hotel Dusk) and Capcom-
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Siren 2 from Sony-
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Shinobido from Aquire after they stopped working on the Tenchu series-
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Everblue 1 from Capcom-
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Clive

Clive

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,155
I always wanted to play Forbidden Siren 2, the sequel to Siren, which was re-imagined as Siren: Blood Curse. We got the first game and its re-imagining in America but never the sequel. It stayed in Europe and Japan.

Edit: Ninja'd
 
Akumatica

Akumatica

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,755
The port of Space Channel 5 Part 2 from Sega-
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7 Blades from Konami-
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Demon Chaos also from Konami-
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The Sword of Etheria again from Konami-
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LewieP

LewieP

Member
Oct 26, 2017
18,201
I clicked on the thread to say GDF and Michigan. Can't think of any others off the top of my head though
 
Tetrinski

Tetrinski

Banned
May 17, 2018
2,915
Not a PS2 case but Shenmue II released for Dreamcast in Europe while the US only saw the Xbox version, as far as I know.
 
LewieP

LewieP

Member
Oct 26, 2017
18,201
I did some googling.

XII Stag never got a USA release, right?

Metal Slug 4/5 got standalone releases in Japan and Europe, but not in the US (they did get released as part of the Anthology release though).

Shinobido: Way of the Ninja never hit the US.

Sonic Gems Collection for some reason was only on GameCube in the US, but was on PS2 in Japan/Europe.
 
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Deleted member 3335

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
3,812
Soccer Life was I think only released in Japan and Europe.

It was some weird life, agent and dating simulation. Pretty rough but I had some fun with it.
 
Akumatica

Akumatica

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,755
The game I want to play the most from all of these is Siren 2. I keep hoping Sony will make it a PS2 Classic. It's supposedly much better than the first game. It still has many issues running in PCSX2-
https://wiki.pcsx2.net/Forbidden_Siren_2
https://www.reddit.com/r/PCSX2/comments/7nmkbp/siren_and_siren_2_on_pcsx2/
I get the impression that Sony of America doesn't care about Keiichiro Toyama's games.
-Siren 2 - localized for EU only
-Siren: Blood Curse - digital only in the West and North America got the most censored version.
-Gravity Rush Remastered - only getting a physical release after fans complained and it was a limited Amazon exclusive that goes for @ $60 used and @ $100 new.
-Gravity Rush 2 - has it's servers shut off after 18 months (originally they were going to turn them off after 1 year), locking leaderboards, challenges and content away forever.
I know this thread is about PS2 games, but If we want to talk about other systems-
DS-
Freshly-Picked: Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland
The Last Window
Wii-
Disaster: Day of Cisis
Another Code R
One Piece: Unlimited Cruise 1 & 2
Fatal Frame 2 (an enhanced port of the already enhanced Xbox port)
Snes-
Terranigma

Then there's the Inazuma Eleven series from Level-5. The EU got most of them localized and only 1 made it to North America.
 
Crawling Mushroom

Crawling Mushroom

Member
Oct 28, 2017
362
Beerse, Belgium
for PS1 there's a survival horror game called Hellnight

on a retro game fair I saw it being sold for 80€ which I didn't want to pay

about 2 months later I visited a retro games shop and there they sold the game for 30€, which I immediately took home with me

now just to start playing it, like about 100 other games still waiting :p
 
ScOULaris

ScOULaris

Member
Oct 25, 2017
9,941
The first Shinobido game got a European release but nothing in the States. Really pissed me off. Still does to this day, actually, because even emulating the PAL English version means putting up with 50hz.
 
Akumatica

Akumatica

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,755
OP mentions Maken Shao which is an interesting case.
http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/maken-x/
-The Dreamcast original was a first person game. The PS2 version became third person.
-The first games directed by Katsura Hoshino (director of SMT: Nocturne, Catherine, Persona 3 & 4).
-Developed in house by Atlus R&D1.
-Great art by Kazuma Kaneko who was the art director and character designer for these.

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latest
 
mudai

mudai

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,360
Akumatica said:
Maken Shao is an interesting case.
http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/maken-x/
-The Dreamcast original was a first person game. The PS2 version became third person.
-The first games directed by Katsura Hoshino (director of SMT: Nocturne, Catherine, Persona 3 & 4).
-Developed in house by Atlus R&D1.
-Great art by Kazuma Kaneko who was the art director and character designer for these.

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I really like this game. It's interesting that they changed the perspective for the PS2 version. I also really dig its intro theme. Very atmospheric and a perfect fit for the game. For some reason it reminds me of playing niche PS2 games during the winter months, sitting in the dark in my room, with the TV screen being the only illumination, haha.

 
Eiji

Eiji

Member
Oct 28, 2017
146
ScOULaris said:
The first Shinobido game got a European release but nothing in the States. Really pissed me off. Still does to this day, actually, because even emulating the PAL English version means putting up with 50hz.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

You can patch the PAL game ISO to 60Hz using PS2 Video Mode Fixer so it runs at the same speed as the NTSC version.
 
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