Fan Translations: Emulation & Hardware

[Melf]

We've been giving a lot of attention to the recent fan translations that have been appearing on the Genesis. From the wonderful Beggar Prince to the recent MIJET translations of two of the Phantasy Star II text adventures, it looks like the movement is finally gaining some steam. Site contributor Zebbe takes a deeper look into what's been done so far and what's still pending in his new article Fan Translations: Emulation & Hardware. It's a great chance to catch up on which Mega Drive games you can now play in English, so read our full article and get to playing!

[Joe Redifer]

The sound effects and percussion in Phantasy Star 2 is the same in the US version as the Japanese version with the exception of volume. The Japanese version has drums and sounds that are slightly louder. They rebalanced it for the US release, apparently. I'm glad they did, because drums that are too loud sound bad to me. As a result I think the US version sounds smoother.

[108 Stars]

I´m glad some people are doing ROM-hacking.
I´ve tried it myself, and it´s a damn boring and annoying work.

[Genesis Knight]

Good rundown; I'm glad to finally see a translation of DBZ, even if it's incomplete. Now someone needs to write an article on homebrews. Maybe even interview some of the programmers.

[megabomberman]

Welldone Zebbe, I always look forward to reading your stuff and this was no different, perhaps I should go out and get a sega cd and the mega cart eventually it sounds totally worth it after you've opened up the possibilities it has even further with that article, Keep em coming.....

[RedComet]

Is the MD Pro review not available yet? Other than that, nice article, Zebbe.

[Zebbe]

Joe Redifer: Higher volume IS superior when it comes to Mega Drive drums.

Genesis Knight: I've thought about interviewing MIJET, who I had some contact to.

megabomberman: Thanks. Yeah, go get a Mega CD and a Mega Cart. The Mega CD is highly underrated by the masses. There are a lot of great exclusive games for it.

RedComet: No, things got a little messed up. I first wrote and sent in the MD-Pro review, but it never reached Melf like this article did. Now he has it and it will hopefully be up on Friday. Thanks for the feedback. Looking forward to your Bare Knuckle III patch .

[RedComet]

RedComet: No, things got a little messed up. I first wrote and sent in the MD-Pro review, but it never reached Melf like this article did. Now he has it and it will hopefully be up on Friday. Thanks for the feedback. Looking forward to your Bare Knuckle III patch .

True story. Your article has actually motivated me to get back to work on BK3.

[Joe Redifer]

Joe Redifer: Higher volume IS superior when it comes to Mega Drive drums.

That's just stupid.

[Mr Smith]

Advanced Daisenryaku has always interested me. Only the Japanese would invent a game where you can play as the second worst dictator of the 20th Century.

In saying that somebody should make a Sim-Hitler game: you could chose what the tyrant had on his toast in the morning, which countries to invade, which minority group to oppress, whether to buy a new lamp for the Berghof and when to make sweet, sweet love to Eva Braun. God that would be awesome.

[GeckoYamori]

Advanced Daisenryaku cracked me up. I thought it would be another generic game based on some obscure anime or something, and the first thing I'm greeted with is "DAS DEUTSCHE REICH! SIEG HEIL! SIEG HEIL!"

[Genesis Knight]

A MIJET interview would be neat.

[108 Stars]

Advanced Daisenryaku has always interested me. Only the Japanese would invent a game where you can play as the second worst dictator of the 20th Century.

In saying that somebody should make a Sim-Hitler game: you could chose what the tyrant had on his toast in the morning, which countries to invade, which minority group to oppress, whether to buy a new lamp for the Berghof and when to make sweet, sweet love to Eva Braun. God that would be awesome.

Such a game actually exists, probably illegaly programmed by the Nazi scene here...
it´s for C64 and called simply "Adolf".
Basically it´s a text-based economy-sim. You have to pay the army, the SS, invade countries to get money, you have to start a progrom every now and then, be judge on court (mostly in cases of Germans against a Jew).
But at the same time you have to keep your wife entertained (with cash) and you can´t let the concentration camps down too much, or the Jews will start a rebellion.
Usually it ends with your wife or somebody backstabbing you.
Unfortunately, no sex-options are available.

BTW: Who is the worst dictator in the 20th century? I thought it was Hitler, but I may be a bit biased...my next-best bets would be Mao Zedong and Stalin.

[Zebbe]

True story. Your article has actually motivated me to get back to work on BK3.

Sweeeet .

Joe Redifer: No. I think the drums are too low in many Mega Drive games.

108 Stars: Stalin ofcourse. He is responsible for the most deaths, and that is usually what counts when it comes to "worst dictator". Now, who is the BEST dictator of the 20th century? That's harder.

[Genesis Knight]

Stalin killed the most, but Mao was probably the most destructive/oppressive. This is, of course, sort of impossible to quantify.