"The Smurfs" was another NES game who got a PAL exclusive release. It was a nice game with smooth graphics and delicious music, but for what I remember it was goddamn difficult! It was released in 1994 in some european countries (Italy, Belgium, French, Germany and Spain) with the name on the box art printed as the pronunciation of that series in those specific countries. About this last aspect, it even featured a rare italian localization ("I Puffi") on box and cartridge label, just because it was an insanely popular animated series here in Italy.
Surprisingly it's popularity in the US didn't afford it a release in the US!! "The Smurfs" was one of my favorite animated TV series'!! If the game was good, it would've done well!! But IIRC we only got the ATARI VCS game or whatever system it was before the NES was… 🙄🙄🙄🙄 if only right?
Speaking of Sunsoft, you should have mentioned the wonderful Ufouria, which is a take on Metroid with 4 playable characters and is much more common than Mr. Gimmick
Great video, and thank you for bringing to my attention that Mr Gimmick is available on modern hardware! I definitely need to check it out! Another Sunsoft game from Japan that Europe and PAL regions got, but North America didn't was Ufouria, and it's definitely worth covering as well! I also love that you covered New Ghostbusters II by HAL, it's so much better than the Activision games, and I'd say it's even better than the one on MegaDrive/Genesis!
Thank you for featuring several games I hadn’t seen before of the NES. About 20 years ago I leaned into collecting for this System and other then the 3 Adult titles and sadly “Stadium Events” I put a U.S. release complete collection together(840+). I then moved onto Australian and U.K. releases like “Corvette ZR-1, Aussie Rules Footie, and Cricket”. From the ones I got from England my favorite was “Elite” as it was a title for the Amiga that I spent a lot of time with. Equally sadly having added 40+ non-American carts to my collection it all was sold after losing my job after the termination of the Space Shuttle Program having worked there for 22 years. I was able to keep the “Lights” on for awhile longer but that collection now sold in “One Piece” would purchase a modest home, oh well. ;-)
Here in America we recognize the Devil World devil as an Assist Trophy character in the Super Smash Bros. series. And true to the original game, the screen scrolls in the direction that the devil points, and players can be knocked out if they get scrolled off the screen.
When I was 10-13, I lived across the street from a library that had a number of books and magazines imported from the UK, including Computer + Video Games, and reading CVG was like a window into an alternate universe filled with lawnmowing simulators and games on cassette tape. They also seemed a lot more fond of Sega's systems than Nintendo's.
If it wasn't for the various references found in the Super Smash Bros. games, I probably would have never been familiar with "Devil World" before being able to play the game when it got released via NES Nintendo Online Service for the Nintendo Switch.
Another one of these was the "bugfixed" Super Mario Bros. that you got back in 1990 (Rev. A): we Americans always had the "buggy" port (which the original 1987 release you had was similar) until Super Mario All-Stars for the SNES corrected these problems. However, even this re-release for the NES still had spots around it, since not all of the optimizations were up to snuff, including the music since the original game didn't track audio separately from video. I see you have Devil World in your list! We didn't have this until it recently became available on Nintendo's Switch.
New Ghostbusters II is even better on the Gameboy (which did release in the States). The handheld version had cinematics that fleshed out the story and "blue Winston" was no longer a problem. Elite is definitely the one game on this list I resent not getting an American release. Everything else is readily available on the Famicom and all play great on the NES.
@OriruBastard in the first movie, sure. He showed up halfway through and was always framed at the edge so they could crop him out (total bullshit btw) But in GB2 he was in the first scene and the last scene
Kinda makes you wonder how many of these would have become franchise IP's if they had been released in North America. I'm pretty sure Hammering Harry and Banana Prince would have had sequels and ended up in Smash Bros.
(Mr.) Gimmick isn't the only one distributed to the Nintendo Switch. Devil World was recently released to the NES Library on the Nintendo Switch Online service. It was the Japanese version, so I guess it still counts as a "New To North America"? Also, Turrican seems awfully familiar in game mechanics to another Nintendo franchise, namely Metroid. It's the way the main character rolls into a spiked ball to access certain levels and power ups. Furthermore, am I the only one getting Smurf vibes from the Asterix video game? One more thing: We want Parodius in the US!
It's more similar to Contra in gameplay than metroid. Just the levels were more complex than scrolling into one direction only (well, later games had the birds eye view levels,too)
I'm guessing the reason Parodius doesn't get released in the US is because NOA thought it was too similar to Gradius, and that most Gradius players are serious/hardcore Arcade gamers who wouldn't play a more light-hearted game like Parodius, while those that do like light-hearted games with colorful characters generally want an easier game than a Gradius clone. It certainly wasn't the aesthetic alone, but it might have been the combination of Gradius difficulty with more playful graphics that they thought wouldn't appeal to Americans. Then again... that didn't stop Cuphead from being a thing here, though maybe that was because US culture had changed by the time Cuphead came out.
Sadly Turrican is the only one I had back then and even knew about at that time except Asterix. It generally seems Americans rarely know about BDs and their animations. Back then, the NES had great graphics.
Devil World and Mr Gimmick were only released in Scandinavia and Banana Prince only in Germany (with German screen text). Pretty much zero chance finding these back in the day through a regular retailer or even know they existed if you lived elsewhere in Europe.
You know, when or If you get done with the games one didn't get over the other(US vs EU) I know some games that didn't come out like Quiz Across America, "Star Wars"(by Namco) and "Mind Seeker" also by Namco… and while we got"Dragon Warrior I & II" on the Gameboy Color, Japan got the same-ish game on the Super Famicom as "Dragon Quest I·II" in 1993!! 🤔🤔🤔🤔
When you showed "Devil World" i remembered that was one of the games i used to play when i was 5 and 6 years old, it was fun but i never understood the reason why that bat was there and about this being related to religion Bulls..t, because i was just a kid back then, this is one of those videos and reasons that make me love being part of Europe, the only thing i never liked about european videogames in the past was the PAL 50HZ Problem/limitation, that was very unfair for people like us in Europe, gladly since the "PS2 generation", games in Europe started to appear with 60HZ options and since the PS3 we now share those same benefits, except for some classic games in PS Plus like "RE Director's Cut" that still weren't patched to change to NTSC/60HZ, these games in PAL version today also have bad VSYNC🤔🙄
megaman??? dude it's nothing like megaman in any way it's not much like kirby either ,aside from the look of the 'creature'... it's just it's own platforming magic
I'm glad the era of region exclusive games is dead and buried. I still remember reading an article about Chrono Trigger in the Australian Nintendo Magazine System and being like Wtf Nintendo! 😠 Then finding out about 50hz...We got so fked over in PAL land😅
again maddam there are some sneaky shitty games of ljn or acclaim or ocean coming to your country and I know Americans are forbidden but that is not the case. what I am trying to say JUST TACKLE THE GOOD AND BAD GAMES IN YOUR COUNTRY.
"The Smurfs" was another NES game who got a PAL exclusive release. It was a nice game with smooth graphics and delicious music, but for what I remember it was goddamn difficult! It was released in 1994 in some european countries (Italy, Belgium, French, Germany and Spain) with the name on the box art printed as the pronunciation of that series in those specific countries. About this last aspect, it even featured a rare italian localization ("I Puffi") on box and cartridge label, just because it was an insanely popular animated series here in Italy.
"Schtroumpf(s)" in France (and in the Canadian province of Quebec)
"Pitufo" in Spain and Mexico
Surprisingly it's popularity in the US didn't afford it a release in the US!! "The Smurfs" was one of my favorite animated TV series'!! If the game was good, it would've done well!! But IIRC we only got the ATARI VCS game or whatever system it was before the NES was… 🙄🙄🙄🙄 if only right?
@@ClassicTVMan1981X thanks, I've never heard of the spanish version.
De Smurfen in The Netherlands (although only printed on the box, the cartridge label was French).
Die Schlümpfe in Germany. both on box and label.
@@Ruudos I was also referring to the old Coleco releases, which were handled by CBS outside of North America.
Speaking of Sunsoft, you should have mentioned the wonderful Ufouria, which is a take on Metroid with 4 playable characters and is much more common than Mr. Gimmick
Great video, and thank you for bringing to my attention that Mr Gimmick is available on modern hardware! I definitely need to check it out!
Another Sunsoft game from Japan that Europe and PAL regions got, but North America didn't was Ufouria, and it's definitely worth covering as well!
I also love that you covered New Ghostbusters II by HAL, it's so much better than the Activision games, and I'd say it's even better than the one on MegaDrive/Genesis!
Came to the comments to mention Uforia. I'm currently playing it now. Such an underrated gem.
Can't believe Uforia didn't get a mention. That was such a brilliant little metroidvania that doesn't get enough attention in my opinion.
Oh that music takes me back. Remember we got Asterix on the Game Boy and they had a 2 for 1 on tickets to Parc Asterix. That was amazing.
Banana Prince is a new one to me, I'll have to track that down.
Thank you for featuring several games I hadn’t seen before of the NES. About 20 years ago I leaned into collecting for this System and other then the 3 Adult titles and sadly “Stadium Events” I put a U.S. release complete collection together(840+). I then moved onto Australian and U.K. releases like “Corvette ZR-1, Aussie Rules Footie, and Cricket”. From the ones I got from England my favorite was “Elite” as it was a title for the Amiga that I spent a lot of time with. Equally sadly having added 40+ non-American carts to my collection it all was sold after losing my job after the termination of the Space Shuttle Program having worked there for 22 years. I was able to keep the “Lights” on for awhile longer but that collection now sold in “One Piece” would purchase a modest home, oh well. ;-)
Another decade with Lady Decade I’m blessed to see all from 1980-Now
PAL Region got screwed over during the NES and SNES years.
But there was a few occasions where PAL region got a few rare gems.
We got like almost no JRPGs at all.
Really enjoying these videos on region exclusives.
Here in America we recognize the Devil World devil as an Assist Trophy character in the Super Smash Bros. series. And true to the original game, the screen scrolls in the direction that the devil points, and players can be knocked out if they get scrolled off the screen.
And now, Americans who have Nintendo Switch Online can play this on the NES part of the service.
When I was 10-13, I lived across the street from a library that had a number of books and magazines imported from the UK, including Computer + Video Games, and reading CVG was like a window into an alternate universe filled with lawnmowing simulators and games on cassette tape. They also seemed a lot more fond of Sega's systems than Nintendo's.
@LadyDecade
Thank You for pronouncing "Gradius" properly! Lovely!
Such great production value and research goes into your work, please keep it up!!
If it wasn't for the various references found in the Super Smash Bros. games, I probably would have never been familiar with "Devil World" before being able to play the game when it got released via NES Nintendo Online Service for the Nintendo Switch.
Another one of these was the "bugfixed" Super Mario Bros. that you got back in 1990 (Rev. A): we Americans always had the "buggy" port (which the original 1987 release you had was similar) until Super Mario All-Stars for the SNES corrected these problems. However, even this re-release for the NES still had spots around it, since not all of the optimizations were up to snuff, including the music since the original game didn't track audio separately from video.
I see you have Devil World in your list! We didn't have this until it recently became available on Nintendo's Switch.
New Ghostbusters II is even better on the Gameboy (which did release in the States). The handheld version had cinematics that fleshed out the story and "blue Winston" was no longer a problem.
Elite is definitely the one game on this list I resent not getting an American release. Everything else is readily available on the Famicom and all play great on the NES.
I have this GB cartridge, it is a great play I always keep coming back to when I get the urge to play Ghostbusters in 8-Bit.
… did you seriously forget Winston Zeddemore from GhostBusters?
Most of us did.
Why not the NES game forgot him too
Quite honestly, Winston wasn't really that memorable character in the movies.
@OriruBastard in the first movie, sure. He showed up halfway through and was always framed at the edge so they could crop him out (total bullshit btw)
But in GB2 he was in the first scene and the last scene
I liked him a lot because he was the normie they hired who had no idea about ghosts
Great Stuff!
Great review 😊
I didn't knew the NES had a crossover between Pac-Man and the Exorcist with elements from Bubble Bobble and Kirby.
Oh wow. Legitimately jealous you guys got Elite on the NES. That would have absolutely CONSUMED my childhood.
Kinda makes you wonder how many of these would have become franchise IP's if they had been released in North America. I'm pretty sure Hammering Harry and Banana Prince would have had sequels and ended up in Smash Bros.
where is Ufouria
(Mr.) Gimmick isn't the only one distributed to the Nintendo Switch. Devil World was recently released to the NES Library on the Nintendo Switch Online service. It was the Japanese version, so I guess it still counts as a "New To North America"?
Also, Turrican seems awfully familiar in game mechanics to another Nintendo franchise, namely Metroid. It's the way the main character rolls into a spiked ball to access certain levels and power ups.
Furthermore, am I the only one getting Smurf vibes from the Asterix video game?
One more thing: We want Parodius in the US!
@thepeternetwork
There's a prototype of Mr Gimmick for the NES and for other nes games we didn't get
It's more similar to Contra in gameplay than metroid. Just the levels were more complex than scrolling into one direction only (well, later games had the birds eye view levels,too)
Turrican reminded me more of Xaridion without the shmup sections.
I'm guessing the reason Parodius doesn't get released in the US is because NOA thought it was too similar to Gradius, and that most Gradius players are serious/hardcore Arcade gamers who wouldn't play a more light-hearted game like Parodius, while those that do like light-hearted games with colorful characters generally want an easier game than a Gradius clone. It certainly wasn't the aesthetic alone, but it might have been the combination of Gradius difficulty with more playful graphics that they thought wouldn't appeal to Americans. Then again... that didn't stop Cuphead from being a thing here, though maybe that was because US culture had changed by the time Cuphead came out.
What was the name of the game with Harry the construction worker?
Hammerin’ Harry looks cool. I wonder why that one didn’t come to the US.
Sadly Turrican is the only one I had back then and even knew about at that time except Asterix. It generally seems Americans rarely know about BDs and their animations.
Back then, the NES had great graphics.
Devil World and Mr Gimmick were only released in Scandinavia and Banana Prince only in Germany (with German screen text).
Pretty much zero chance finding these back in the day through a regular retailer or even know they existed if you lived elsewhere in Europe.
You know, when or If you get done with the games one didn't get over the other(US vs EU) I know some games that didn't come out like Quiz Across America, "Star Wars"(by Namco) and "Mind Seeker" also by Namco… and while we got"Dragon Warrior I & II" on the Gameboy Color, Japan got the same-ish game on the Super Famicom as "Dragon Quest I·II" in 1993!! 🤔🤔🤔🤔
As an American I’m sad I never got to play Tea Time and Franz Kafka’s Bug Simulator 😔
Wow, banana prince looks really good
When you showed "Devil World" i remembered that was one of the games i used to play when i was 5 and 6 years old, it was fun but i never understood the reason why that bat was there and about this being related to religion Bulls..t, because i was just a kid back then, this is one of those videos and reasons that make me love being part of Europe, the only thing i never liked about european videogames in the past was the PAL 50HZ Problem/limitation, that was very unfair for people like us in Europe, gladly since the "PS2 generation", games in Europe started to appear with 60HZ options and since the PS3 we now share those same benefits, except for some classic games in PS Plus like "RE Director's Cut" that still weren't patched to change to NTSC/60HZ, these games in PAL version today also have bad VSYNC🤔🙄
Parodius is like Gradius
Mr.Gimmick is a mixture of Mega Man and Kirby.
megaman???
dude it's nothing like megaman in any way
it's not much like kirby either ,aside from the look of the 'creature'... it's just it's own platforming magic
@@kraken5003Well if mr gimmick jumps, he looks like mega man
@@wolfman19851 lol.. sure.. but that is about where the similarities end
How are you such a natural talented entertainer and a expert talker, it's really
Impressive.
Lady Decade!❤❤❤❤❤❤😄
Love u lady decade 💖
you guys got that awesome Konami Noah's Ark game. Wish we got that...but knowing NoA and religion, i know why we didn't
Why did the USA not get Parodius??
Because Japanese culture.
I know this is so bad of me and it's part of the song. But am I the only one who noticed that lyric? 😂😂😂
Never seen the Elite. Everything else is a good game.
NYC my hometown
Did you see any ghosts or masked douchebags in purple pajamas? You're welcome.
I would have liked a better thumbnail. Maybe one of Peach being smug and arrogant and without a gun. Cause guns are really an American thing.
I played the European Ghostbusters and it was far better, but I thought till now it was a game hack. 😆
So how was Castlevania allowed if religious icons weren't in North America?
I'm glad the era of region exclusive games is dead and buried. I still remember reading an article about Chrono Trigger in the Australian Nintendo Magazine System and being like Wtf Nintendo! 😠 Then finding out about 50hz...We got so fked over in PAL land😅
There were cartridge adapters. I remember playing FF6 as a child on one. Didn't get far because I didn't know English as elementary school kid
Wario got that Mario didn’t In Europe
Thanks for helping me with my loneliness.
Mortal Kombat
Thumbs down. Didnt know the Black Ghostbusters name.
Bad American! lol
again maddam there are some sneaky shitty games of ljn or acclaim or ocean coming to your country and I know Americans are forbidden but that is not the case. what I am trying to say JUST TACKLE THE GOOD AND BAD GAMES IN YOUR COUNTRY.
I would like to get a heart from you 😢 bringing my memories back 🥹