Great Japan-only games

[Dhsu]

Did anybody suggest Rhythm Tengoku? Because I'm suggesting Rhythm Tengoku.

[Strati]

Eh, yeah. But still, he can still brag about having the original game.

I also forgot Fire Emblem 2- Gaiden. It's not a bad game, but it's not that great as well.

Bwahaha, go dhsu and SnowStorm.

If anything, I'd suggest Fuuin no Tsurugi for GBA if you're looking for recent games, last Fire Emblem to NOT be released here. (I'm currently ROMming it with a translation patch.)

[bucky o'hare]

I've thought of Final Fantasy 3 as easily being one of the best rpgs for the famicom, never released here until the DS remake.

Recca is a ridiculous shmup for the famicom--

[Admiral_C]

I also forgot Fire Emblem 2- Gaiden. It's not a bad game, but it's not that great as well.

Hmm... I thought Fire Emblem Gaiden was all kinds of Awesome. Hard as all get out. Good music too.

[Gamelore]

Well, I've returned from Japan. Thanks for all the recommendations. I took a lot of them into account during my initial search. I spent most of my time around Akihabara -- there is just so much to see in each part of Tokyo! I'll plan a more diverse trip sometime else.

I visited a lot of retro game stores, tempted to buy out the entire store. At one point, I had my arms full of MegaDrive strategy-RPG games and space shooters. I decided I needed a better approach (only 4 suitcases, only so much money), and MegaDrive gamepacks are a little big. I ended up focusing primarily on those PS2 story games: Ever 17, Never 7, another game in that series (#34?). I bought another 4 random story games. Also picked up Black/Matrix+ and Vib Ribbon.

I bought the Cowboy Bebop Limited Edition PS2 game -- I found it the last day I was there, sitting in a corner, thinking it was some used, battered game, that had gone through hell and back. It was actually new/sealed! AWESOME packaging. The abundance of tape on the plastic wrap is a nice touch -- totally fooled me.

I randomly found Warsong and Populous for US Genesis, being sold for almost nothing. I imagine them thinking "Who will ever buy this English garbage from us? Let's mark it down to 50 yen!"

I picked up the Nights into Dreams re-release special edition for PS2. I looked at Trizael (PS2) in a few stores -- not too expensive. However, I saw some videos of it online, and thought I should probably try beating Ikaruga first. Looks insane!

I am SOO buying Populous, Sim City 2, and Super Dodge Ball for DS, but I am going to wait to see if they're released in US first. I picked up this new paintbrush game for writing kanji, Electroplankton, a handful of mech-based DS games, and about 5-6 GBA games including a Dr Mario + Tetris Attack combo cart -- sweet!

I saw that they were selling Mother 1 + 2 for GBA, rather cheap even. To get full resolution, I'm going to pass. I already played Earthbound Zero (was this an official translation?).

I was thoroughly confused by all the "Tales of" games, so I just passed on them. I don't know where to start and I'm a completist. I decided I should just work on the US-ported RPGs I already have, and I don't like this new-fangled 2D+ RPG-type. FF6 and under for me. I mean, hell, I haven't even bothered with FF7 yet.

Finally, I picked up a new ceramic white Japanese PS2, so now I can take my sweet time researching what to buy, and just pick it up online if necessary. I nearly bought a used 60GB Japanese PS3 for 62,500 yen, but decided I'm not *quite* that hardcore yet (since I already have the US 60GB PS3). Plus it had a scratch in it...

[Dhsu]

I was gonna suggest Cowboy Bebop...not sure why I didn't! Guess I forgot. Glad you managed to get your hands on a copy anyway though, I heard it's quite good.

[Steben]

I already played Earthbound Zero (was this an official translation?).

Yeah, it was. It was fully translated by NOA, but never released.