History CulturalTranslation / VideoGames

* A rather peculiar example would be ''VideoGame/OsuTatakaeOuendan'' and ''VideoGame/EliteBeatAgents''. When ''OTO'' became a surprise hit through imports, the developer decided to make a sequel tailored towards an American audience. Needless to say, it was still [[WidgetSeries really strange for Americans]] (the basic concept is made ''even weirder''). Unlike most examples, however, fans (including Japanese fans) reacted positively to ''EBA''; enough that the Agents make a cameo appearance in ''OTO 2''.

* ''VideoGame/Police911'': In the Japanese version, you start in Tokyo, then travel to Little Tokyo in Los Angeles. In the North American version, it's the other way around, in addition to the stages being in a slightly different order.

* The trailers for ''VideoGame/Destiny2'' were not simply dubbed in different languages, but also had the Cayde-6 lines changed to reflect that [[BigBad Dominus Gaul]] destroyed different things (the french version has Cayde-6 says that Gaul destroyed [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saucisson saucisson]] for example)

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* Tecmo's 1st ''VideoGame/CaptainTsubasa'' is translated into ''Tecmo Cup Soccer Game'' upon exporting. It features blondes and non-Japaneses who represent a strangely named national team instead of Japan.

* ''[[VideoGame/ClockTower Clock Tower: Ghost Head]]'', all that was done was name changes, like Yuu becoming Alyssa or Shou becoming Bates. The setting, however, while changed from Osaka to San Francisco, looked exactly the same -- the first house you explore is very Japanese, the hospital you visit has signs in it written in Japanese, and the whole thing takes place during a endless thunder storm. Storms are normal occurrences for Japan during the summer, but they would be very rare for San Francisco.

** The street sports extraveganza Bikkuri Nekketsu Shin Kiroku! Harukanaru Kin Medal was released in the west as ''VideoGame/CrashNTheBoysStreetChallenge'', naturally with character names being changed.
** ''VideoGame/SuperDodgeBall'' (the American version of ''Nekketsu Kōkō Dodgeball Bu'') had the simplest change in the series. Since the game already had an international theme, the nationality of the main team and their first rivals was simply changed from Japanese to American and the CPU-controlled American team became Japanese. In the NES version, the Russian team, originally the penultimate team, become the final team in the American localization.
** ''VideoGame/RiverCityRansom'', the American version of ''Downtown Nekketsu Monogatari'', anglicized the names of every character (with Kunio becoming Alex and Riki becoming Ryan) and replaced their Japanese high school uniforms with t-shirts and jeans, and the game's currency was changed from yen to dollars. Oddly enough, the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance remake features an Americanized script with the same anglicized names from the original NES game, but keeps the school uniforms from the Japanese version, though the box art makes them look more like kung-fu uniforms.
** ''Nekketsu Kōkō Dodgeball Bu: Soccer Hen'' was released overseas as ''Nintendo World Cup''. Originally all the 13 teams in the game were Japanese, but were given different nationalities in the overseas version, with some of the sprites and palettes changed and their stats switched. However, the Famicom version was programmed so that only allowed the player to use one team in Tournament Mode and one of five teams in Vs. Match Mode. The localization staff attempted to compensate for this by allowing the player to change the nationality of the main team in Tournament Mode, which changes the team's overall palette and power shots.

* The North American arcade game ''Bust-A-Move Again'' is the regional name for ''[[VideoGame/BubbleBobble Puzzle Bobble 2]]'', but the iconic bubble dragons Bub and Bob have been replaced by hand sprites. The hand sprites were not in any release of the first ''Puzzle Bobble/Bust-A-Move''. Thankfully they kept Bub and Bob in the console/portable releases of ''[=PB2/BAM2=]'' due to probable CanonDiscontinuity...except the US release of ''[[UpdatedRerelease Taito Legends 2]]''.

** There was a God Roulette move that would cause a steel pan to drop on Gene's head for a moment of invincibility, but this was removed in the US version, as that particular slapstick joke is more understandable for Japanese players.

* [[VideoGame/HammerinHarry The two]] ''[[VideoGame/HammerinHarry Daiku No Gensan]]'' [[VideoGame/HammerinHarry games]] to arrive in the US before ''Hammerin' Hero'' received a particularly half-assed version of the "poorly-done pandering" version, renaming the main character from Genzo to Harry, and a few other minor touches, such as renaming the ramen stands in the first level to different things. (Kuromoku-gumi to Rusty Nailers is justified, as without translation notes, Kuromoku-Gumi is nothing more than gibberish to English speakers). Please note, however, that Harry '''still''' dresses unmistakeably like a Japanese carpenter, and the enemies who come out of what are now diners and pasta stands '''still''' throw what are visibly Japanese noodle bowls.
* ''VideoGame/HotShotsGolf'' is the US localization of ''Everybody's Golf''. Anime-style characters have their names changed, are available as unlockable characters, or are replaced with WesternAnimation styled characters.

** The same thing was done with ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar''. See the difference between the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYibt691-sk US version]] and the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GM_dA5ad-Io Japanese version]].
** In the original ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand'' there's an item that lets Kirby fly infinitely and shoot as many air puffs as he likes. In the Japanese version, it's a sweet potato, with sweet potatoes in Japan having much the same reputation that [[{{Fartillery}} beans do in the West, I.E. they make you gassy.]] In America, it was changed to a mint leaf that gave Kirby infinite minty breath. The sprite was ambiguous enough for this change to stick: When ''VideoGame/KirbyTripleDeluxe'' reintroduced the item to the series, the item is [[https://kirby.fandom.com/wiki/Mint_Leaf#Gallery clearly a sweet potato in the Japanese version. In the Western versions, it's clearly a mint leaf.]]

* ''VideoGame/Police911'': In the Japanese version, you start in Tokyo, then travel to Little Tokyo in Los Angeles. In the US version, it's the other way around, in addition to the stages being in a slightly different order.

* ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing2001'' was heavily influenced by Japanese culture. For the release of the internationally-released [=GameCube=] port, much had to be replaced by something the Western market can relate to, like a Japanese fireplace being replaced by a barbecue grill, during localization; what Japanocentric elements did remain were typically exoticized or presented in more Western-friendly terms. However, the Japanese team liked the changes so much they released the game as ''Dōbutsu no Mori e+'' in Japan as well. Many of the westernized changes ended up being used even in Japan in the sequels, due to the first game having proven the viability of the IP abroad as well as in Japan. This even affects characters: in the original Japanese version, Tom Nook is a {{Tanuki}} while Kapp'n is a {{Kappa}}. International localizations change them into a raccoon and a turtle, respectively, but the [[PunnyName Punny Names]] reference what they're ''really'' supposed to be.

* Although the arcade version of ''{{VideoGame/Contra}}'', and its sequel ''Super Contra'', were released almost unaltered in Europe (the former came out as ''Gryzor'' and actually inspired a set of 8-bit computer ports under that title), when it came time to release the NES version in Europe and Australia, Konami had to alter the character designs of the human characters (both players and some of the enemies) into robots, since Germany in particular had strict censorship laws which forbade the selling of video games that depicted human characters killing each other with machine guns. Thus, the NES ''Contra'' became ''Probotector'' and all the ''Contra'' sequels on home consoles followed suit. This lasted all the way until, ironically enough, ''Contra: Legacy of War'' for the [=PS1=], in which all subsequent ''Contra'' sequels (at least the ones that came out in Europe), were identical to their American counterparts (aside for the Virtual Console re-releases of the older games).

* ''VideoGame/DynamiteHeaddy'' did quite a bit in changes for the international version; removing nearly all of the dialogue which cuts out a lot of the story is one such example. [[RecurringBoss Trouble Bruin]] was recolored brown instead of purple, and a giant doll became a mech. The boss in Headdy Wonderland was completely redesigned for Western audiences. [[spoiler: Originally it was a Geisha that upon defeat becomes demonic with sharp-as-hell claws. The Western release got a robot and the claws were not as sharp.]]

* [[Videogame/HammerinHarry The two]] ''[[Videogame/HammerinHarry Daiku No Gensan]]'' [[Videogame/HammerinHarry games]] to arrive in the US before ''Hammerin' Hero'' received a particularly half-assed version of the "poorly-done pandering" version, renaming the main character from Genzo to Harry, and a few other minor touches, such as renaming the ramen stands in the first level to different things. (Kuromoku-gumi to Rusty Nailers is justified, as without translation notes, Kuromoku-Gumi is nothing more than gibberish to English speakers). Please note, however, that Harry '''still''' dresses unmistakeably like a Japanese carpenter, and the enemies who come out of what are now diners and pasta stands '''still''' throw what are visibly Japanese noodle bowls.

** In ''VideoGame/Kirby64TheCrystalShards'', one of the health-recovery foods you can find lying around the levels is, in the Japanese version, an ''onigiri'', a common Japanese riceball. The American version had it changed to a sandwich instead, though [[HelpfulMook Waddle Dee]] can still be seen munching on one in the end-of-level BonusRound once he's recruited after the first level. In addition, the fourth [[HeadsUpDisplay HUD]] style in the Japanese version uses kanji in place of the various icons to show Kirby's number of lives, his health, and his current Copy Abilities (i.e., the kanji for "fire" will be shown instead of a flame icon, etc.). For the international versions, this was changed to a crayon-drawn version of the regular HUD instead.

* The original Japanese ''VideoGame/{{Mother 3}}'' features a sunbathing pig on the beach near Tazmily, who mentions that he's been having dreams involving the name of a famous ham company. In the FanTranslation from the starmen.net team, this was changed to the pig seeing the words [[ITasteDelicious 'Oscar' and 'Mayer']] in his dreams.

* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 1}}'' got a particularly infamous one. It turned the locale from Japan to Chicago, yet didn't even do that right -- a major location is a Shinto shrine, for example, and the houses are incredibly Japanese -- and it gave all of the characters American appearances. By that, it gave them white skin and non-black hair, made one character [[RaceLift black]], for no particular reason but to have a Jive Turkey comic relief, and made everybody speak like an 8-year-old after drinking Red Bull. Even [[WhatTheHellHero Maki]], the main character of sorts, is made childish and annoying. And of course, it's made this version of the game a cult classic.

* ''VideoGame/{{Police 911}}'': In the Japanese version, you start in Tokyo, then travel to Little Tokyo in Los Angeles. In the US version, it's the other way around, in addition to the stages being in a slightly different order.

* The sci-fi 4X strategy game ''{{VideoGame/Stellaris}}'' allows you to construct megastructures such as the Dyson sphere; one of them is a stellar-scale intergalactic art exhibition. In the Polish translation, all of its descriptions are actually loose quotes from a classic commie-era comedy, which in the original context referred to a monstrous piece of state-sponsored kitsch that the apparatchik protagonists tried to promote as high art.

* Although the arcade version of ''{{VideoGame/Contra}}'', and its sequel ''Super Contra'', were released almost unaltered in Europe (the former came out as ''Gryzor'' and actually inspired a set of 8-bit computer ports under that title), when it came time to release the NES version in PAL territories, Konami had to alter the character designs of the human characters (both players and some of the enemies) into robots, since Germany in particular had strict censorship laws which forbade the selling of video games that depicted human characters killing each other with machine guns. Thus, the NES ''Contra'' became ''Probotector'' and all the ''Contra'' sequels on home consoles followed suit. This lasted all the way until, ironically enough, ''Contra: Legacy of War'' for the [=PS1=], in which all subsequent ''Contra'' sequels (at least the ones that came out in Europe), were identical to their American counterparts (aside for the Virtual Console re-releases of the older games).

* The UsefulNotes/PlayStation line of consoles and its games traditionally map the red O button to "Okay/Confirm", and the blue X button to "Cancel/Back" for Japan-region consoles and games, referring to the idea of "O = OK and X = NG[[note]]"no good"[[/note]]/no". However, that symbolism is largely foreign in the Western world; blue is commonly associated with positivity and red with negativity, and Westerners are more familiar with the concept of "X marks the spot", so North American and PAL versions of [=PlayStation=] consoles and games swap the mappings of the confirm and cancel functions. DamnYouMuscleMemory ensues for players in Japan importing games from the West and vice versa, as well as Western gamers who play localized versions of Japanese-developed games that ''don't'' do the confirm/cancel O/X swap -- and is only further compounded when a game gets remade on a newer system and ''does'' make the switch, if you're used to the original version.

** During the Latin American Spanish "Cake vs Ice Cream" Splatfest, Pearl mentions Tres Leches cake and Marina mentions Tres Leches ice cream. In the North American English version, the same conversation just mentions "cake" and "cake ice cream".
** Internationally, the "Action vs Comedy" Splatfest referred to film. In Japan, Pearl and Marina were talking about j-dramas.
** During the English version of the "Hot Breakfast vs Cold Breakfast" Splatfest, cereal is referenced. In the Dutch version it's changed to muesli.

* The ''VideoGame/TokyoXtremeRacer'' series changes all units from metric (the system used in almost all non-American countries, Japan included) to U.S. units. Most characters' names were changed from Japanese names to Western ones as well, despite the game still obviously taking place in Japan, which creates a DubInducedPlotHole in ''Tokyo Xtreme Racer 3'' when character names are left intact and [[CallBack references]] to ''Tokyo Xtreme Racer Zero'' characters are present.

* Interestingly, the design of the eponymous Rusty Slugger in ''VideoGame/RustysRealDealBaseball'' is completely different between the Japanese and international releases of the game, sharing few similarities beyond "anthro dog with a comb-over" (his name was also changed to an English-language pun; he's Inuji Darumeshi in the Japanese version). Also interestingly, ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBros4 Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate Ultimate]]'' have trophies and spirits of both designs, respectively.

* The CuteEmUp game ''VideoGame/KikiKaiKai ~ Nazo no Kuro Manto'' for the UsefulNotes/SuperFamicom contained many references to Japanese mythology; the two player characters are a {{miko}} and a [[{{Youkai}} tanuki]], the former's weapons are [[PaperTalisman ofuda]] and an [[ZigzagPaperTassel ōnusa]], and the enemies are various types of {{obake}}. The official English version went by the title of ''Pocky & Rocky'' instead of attempting to translate the original title, and correspondingly renamed the aforementioned player characters to Pocky and Rocky. (The ThemeNaming was not present in their original names, Sayo-chan and Manuke.) The ofuda and ōnusa were referred to as "cards" and "magic stick". Finally, Manuke / Rocky was referred to as a raccoon, rather than a raccoon-dog (the correct English name for tanuki). Also, the ''obake'' were called "Gorgonzola Goblins".

* {{Fan Translation}}s of the ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' series often run into this problem due to ZUN's (in)famous fascination with obscure elements of Japanese mythology and mind-bending wordplay (''Japanese'', natch). Cultural translations have occasionally resulted in local {{Fanon}} differing between countries, though the internet has been helpful in getting everyone on the same track.
* In the first ''VideoGame/TraumaCenter'' game, all names were changed to English, and the series was relocated to "Angeles Bay", California. However, just about everything else remains the same. ''New Blood'' averts this; the game takes place in the United States in all regions of the game, and all character names are left as is.

* ''VideoGame/EarthBound'' has the statues shaped like a pencil and an eraser. In the original Japanese version, they are shaped like an octopus and a type of Japanese wooden doll. This was changed to preserve a cute bit of wordplay -- the Japanese word for eraser is "keshi", while the wooden doll is named "kokeshi". The name that erases the doll statue, therefore, is called the "kokeshi keshi".[[note]]This was further set up earlier in the game by the octopus statue and its eraser, which in Japanese, is "tako keshi".[[/note]] The English version's changes not only preserve the joke (the "kokeshi keshi" is now the "eraser eraser"), it ''added'' one as well (the pencil eraser now makes a lot more sense)! The food references, some of them quite plot-important, were also largely changed to reflect the tastes of American audiences.

* In the Japanese version of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'', Zell's TrademarkFavoriteFood that he keeps [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption trying to]] get from the cafeteria is a particular type of bread. In the English version it's hot dogs, and in French it's pretzels. This causes a minor DubInducedPlotHole in the DancePartyEnding, where Zell is seen stuffing his face -- he ''finally'' got some of that damn bread! Fortunately, the bread looks enough like hot dog buns that most American players, at least, were able to get the punchline of the BrickJoke.

* In ''VideoGame/GodHand'', the Tension Gauge-increasing powerup item was Curry in the Japanese version. It was decided that curry wasn't a very common dish in the States, and so the American release features pizza instead.
** There was a God Roulette move that would cause a steel pan to drop on Gene's head for a moment of invincibility, but this was removed in the US version, as that particular slapstick joke is more understandable for Japanese players.
** The term God Reel to describe the slot machine-style special moves was changed to the aforementioned God Roulette, as "Reel" is a Japanese slang for those kind of gambling games.

* [[Videogame/HammerinHarry The two]] ''[[Videogame/HammerinHarry Daiku No Gensan]]'' [[Videogame/HammerinHarry games]] to arrive in the US before ''Hammerin' Hero'' received a particularly half-assed version of the "poorly-done pandering" version, renaming the main character from Genzo to Harry, and a few other minor touches, such as renaming the ramen stands in the first level to different things. (Kuromoku-gumi to Rusty Nailers is justified, as without translation notes, Kuromoku-Gumi is nothing more than gibberish to English speakers). Please note, however, that Harry '''still''' dresses unmistakeably like a Japanese carpenter, and the enemies who come out of what are now diners and pasta stands '''still''' throw what are visibly Japanese noodle bowls.
* ''VideoGame/HotShotsGolf'' is the US localization of ''Everybody's Golf''. Anime-style characters have their names changed, are available as unlockable characters, or are replaced with WesternAnimation styled characters.
* In ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors'', the game uses a letter-based ranking system to grade the player's performance at the end of missions. In the Japanese version of the game, the highest possible grade is an "S-rank". In the North American and European versions of the game, the highest rank is instead changed to an "A-rank", following English's conventional alphabetical order. "S" is often used in Japanese media to stand for something along the lines of "Special" or "Super", often with the connotation that it is more outstanding than a simple "A". Many foreigners are not familiar with this nuance, which is what prompted Nintendo of America to make the change. Interestingly enough, ''Hyrule Warriors'' is the only title where this change was made.
* The CuteEmUp game ''VideoGame/KikiKaiKai ~ Nazo no Kuro Manto'' for the UsefulNotes/SuperFamicom contained many references to Japanese mythology; the two player characters are a {{miko}} and a [[{{Youkai}} tanuki]], the former's weapons are [[PaperTalisman ofuda]] and an [[ZigzagPaperTassel ōnusa]], and the enemies are various types of {{obake}}. The official English version went by the title of ''Pocky & Rocky'' instead of attempting to translate the original title, and correspondingly renamed the aforementioned player characters to Pocky and Rocky. (The ThemeNaming was not present in their original names, Sayo-chan and Manuke.) The ofuda and ōnusa were referred to as "cards" and "magic stick". Finally, Manuke / Rocky was referred to as a raccoon, rather than a raccoon-dog (the correct English name for tanuki). Also, the ''obake'' were called "Gorgonzola Goblins".
* At the beginning of ''VideoGame/GrimFandango'' there is a clown who can make balloons shaped like Creator/RobertFrost. As Robert Frost is not well known in France, the balloon is said to be shaped like Captain Haddock (from ''Franchise/{{Tintin}}'') in the French version. When Manny Calavera examines the balloon he says: "That doesn't look like Captain Haddock at all." The Spanish version changes Frost with Gloria Fuertes, and the Italian version uses Siegmund Freud.
* ''VideoGame/EarthBound'' has the statues shaped like a pencil and an eraser. In the original Japanese version, they are shaped like an octopus and a type of Japanese wooden doll. This was changed to preserve a cute bit of wordplay - the Japanese word for eraser is "keshi", while the wooden doll is named "kokeshi". The name that erases the doll statue, therefore, is called the "kokeshi keshi".[[note]]This was further set up earlier in the game by the octopus statue and its eraser, which in Japanese, is "tako keshi".[[/note]] The English version's changes not only preserve the joke (the "kokeshi keshi" is now the "eraser eraser"), it ''added'' one as well (the pencil eraser now makes a lot more sense)! The food references, some of them quite plot-important, were also largely changed to reflect the tastes of American audiences.

* ''Saiyuuki World'' and its sequel for the Famicom were both based on ''Literature/JourneyToTheWest'', but due to them being a ShoutOut to a Chinese novel that was largely unknown outside of China and Japan, when the second game was localized as ''[[PunBasedTitle Whomp 'Em]]'' for the NES, the main character was changed from Son Goku to a generic Native American, some of the more Eastern-oriented items were changed into Native American-like ones, the Buddha statue in the ending was changed to a totem pole, and the game's setting was {{Hand Waved}} as taking place in America instead of China ([[PatchworkMap though the stage taking place in a bamboo forest was left untouched]], apart from the panda enemy in it being changed to a regular grizzly bear).
* ''VideoGame/DynamiteHeaddy'' did quite a bit in changes for the international version; removing nearly all of the dialogue which cuts out a lot of the story is one such example. [[RecurringBoss Trouble Bruin]] was recolored brown instead of purple, and a giant doll became a mech. The boss in Headdy Wonderland was completely redesigned for Western audiences. [[spoiler: Originally it was a Geisha that upon defeat becomes demonic with sharp-as-hell claws. The Western release got a robot and the claws were not as sharp.]]

* ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'':
** In ''VideoGame/Kirby64TheCrystalShards'', one of the health-recovery foods you can find lying around the levels is, in the Japanese version, an ''onigiri'', a common Japanese riceball. The American version had it changed to a sandwich instead, though [[HelpfulMook Waddle Dee]] can still be seen munching on one in the end-of-level BonusRound once he's recruited after the first level. In addition, the fourth [[HeadsUpDisplay HUD]] style in the Japanese version uses kanji in place of the various icons to show Kirby's number of lives, his health, and his current Copy Abilities (i.e., the kanji for "fire" will be shown instead of a flame icon, etc.). For the international versions, this was changed to a crayon-drawn version of the regular HUD instead.
** The same thing was done with ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar''. See the difference between the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYibt691-sk US version]] and the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GM_dA5ad-Io Japanese version]].
** In the original ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand'' there's an item that lets Kirby fly infinitely and shoot as many air puffs as he likes. In the Japanese version, it's a sweet potato, with sweet potatoes in Japan having much the same reputation that [[{{Fartillery}} beans do in the West, I.E. they make you gassy.]] In America, it was changed to a mint leaf that gave Kirby infinite minty breath. The sprite was ambiguous enough for this change to stick: When ''VideoGame/KirbyTripleDeluxe'' reintroduced the item to the series, the item is [[https://kirby.fandom.com/wiki/Mint_Leaf#Gallery clearly a sweet potato in the Japanese version. In the Western versions, it's clearly a mint leaf.]]
* ''[[VideoGame/ClockTower Clock Tower: Ghost Head]]'', all that was done was name changes, like Yuu becoming Alyssa or Shou becoming Bates. The setting, however, while changed from Osaka to San Francisco, looked exactly the same -- the first house you explore is very Japanese, the hospital you visit has signs in it written in Japanese, and the whole thing takes place during a endless thunder storm. Storms are normal occurrences for Japan during the summer, but they would be very rare for San Francisco.
* In the first ''VideoGame/TraumaCenter'' game, all names were changed to English, and the series was relocated to "Angeles Bay", California. However, just about everything else remains the same. ''New Blood'' averts this; the game takes place in the United States in all regions of the game, and all character names are left as is.
* The North American arcade game ''Bust-A-Move Again'' is the regional name for ''[[VideoGame/BubbleBobble Puzzle Bobble 2]]'', but the iconic bubble dragons Bub and Bob have been replaced by hand sprites. The hand sprites were not in any release of the first ''Puzzle Bobble/Bust-A-Move''. Thankfully they kept Bub and Bob in the console/portable releases of ''[=PB2/BAM2=]'' due to probable CanonDiscontinuity...except the US release of ''[[UpdatedRerelease Taito Legends 2]]''.

* The Japanese releases of the ''VideoGame/GigaWing'' series use kanji to separate digits in the [[PinballScoring freaking huge]] scores that players often get; notably, there's a kanji every ''four'' digits instead of the three-digit groupings used in the West. The non-Japanese versions lack any kind of digit separators (not even commas), making reading scores in those versions a little trickier.
* The ''VideoGame/TokyoXtremeRacer'' series changes all units from metric (the system used in almost all non-American countries, Japan included) to U.S. units. Most characters' names were changed from Japanese names to Western ones as well, despite the game still obviously taking place in Japan, which creates a DubInducedPlotHole in ''Tokyo Xtreme Racer 3'' when character names are left intact and [[CallBack references]] to ''Tokyo Xtreme Racer Zero'' characters are present.
* ''VideoGame/{{Police 911}}'': In the Japanese version, you start in Tokyo, then travel to Little Tokyo in Los Angeles. In the US version, it's the other way around, in addition to the stages being in a slightly different order.
* Tecmo's 1st ''VideoGame/CaptainTsubasa'' is translated into ''Tecmo Cup Soccer Game'' upon exporting. It features blondes and non-Japaneses who represent a strangely named national team instead of Japan.

* The Japanese version of ''VideoGame/PoliceQuest'' [[http://ca.kotaku.com/5812431/japan-what-the-hell-did-you-do-to-this-classic-pc-adventure-game redraws the game to make everyone look like Anime characters.]]
** The same was done for the Japanese release of ''VideoGame/ZakMcKrackenAndTheAlienMindbenders'', though in this game's case the characters' eyes were simply redrawn to be larger.
* {{Fan Translation}}s of the ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' series often run into this problem due to ZUN's (in)famous fascination with obscure elements of Japanese mythology and mind-bending wordplay (''Japanese'', natch). Cultural translations have occasionally resulted in local {{Fanon}} differing between countries, though the internet has been helpful in getting everyone on the same track.
* Although the arcade version of ''{{VideoGame/Contra}}'', and its sequel ''Super Contra'', were released almost unaltered in Europe (the former came out as ''Gryzor'' and actually inspired a set of 8-bit computer ports under that title), when it came time to release the NES version in PAL territories, Konami had to alter the character designs of the human characters (both players and some of the enemies) into robots, since Germany in particular had strict censorship laws which forbade the selling of video games that depicted human characters killing each other with machine guns. Thus, the NES ''Contra'' became ''Probotector'' and all the ''Contra'' sequels on home consoles followed suit. This lasted all the way until, ironically enough, ''Contra: Legacy of War'' for the [=PS1=], in which all subsequent ''Contra'' sequels (at least the ones that came out in Europe), were identical to their American counterparts (aside for the Virtual Console re-releases of the older games).
* ''VideoGame/AlexKidd in Miracle World'' had rice balls replaced with hamburgers in the version included as a built-in game with some models of the UsefulNotes/SegaMasterSystem.

* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 1}}'' got a particularly infamous one. It turned the locale from Japan to Chicago, yet didn't even do that right - a major location is a Shinto shrine, for example, and the houses are incredibly Japanese - and it gave all of the characters American appearances. By that, it gave them white skin and non-black hair, made one character [[RaceLift black]], for no particular reason but to have a Jive Turkey comic relief, and made everybody speak like an 8 year old after drinking Red Bull. Even [[WhatTheHellHero Maki]], the main character of sorts, is made childish and annoying. And of course, it's made this version of the game a cult classic.
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
** The franchise, in games and the early episodes of the anime, establish yen as being the official currency of the Pokémon world (even in the regions based on New York and France, curiously enough). When the games were localized for other regions, the fictional Pokémon Dollar currency, using a design based on the yen symbol with a P instead of a Y, was created to avoid alienating Western players - although the exchange rates appear to be closer to yen, considering the price of even a basic healing item often numbers in the triple digits. ''VideoGame/PokemonColosseum'' and ''VideoGame/PokemonXDGaleOfDarkness'' use the P symbol even in Japan.
** There are also various items whose names are changed in the translation for this reason. ''Rage Manjū'' becomes "Rage Candy Bar", while ''Forest Yōkan'' is translated as "[[JustForPun Old Gateau]]"[[note]]The item, which heals all status effects except for fainting (something also done by the more common Full Heal and Lava Cookie), is associated with the Old Chateau[[/note]].
** Another ''Pokémon'' example comes with the villainous Team Rocket. Originally based on {{Yakuza}}, the localizations style them more as a [[TheMafia Mafia-type]] group, even naming the boss "Giovanni".
* ''[[VideoGame/GanbareGoemon The Legend of the Mystical Ninja]]'' replaced the PowerUpFood with hamburgers and pizza for the English version, even though the setting is still obviously Japan. The localizations of later ''Goemon'' games didn't replace the rice balls, or the protagonists' names (Kid Ying = Goemon, Dr. Yang = Ebisumaru).
* ''VideoGame/RushingBeat'': ''Rushing Beat'', ''Rushing Beat Ran'' and ''Rushing Beat Shura'' were localized as ''Rival Turf!'', ''Brawl Brothers'' and ''The Peace Keepers'' (with ''Brawl Brothers'' in Europe titled ''Rival Turf 2''), making the three games in the series appear unrelated, with changes to character names and backstory (Douglas Bild becomes Oswald "Oozie" Nelson), plot and setting (no longer taking place in Neo Cisco), alterations to stages, special moves and difficulty settings, and cover art featured on most "worst cover art" lists.
* ''VideoGame/TomodachiLife'' has a number of changes to fit its export audiences:
** Yen is changed to dollars in the North American version and euros in the European version.
** One of the events was [[ParlorGames shiritori]] in the Japanese release, but was changed to a [[BattleRapping Rap Battle]] for the American release, and both are in the European release.
** Miis will bow to each other after certain interactions in the Japanese version if they're friends, as is customary in Japan. The bowing animations were changed/removed elsewhere.
** Most if not all Japanese-oriented food items (and there's ''a lot!'') were changed in favor of more internationally-recognizable cuisine in the American and European versions. The Nintendo-based items were appropriately changed as well, such as the Famicom becoming an NES.
* In ''VideoGame/TheTwistedTalesOfSpikeMcFang'', the chicken noodle soup that happens to be one boss's improbable weakness was nabeyaki udon in the original Japanese version.
* The original Japanese ''VideoGame/{{Mother 3}}'' features a sunbathing pig on the beach near Tazmily, who mentions that he's been having dreams involving the name of a famous ham company. In the FanTranslation from the starmen.net team, this was changed to the pig seeing the words [[ITasteDelicious 'Oscar' and 'Mayer']] in his dreams.
* Interestingly, the design of the eponymous Rusty Slugger in ''VideoGame/RustysRealDealBaseball'' is completely different between the Japanese and international releases of the game, sharing few similarities beyond "anthro dog with a comb-over" (his name was also changed to an English-language pun; he's Inuji Darumeshi in the Japanese version). Also interestingly, ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBros4 Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate Ultimate]]'' have trophies and spirits of both designs, respectively.
* In the Japanese version of ''VideoGame/{{Ristar}}'', the boss of world 5 is a giant cat robot that is defeated by feeding it hot soup. This is a play on a Japanese expression: a person who can't eat spicy food is called a ''nekojita'', literally "cat tongue". Obviously this would seem pretty nonsensical to Western players, so the boss was redesigned into an ice monster to preserve the hint to its weakness.
* An example of an addition exists in the Portuguese dub of ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'', where Mr. Zurkon will sometimes, in the middle of a battle, start singing "Todos os Zurkones sabem bem matar"[[note]]All the Zurkons know well how to kill[[/note]], as a reference to the children's song "Todos os patinhos sabem bem nadar"[[note]]All the little duckies know well how to swim[[/note]].
* The UsefulNotes/PlayStation line of consoles and its games traditionally map the red O button to "Okay/Confirm", and the blue X button to "Cancel/Back" for Japan-region consoles and games, referring to the idea of "O = OK and X = NG[[note]]"no good"[[/note]]/no". However, that symbolism is largely foreign in the Western world; blue is commonly associated with positivity and red with negativity, and Westerners are more familiar with the concept of "X marks the spot", so North American and PAL versions of [=PlayStation=] consoles and games swap the mappings of the confirm and cancel functions. DamnYouMuscleMemory ensues for players in Japan importing games from the West and vice versa, as well as Western gamers who play localized versions of Japanese-developed games that ''don't'' do the confirm/cancel O/X swap - and is only further compounded when a game gets remade on a newer system and ''does'' make the switch, if you're used to the original version.

* ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'':
** During the Latin American Spanish "Cake vs Ice Cream" Splatfest, Pearl mentions Tres Leches cake and Marina mentions Tres Leches ice cream. In the North American English version, the same conversation just mentions "cake" and "cake ice cream".
** Internationally, the "Action vs Comedy" Splatfest referred to film. In Japan, Pearl and Marina were talking about j-dramas.
** During the English version of the "Hot Breakfast vs Cold Breakfast" Splatfest, cereal is referenced. In the Dutch version it's changed to muesli.
* The English version of ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'' amends a line referencing the rivalry between the Hanshin Tigers and Yomiuri Giants in Japanese baseball, by bringing up the equally-ferocious (by U.S. standards) rivalry between the NFL's New York Jets and New England Patriots instead.
* The faces of the female characters in ''VideoGame/{{Shing}}'' were changed in the [[https://www.play-asia.com/blog/2020/10/02/samurai-force-shing-physical-release-coming-in-japan-on-december-17/ Japanese release]] of the game to match their [[ValuesDissonance beauty standards]].
* The Japanese version of ''VideoGame/ShovelKnight'', being the {{retraux}} game that it is, underwent a variety of "reverse-localization" changes to make it look and feel more like a Japanese-made game from the NES/Famicom era, from subtle things like katakana on the title logo and altering the palettes of certain enemies to animated grass and {{Snot Bubble}}s to redrawing graphics and face portraits to look more {{animesque}} and allude more to Japanese culture. Details [[https://www.yachtclubgames.com/blog/japan-localization here]].
* ''VideoGame/MonsterRancher 4'' and ''EVO'' had two boss monsters, Garp and Mao Mao, receive design overhauls for overseas releases. In Japan, Garp was named Genbu and had a black shell, while Mao Mao looked like a giant chicken. Overseas, Garp has a spiky green shell and Mao Mao was given a tropical bird design, like a parrot.

* In the Brazilian Portuguese version of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'', a mention of the Wright Brothers in the English version is instead changed to Santos Dumont, a Brazilian inventor often credited in Brazil with the invention of the airplane, instead of the Wright Brothers.
* ''Money Puzzle Exchanger'', the international UsefulNotes/NeoGeo version of ''Money Idol Exchanger'', changes the sprites of yen coins to make their denominations more obvious.
* ''VideoGame/PaperMario'':
** ''VideoGame/PaperMarioColorSplash'': The Washing Machine looks different depending on the region. In America, it's top-loading, while in Europe, it's front-loading.
** ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheOrigamiKing'':
*** In the English version, a Spike brings a can of ravioli to eat with his friends. In the Spanish version, this is changed to a can of sardines; the line "I brought ravioli" is also translated to "I'm hungry." No change is visible, however.
*** In the English translation, Professor Toad is confused about ancient writing because he can't figure out which way the interrobangs go (?! or !?). In Spanish, he's not sure which accent mark goes over a letter "o": ó, ò, or ö.
* The sci-fi 4X strategy game ''{{VideoGame/Stellaris}}'' allows you to construct megastructures such as the Dyson sphere; one of them is a stellar-scale intergalactic art exhibition. In the Polish translation, all of its descriptions are actually loose quotes from a classic commie-era comedy, which in the original context referred to a monstrous piece of state-sponsored kitsch that the apparatchik protagonists tried to promote as high art.
* The Japanese translation for ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}'' makes some changes to Queen and Spamton's dialogue, since their typing quirks couldn't be directly translated to Japanese.
** Queen's English dialogue is entirely in CamelCase, with minimal punctuation. Her Japanese dialogue is instead <!--written as if it's an HTML comment-->. One of her talking sprites is also changed: instead of displaying "LMAO" on her visor, it displays "WWW", the Japanese equivalent of "LOL."
** Spamton's English dialogue has weird spacing, capitalization, and [[creepy interjections]] spliced into his sentences. To emulate this, his Japanese dialogue is written out entirely in Katakana, a writing system usually only used to transcribe loanwords, with syllables that sound like the words "die" and "death" written in English, and some replaced with numbers. For example, Spamton uses the "watakushi" pronoun for himself, but instead of using the standard spelling (私 or わたくし), he spells it as "[[GoroawaseNumber ワタ94]]".

* ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheOrigamiKing'':

* ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheOrigamiKing'': In the English version, a Spike brings a can of ravioli to eat with his friends. In the Spanish version, this is changed to a can of sardines; the line "I brought ravioli" is also translated to "I'm hungry."

** The same thing was done with at least the SNES version of ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar''. See the difference between the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYibt691-sk US version]] and the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GM_dA5ad-Io Japanese version]].
** In the original ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand'' there's an item that lets Kirby fly infinitely and shoot as many air puffs as he likes. In the Japanese version, it's a sweet potato, with sweet potatoes in Japan having much the same reputation that [[{{Fartillery}} beans do in the West, I.E. they make you gassy.]] In America, it was changed to a mint leaf that gave Kirby infinite minty breath. The sprite was ambiguous enough for this change to stick: When ''VideoGame/KirbyTripleDeluxe'' reintroduced the item to the series, the item is [[http://kirby.wikia.com/wiki/Mint_Leaf#Gallery clearly a sweet potato in the Japanese version. In the Western versions, it's clearly a mint leaf.]]

** The street sports extraveganza Bikkuri Nekketsu Shin Kiroku! Harukanaru Kin Medal was released in the west as [[VideoGame/CrashNTheBoysStreetChallenge]], naturally with character names being changed.

* The Japanese version of ''VideoGame/ShovelKnight'', being the {{retraux}} game that it is, underwent a variety of "reverse-localization" changes to make it look and feel more like a Japanese-made game from the NES/Famicom era, from subtle things like katakana on the title logo and altering the palettes of certain enemies to animated grass and {{Snot Bubble}}s to redrawing graphics and face portraits to look more {{animesque}} and allude more to Japanese culture. Details [[http://yachtclubgames.com/2016/07/japan-localization/ here]].

* The sci-fi 4X strategy game ''VideoGame/Stellaris'' allows you to construct megastructures such as the Dyson sphere; one of them is a stellar-scale intergalactic art exhibition. In the Polish translation, all of its descriptions are actually loose quotes from a classic commie-era comedy, which in the original context referred to a monstrous piece of state-sponsored kitsch that the apparatchik protagonists tried to promote as high art.

* The English translations of the ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' games change the setting from Tokyo to [[CityWithNoName an unnamed metropolis]] in [[HollywoodProvincialism southern California]], albeit one which looks a lot like Tokyo. English-speaking fans have lampshaded this by referring to the setting as "Japanifornia". Even the head of the localisation team has stated she likes this nickname.
** Maya's TrademarkFavoriteFood is either ramen or burgers. [[DubInducedPlothole This throws people off when people first meet the ramen cart man]] in ''VisualNovel/{{Apollo Justice|AceAttorney}}'', though in [[VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonVsAceAttorney the Professor Layton crossover]] she is shown eating burgers with Phoenix Wright.
** The {{Punny Name}}s get the treatment even with characters that have Japanese names start appearing. Although Amanogawa probably got shortened due to technical issues.
** Unfortunately for the series, this translation got more and more difficult over time. The first game didn't reference Japanese culture very much, so there was no difficulty in culturally translating all of it. Then in the second game we see the Fey's home, which is a very, very Japanese temple in the mountains. Since this only involves the setting, though, the game mostly just kind of ignored the fact that this was clearly not America. But in the 5th game, an entire case revolved around Japanese youkai mythology. The official say on the matter by the localization team is that the series actually takes place in an alternative universe America, where anti-Japanese-immigration and settlement laws were never passed, which is referred when Niles Tails Vale is stated to be have been founded by Japanese immigrants. ''Webcomic/AwkwardZombie'' parodied this [[http://www.awkwardzombie.com/index.php?page=0&comic=120913 here.]]

* Interestingly, the design of the eponymous Rusty Slugger in ''VideoGame/RustysRealDealBaseball'' is completely different between the Japanese and international releases of the game, sharing few similarities beyond "anthro dog with a comb-over" (his name was also changed to an English-language pun; he's Inuji Darumeshi in the Japanese version). Also interestingly, ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros for Nintendo 3DS'' has trophies of both designs.

* ''[[VideoGame/GanbareGoemon The Legend of the Mystical Ninja]]'' replaced the PowerUpFood with hamburgers and pizza for the English version, even though the setting is still obviously Japan. The localizations of later ''Goemon'' games didn't replace the rice balls.