History Main / DifficultyByRegion

* In typical Creator/WorkingDesigns fashion, the western release of VideoGame/{{Vay}} makes [[https://tcrf.net/Vay#Regional_Differences a lot]] of changes to enemy and items stats, ressource costs and purchases prices, both to the player's benefit and detriment (usually the later-the increase to magic spells cost and enemy HP alone are enough to erase the concessions made in other areas). Also, the Japanese version had a joke event where the player could open a chest that contained a single G: Working Designs changed this to that same chest concealing a "Gold Vortex" that sucks up all of the player's cash upon being opened, which can only be remedied by loading an earlier save.

* The original Japanese release of ''Super Earth Defense Force'' allows players to increase their starting HitPoints from three to five in the options, while the same setting in the international releases only allows players to reduce from three hit points to [[OneHitPointWonder one]]. Slowdown has been greatly reduced (meaning less wiggle room to dodge boss attacks) and the enemy placement has been revamped. The international release has less enemies than the Japanese release but the original enemy formations weren't necessarily more difficult despite their greater density, so the main consequence is that players do not level up their weapon as quickly. The Japanese version's invincibility CheatCode was also removed.

* In the original Famicom Disk System version of ''VideoGame/Metroid1'', enemies and bosses have randomized attack patterns due to using to using a different RNG,, while in the NES version, they stick to one pattern until the console is reset, making that version easier. On the flipside, the FDS version has save slots instead of the NES's cumbersome password system, less slowdown, and a longer time window (2 hours instead of 1) to get the best ending.

* The original Japanese release of ''Super Earth Defense Force'' allows players to increase their starting HitPoints from three to five in the options, while the same setting in the international releases only allows players to reduce from three hit points to [[OneHitPointWonder one]]. Slowdown has been greatly reduced (meaning less wiggle room to dodge boss attacks) and the enemy placement has been revamped. The international release has less enemies than the Japanese release but the original enemy formations weren't necessarily more difficult despite their greater density, so the main consequence is that players do not level up their weapon as quickly.

** The first game, ''Babs' Big Break'', used a [[PasswordSave password system]] in its Japanese version. When the game was brought west, the password system was completely removed? resulting in the game having to be started from scratch on every playthrough, and the player only has two continues. Additionally, the amount of HitPoints the player starts out with was reduced from three to two.

* ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaBloodlines'': The international versions were made harder. Normal difficulty in the Japanese version, ''Vampire Killer'', is the equivalent of Easy difficulty elsewhere. Normal difficulty in the international versions has more enemies and decreases the amount of damage done by the player's attacks.

* ''VideoGame/AeroFighters 3'': Due to a bug, the game is permanently fixed to the hardest difficulty when played on the European Bios.
* ''VideoGame/NinjaCommando'': The Japanese bios gives the player two lives, while in the western bios, you start with only one.
* ''VideoGame/Strikers1945 PLUS'': The Japanese bios starts the player with three lives, while the western bios gives you two.

* As a general case, PAL is at 50 Hz and NTSC is at 60 Hz. Games that process the game frame-by-frame (that is, most of them) will operate 20% faster on a 60 Hz frame rate than they do on a comparable 50 Hz system. Unless the developers compensate for this, the European versions of a given game will be easier due to increased time to react. And just as well, NTSC releases of some European games ran too fast, making them harder than intended.
** A notable example of this is ''VideoGame/{{Sonic the Hedgehog|1}}'' for Mega Drive / Genesis, due to the game's speed-based nature. Whilst the PAL version is certainly fast, the game was developed for NTSC, which plays faster, and many players in Europe and Australia believed that the North American and Japanese versions were better as a result (the Japanese version was the only one that also had scrolling backgrounds). In the rereleases, the game can be played at the intended speed.
** Averted with the ''VideoGame/MarioParty'' series. [[http://cyberscore.me.uk CyberScore]] has separate tables for the NTSC and PAL versions, with NTSC almost always having the advantage.

* ''VideoGame/MegaMan2'' had two difficulty settings, Normal and Difficult, in the English versions. Playing on Normal doubles all damage from the player's attacks.[[note]]This disables some enemy behaviors with Blocky and Tanishi, and most famously allows for Metal Man to be [[OneHitKill killed in one hit]] from his own weapon instead of two. There are some exceptions to this, however, as Quick Man still only loses half his health from Time Stopper instead of being killed instantly.[[/note]] The Japanese version, ''Rockman 2'', only contained Difficult mode, and was deemed too challenging for most western players, explaining the change. The ''Wily Wars'' port for the Mega Drive was more faithful to the original Japanese version and had no difficulty selection.

* In the FDS version of ''VideoGame/Metroid1'', due to using a different RNG, enemies and bosses have randomized attack patterns, while in the NES version, they stick to one pattern until the console is reset, making that version easier. On the flipside, the FDS version has save slots instead of the NES's cumbersome password system, less slowdown, and a longer time window (2 hours instead of 1) to get the best ending.

* ''Donkey Kong Land 2'' has cheats in the English version allowing you to start with 50 lives, 40 Banana Coins, or 47 Kremkoins, but these cheats were removed in the Japanese version.

[[folder:Mega Drive / Genesis / Sega CD / Mega CD]]

* ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesIIITheManhattanProject'':

*** Some would also say the NA version's BlindIdiotTranslation increased the difficulty considerably, with important hints in the Japanese version rendered unintelligible or replaced entirely.

* ''VideoGame/RayStorm'''s UsefulNotes/PlayStation port, published by Working Designs (mentioned below), had its already NintendoHard difficulty jacked UpToEleven for the US, with it's Normal setting being equivalent to the Japanese [[HarderThanHard Very Hard]] setting, and [[EasyModeMockery setting the difficulty lower only allows you to play the first half of the game]].

* ''Exile'' was panned for being "too hard" in Japan, so Creator/WorkingDesigns tried toning it down a little... making the game a cakewalk in the process. The reverse happened with its sequel, where it was basically made pretty close to {{unwinnable}}.

* ''Super Double Dragon'' has three selectable difficulty settings (Easy, Normal and Hard) in the Japanese version, ''Return of Double Dragon'', whereas the American version doesn't have any. However, the difficulty of the American version is harder than the hardest setting of the Japanese version. Enemies have more health and weapons such as incendiary bombs and knives are more lethal. The American version also recycles boss characters more often and some of the added moves in the Japanese version, like the multi-hit Hurricane Kick and the ability to catch your boomerangs or exchange weapons on the ground, were not implemented yet in the American version. On the other hand, the Japanese version is slightly longer, with two extra areas added to the final stage.

* ''VideoGame/FireShark'', as with ''Twin Cobra'', had respawning only at checkpoints and no simultaneous two-player mode in the original Japanese version, ''Same! Same! Same!''; enemies also fire more often. The western version removes screen-panning, which is a mixed blessing-- On one hand, you're less likely to be surprise-snipped by enemies coming from outside the visible playing area, on the other you can no longer "seal" enemies by scrolling them offscreen. The developers at Creator/{{Toaplan}} regretted making the Japanese version too difficult; the later simultaneous two-player ''Same! Same! Same!'' is actually easier than the overseas version.

* The original Japanese release of ''Super Earth Defense Force'' allow players to increase their starting hit points from three to five in the options, while the same setting international release only allows players to reduce from 3 hit points to one. Slodown has been greatly reduced (meaning less wiggle room to dodge boss attacks) and the enemy placement has been revamped. The international release has less enemies than the Japanese release but the original enemy formations weren't necessarily more difficult despite their greater density, so the main consequence is that players do not level up their weapon as quickly.

* The later Japanese release of ''VideoGame/{{Bug}}!'' has more starting lives (5 vs 3), adds additional checkpoints, removes the mechanic of [[SaveGameLimits being only able to continue your save games for a limited amount of times]] and tweak some enemie's behaviors to make them less aggressive.

* ''VideoGame/FireShark'', as with ''Twin Cobra'', had respawning only at checkpoints and no simultaneous two-player mode in the original Japanese version, ''Same! Same! Same!''; enemies also fire more often. The western version removes screen-panning, which is a mixed blessing (On one hand, you're less likely to be surprise-snipped by enemies coming from outside the visible playing area, on the other you can no longer "seal" enemies by scrolling them offscreen) The developers at Creator/{{Toaplan}} regretted making the Japanese version too difficult; the later simultaneous two-player ''Same! Same! Same!'' is actually easier than the overseas version.

* ''VideoGame/FireShark'', as with ''Twin Cobra'', had respawning only at checkpoints and no simultaneous two-player mode in the original Japanese version, ''Same! Same! Same!''; enemies also fire more often. The developers at Creator/{{Toaplan}} regretted making the Japanese version too difficult; the later simultaneous two-player ''Same! Same! Same!'' is actually easier than the overseas version.

* ''VideoGame/BlasterMaster'' has a room in in Area 4 that leads to Area 5 which was made much easier in the western versions. In the original Famicom version (''Chou-Wakusei Senki: Metafight''), the player has to make a LeapOfFaith from a tall height and latch onto a one-tile ladder before hitting the ground and dying of FallDamage. The NES version added a series of platforms instead. A much more drastic change was made in the western versions that added a limit of four continues to finish the game on, as opposed to the unlimited continues in ''Metafight''.

** ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry1'', another Rare game, had numerous small changes in the Japanese version (''Super Donkey Kong'') that made it slightly easier in [[http://dkc-atlas.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=151 a few levels.]]

* ''VideoGame/TheSimpsons'' was made much easier than the international version in Japan. More food and weapons were added to the levels (including a new atomic bomb item that clears the screen), the slingshot was powered up to kill any enemy in one hit, and you can use weapons while jumping. The Japanese version also allowed players to add another "layer" to their health gauge by picking up food with full health.

* ''Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones'' adds more enemies and reduces the player's total health by ten points per character in the American version. On the other hand, the Japanese version changes the ending depending on which character survive the final battle, whereas the American always shows the full ending with all four characters regardless of whether they died during the game or not (including Jimmy, who only appears in a 2-Player game).

* ''VideoGame/MrBones'' gives the player a lot less hitpoints in the Western versions.

** One required boss, Diamond Weapon, and two [[OptionalBoss optional]] {{Bonus Boss}}es, Ruby Weapon and Emerald Weapon, were added.