Console games released in PAL territories but not in North America
PAL television standard territories are used to being scammed of games released in North America. This thread is devoted to the opposite, games released in PAL or PAL variant countries that were not released in North America. Many of these games did see release in Japan though. I jampacked as many games I find interesting into one post but there are tons more.
"Classic Series" Mario Bros.(Nintendo, NES)
Mario Bros. was released in North America but I'm talking about the German re-release. It's worth mentioning due to it being upgraded with cinemas. I haven't played it but I'm curious to know if it has the improved control found in the Japanese release Kaettekita Mario Bros. http://www.nesworld.com/gerelese.htm
Shenmue II(Sega, DC, 2001)
I couldn't wait for Microsoft's Xbox release so I bought the Euro version. It was worth it.
http://platinum.cheatcc.com/images_h...shenmue2_1.jpg
Mr. Gimmick(Sunsoft, NES, 1993)
No gimmicks here, just a great platformer. The Famicom version has superior sound though.
http://64.53.95.207/gimmick/gmkcstl.gif
Alien Soldier(Sega/Treasure, MD, 1995)
One of the best run 'n guns ever.
http://emuarcade.espaciolatino.com/asoldier.gif
Parodius(Palcom/Konami, NES/SNES, 1992)
Palcom was a European label of Konami.
http://www.emulatronia.com/raritu/ne.../parodius3.gif
http://www.vgmuseum.com/pics2/parodius.html
Sonic Chaos(Sega, SMS, 1993)
I consider this the best of the 8-bit Sonics. The Game Gear version was released in North America and it's the same game aside from a few minor differences like the title screen and some of the music.
http://potato.emu-france.com/sms/ima...E)_%5B!%5D.gif
Brian Lara Cricket(Codemasters, PC/PS1, 1999)
Cricket and rugby games tend to get left in PAL zones.
http://www.itreviews.co.uk/graphics/.../games/g32.jpg
Banana Prince(Takara, NES, 1992)
The English in the pic is from a translated rom. I think Germany was the only country outside of Japan to get this game.
http://www.emuxhaven.net/~kingmike/P...prin/intro.JPG
Kuru Kuru Kururin(Nintendo/Eighting, GBA, 2001)
Avoid the edges. Pleasantly simple.
http://digilander.libero.it/calimero...e/kurukuru.gif
Legend of Illusion(Sega, SMS, 1994)
http://www.smspower.org/db/mickey3-4.gif
Radikal Bikers(Infogrames, PS1, 2000)
An impressive port of Gaelco's arcade game.
http://www.planetacaratulas.com/cara...sx-Trasera.jpg
Keio Flying Squadron 2(JVC, SS, 1996)
http://mo5.com/gamepatria/images/saturn/keio2/boss1.jpg
Nightmare(Sancho, 2600)
Climb your way to safety.
http://www.ataritimes.com/2600/images/nightmare.gif
Over Horizon(Takara/Hot-B, NES, 1991)
http://www.nesplayer.com/features/PAL/39.gif
Ninja Gaiden(Sega, SMS, 1992)
Initially I hated this game and considered it nothing more than a bastardization of Tecmo's great franchise. It has grown on me though and on its own it's pretty good.
http://potato.emu-france.com/sms/ima...E)_%5B!%5D.gif
Terranigma(Enix/Quintet, SNES, 1996)
There was no American branch of Enix at the time so we were denied despite the game being fully translated into English.
http://cookiz.club.fr/Terranigma.jpg
Masters of Combat(Sega, SMS, 1993)
http://potato.emu-france.com/sms/ima...E)_[!].gif
Devil World(Nintendo, NES, 1984(In Japan, I don't know the year of the PAL release))
I guess Nintendo was too afraid to release this into Jesusland. They even took the Tamagon(little dragon) trophy out of Super Smash Bros. Melee.
http://www.planetnintendo.com/nindb/nes/dd/shot-1.jpg
Fighting Vipers 2(Sega, DC, 2001)
http://www.consoles-otaku.com/testsa...Vipers_2/2.jpg
Hell Night(Konami/Atlus, PS1)
I'm interested to know what this is about. There is an arcade game of the same name but since the PS1 game is often labeled as "adventure" I assume it's different.
Klax(Tengen, 2600, 1990)
The lowest port graphically but it plays well.
http://www.ntrautanen.fi/marko/sao/p..._2600/klax.gif
Bubble Bobble(Sega/Taito, SMS, 1991)
The best pre-32-bit home version of Bubble Bobble. It came out in 1988 in Japan as Final Bubble Bobble.
http://bto8.smspower.org/segapower/1362/052.gif
Ufouria(Sunsoft, NES, 1991)
A neat platform adventure starring an altered version of Sunsoft mascot Hebereke. This pic is from the Japanese version as I couldn't find a Euro one.
http://www.geocities.jp/f_tamakoku/f...0/hebereke.gif
Pop'n Twinbee(Palcom/Konami, SNES, 1993)
http://www.vgmuseum.com/pics2/pop.html
[b]Pop'n Twinbee Rainbow Bell Adventures(Konami, SNES, 1993)
Being a platformer, this was a side-story to the shooter series. It's quite good too but maybe Konami thought it was too pastel.
http://emuarcade.espaciolatino.com/twinbee2.gif
Hebereke's Popoitto(Sunsoft, SNES, 1995)
http://www.cherryroms.com/screenshot..._(E)(3075).png
Doshin the Giant(Nintendo, GC, 2002)
James' review - http://www.the-nextlevel.com/reviews...hin_the_giant/
http://www.the-nextlevel.com/reviews...t/screen03.jpg
Mega SWIV(Time Warner/Sales Curve, MD, 1994)
http://www.genesiscollective.com/Genesis/Screenshots/Mega%20SWIV%20(GS).png
Sitio do Picapau Amarelo(TecToy, SMS, 1997)
Brazil got all kinds of original SMS content. The games developed in Brazil like this one aren't very good although I find them interesting because they're exclusive to one country. They also ruined several great Japanese developed games with awful sprite changes.
http://www.smspower.org/db/sitio-1.gif
Lone Soldier(Telstar/Tempest Software, PS1, 1996)
I played this a few years back and I liked it. It's a war themed action game, very arcade-ish and third-person. Nick Rox did a preview in Gamefan but it was never released in North America.
Power Strike II(Sega/Compile, SMS, 1993)
Unlike the first SMS game which was an MSX port, this was an original release and definitely one of the best 8-bit shooters.
http://potato.emu-france.com/sms/ima...E)_%5B!%5D.gif
Power Strike II(Sega/Compile, GG, 1993)
The Game Gear in Europe also got a Power Strike II. It's a completely different game than the SMS one.
http://www.vgmuseum.com/images/gg/aleste.html
Tiny Toons: Buster's Bad Dream(Swing!/Treasure, GBA, 2002)
http://www.computerandvideogames.com..._pic_65982.jpg
King of Fighters '95(SNK, SS, 1995)
http://www.retrogaming.it/saturn/kof95005.JPG
Rez(Sega, DC, 2001)
http://www.retro-games.co.uk/sega/dcast/rez_scr.jpg
Fatal Run(Atari, 2600, 1990)
http://www.atariguide.com/sss/mini-fatalrun.gif
Maken Shao: Demon Sword(Midas/Atlus, PS2, 2002)
The third-person PS2 version of Maken X on DC.
http://www.ps2store.com/noticias/notivasmarz3/shao7.jpg
New Ghostbusters II(HAL, NES, 1990)
Much better than the Ghostbusters 2 game released in North America.
http://www.vgmuseum.com/reviews/nes/nghostbstrs2/
Renegade(Sega, SMS, 1993)
A port(or you could say remake) of the Technos game.
http://www.smspower.org/db/renegade-5.gif
Rodland(Storm/Jaleco, NES)
A port of the arcade game. According to this list the only European country it was released in was Spain. http://simplynes.emucamp.com/europe.html
http://regage.hp.infoseek.co.jp/fami...odland_f22.png
Acid Drop(Salu, 2600, 1992)
A puzzle game similar to Columns.
http://www.vgmuseum.com/pics6/acid.html
Super Fantasy Zone(Sunsoft, MD, 1992)
http://www.classicgaming.com/shmups/.../09lev1bos.gif
Hammerin' Harry(Irem, NES, 1992)
Zero Wing(Sega/Toaplan, MD, 1992)
An obscure, mediocre arcade shooter turned famous years later by this port.
http://www.thunderboltgames.com/revi...zerowing_2.jpg
Vib Ribbon(Sony/Nana On Sha, PS1, 2000)
http://bonusweb.idnes.cz/obrazek/psxvibribbon_3.jpg
Duke Nukem 3D(TecToy, SG, 1998)
Duke on Genesis? Only in Brazil.
http://www.vgmuseum.com/pics2/dukenukem3d.html
Darxide(Sega/Frontier, 32X, 1995)
A 3d shooter from the developer of the popular(in Europe) space sim Elite.
http://www.eidolons-inn.net/segabase/32X-DarXide_a2.jpg
Elite(Imagineer, NES, 1991)
http://acorn.cybervillage.co.uk/emulation/nes/elite.gif
Space Gun(Taito, SMS, 1992)
This was based on the arcade game but not a direct port.
http://www.smspower.org/db/spacegun-3.gif
Mortal Kombat 2(Arena/Probe, SMS, 1994)
The SMS lived long enough in some territories to get 3 Mortal Kombat games, Street Fighter II and a Virtua Fighter game.
http://potato.emu-france.com/sms/images/Mortal_Kombat_2_(UE)_%5B!%5D.gif
Deep Fear(Sega, SS, 1998)
A survival horror game.
http://www.computerandvideogames.com..._pic_23527.jpg
Crackout(Palcom/Konami, NES, 1991)
I incorrectly labeled this as a Japan exclusive in another thread but it did get a Euro release.
Operation Wolf(Taito, SMS, 1990)
http://potato.emu-france.com/sms/images/Operation_Wolf_(U)_%5B!%5D.gif
Discworld II(Psygnosis/Perfect 10, SS, 1997)
http://www.csoon.com/issue20/shots/i_dw22.jpg
Aladdin(Sega, SMS, 1994)
This was similar to the Genesis game although the levels are designed different enough to consider it a separate game.
http://potato.emu-france.com/sms/ima...E)_%5B!%5D.gif
For more info on PAL NES games check out this site - http://www.nesplayer.com/features/PAL/games.htm
What I have listed so far are games released for consoles available in North America. Europe was also home to consoles that never saw release at all in North America.
The VTech CreatiVision was released in few European countries and South Africa in 1981. It was a console that could be upgraded into a personal computer. Seeing as VTech was based in Hong Kong, it's likely its games were developed there too.
http://users.ticino.com/usr/eleven/c...eativision.gif
Tank Attack(VTech, CreatiVision, 1981)
http://www.dieterkoenig.at/ccc/cr/bi...ck_screen1.jpg
Astro Pinball(VTech, Creativision, 1982)
http://www.dieterkoenig.at/ccc/cr/bi...ll_screen1.jpg
Crazy Chicky(VTech, CreatiVision, 1981)
http://darkwatcher.psxfanatics.com/c...ens/vtech3.jpg
Sonic Invader(VTech, CreatiVision, 1981)
A Space Invaders clone.
http://www.dieterkoenig.at/ccc/cr/bi...er_screen1.jpg
Police Jump(VTech, CreatiVision, 1981)
Similar to Donkey Kong and one of gaming's earliest platformers.
http://www.dieterkoenig.at/ccc/cr/bi...mp_screen2.jpg
More info on CreatiVision - http://darkwatcher.psxfanatics.com/console/vtech.htm
The Epoch Super Cassette Vision was released in Japan in 1984. It was the successor to the Cassette Vision which launched in 1981. Epoch licensed the Super Cassette Vision to a French company called Yeno(which had already released the Sega SC-3000 computer in France). I'm not sure if Yeno released it in any other European countries.
http://www.renelips.nl/Info/Yeno%20s...ssvision-2.jpg
Kung Fu Road(Yeno/Epoch, SCV, 1985)
http://www5e.biglobe.ne.jp/~kiden/de...3/kungfu02.JPG
Star Speeder(Yeno/Epoch, SCV, 1985)
http://www5e.biglobe.ne.jp/~kiden/de...e3/speed04.jpg
Lupin III(Yeno/Epoch, SCV, 1984)
http://www5e.biglobe.ne.jp/~kiden/de...e4/lupin05.JPG
*Note - the years listed are taken from the Japanese title screens, the France release years might be different.
More Super Cassette Vision games shown here -
http://www5e.biglobe.ne.jp/~kiden/supakase.htm
The Epoch systems haven't been emulated yet as far as I can tell. If they have been please let me know.
In 1990, Amstrad released a console version of their CPC computer line called GX 4000 in some European countries. Like Atari's previous attempt to do the same thing with the XEGS console, it was a commercial failure.
http://www.lofi-gaming.org.uk/museum...ics/gx4000.jpg
Burnin' Rubber(Ocean, GX 4000, 1990)
http://www.thelegacy.de/pics/screen/...AmstradCPC.GIF
Pang!(Ocean, GX 4000, 1990)
A port of the Capcom/Mitchell arcade game.
http://cpczone.emuunlim.com/reviews/p/pang-1-a-big.gif
Wild Streets(Titus, GX 4000, 1990)
http://www.geocities.com/oth12fr/cpc/wildstreets.jpg
Barbarian II(Ocean/Palace Software, GX 4000, 1990)
http://cpczone.emuunlim.com/reviews/...an-2-1-big.gif
Escape From the Planet of the Robot Monsters(Domark, GX 4000)
A port of the Atari arcade game.
http://cpczone.emuunlim.com/reviews/...game-2-big.gif
More GX 4000 cartridges are shown here - http://www.pcwking.netfirms.com/cartridge.html
Any additions, corrections, opinions, etc.. would be appreciated.
