Japanese Mega Drive RPGs

[BoneSnapDeez]

Well it looks like the Retron 5 does indeed exist and will be arriving at my house soon enough. Think it's time I looked into Mega Drive games. The SNES RPGs that never arrived in the US are all pretty well-known by now: Tales of Phantasia, Star Ocean, Final Fantasy V, Ys IV and V, etc... What you don't hear much about is the unlocalized Mega Drive titles. I just read the great Racketboy article about these (thanks Ack!) and was wondering if anyone here had any further insight or first-hand experience.

These are the game I have my eye on...

Surging Aura - This one looks the most intriguing to me, and the most like a traditional classic JRPG. Maybe a hidden gem of some sort?
Madou Monogatari - I love this series.
Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water - Looks cute.
King Colossus - I believe this is an action-RPG? I think I remember playing a bit via emulation. Seems cool.
Dragon Slayer series - Yes they're Falcom games, but I'll probably skip these unless someone can give me a really compelling reason why the Mega Drive versions are superior to others. I own the North American PC release of Sorcerian and the Super Famicom ports of Legend of Heroes I & II and Lord Monarch.
Langrisser 2 - Another one I'll likely skip as I already own Der Langrisser on Super Famicom... Unless the game is better on Mega Drive?

Thoughts???

[Gunstar Green]

It might not be a big reason to play Langrisser 2 but I believe the maps are different.

The only one I've personally played is Vixen 357 which is a pretty fun tactical RPG that's also from Masaya. Not really on the same level as the Langrisser though.

Surging Aura is supposedly pretty neat. It was in the process of being translated into English but it didn't pan out and I don't think anyone ever picked it up again unfortunately.

This article might help you out a bit too: http://www.sega-16.com/2005/01/left-in- ... a-cd-rpgs/

[BoneSnapDeez]

Sweet site. I wonder if the author ever discovered that Sorcerian and Lord Monarch are also part of the Dragon Slayer series.

Forgot about the Sega CD games, but one thing at a time...

Blue Almanac is another one that looks neat. Kinda Phantasy Star-ish?

[Ack]

This article might help you out a bit too: http://www.sega-16.com/2005/01/left-in- ... a-cd-rpgs/

Ah yes, that article. Be wary of that one. I used it as a resource for an article here, and someone who had beef with the author contacted me over it trying to pick a fight because he apparently thought I was that guy.

[Gunstar Green]

This article might help you out a bit too: http://www.sega-16.com/2005/01/left-in- ... a-cd-rpgs/

Ah yes, that article. Be wary of that one. I used it as a resource for an article here, and someone who had beef with the author contacted me over it trying to pick a fight because he apparently thought I was that guy.

Sega-16's community can be a little nuts, but as a resource it's pretty solid.

[Jagosaurus]

Any of these English friendly? No R5 but my Retro Trio has a region switch interested in importing a few MD titles.

[Jmustang1968]

You can also try Brave Battle Saga.

I was also told Langrisser 2 was somewhat different than Der Langrisser.

I believe the RPG podcast we did, one of the guests discussed it.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Any of these English friendly? No R5 but my Retro Trio has a region switch interested in importing a few MD titles.

The Legend of Heroes games are really "generic" and straightforward. Keep in mind that the first game actually was released in the US - on the Turbo CD.

Don't even attempt something like Lord Monarch without knowing Japanese.

Possibly some of the Mega Drive action-RPGs are English-friendly as well. I'm not sure yet as I don't own them.

There are a handful of Super Famicom action-RPGs though that should be fully playable without knowing Japanese: Ys IV and V, Alcahest, Xak: The Art of Visual Stage, Crystal Beans, and possibly Tenchi Souzou (Terranigma) and Seiken Densetsu 3.

[Gunstar Green]

Just be forewarned importing for the Mega Drive can be a little pricey especially in regards to the popular import targets. Games tend to be rarer over there due to the MD's lack of popularity in Japan.

You know how people buy Super Famicom games from Japan because they're cheaper than their SNES counterparts? Well the opposite sort of happens with Genesis games.

[Jagosaurus]

You can also try Brave Battle Saga.

I was also told Langrisser 2 was somewhat different than Der Langrisser.

I believe the RPG podcast we did, one of the guests discussed it.

I need to go back & re-listen to that one. Chris is a cool dude, and had some good input. He & I always happen to run around in the same corners of the internet. I was surprised... but not lol... to hear him on the PC.

Would be awesome to hear RPG 2.0 RB PC .


Appreciate the insight Bonez and Gunstar. I'm green at importing for the MD so that's great heads up.