20 Extremely Cute SNES Platformers That Sadly Never Left Japan

[@TrickyMcnickle]

Back in 1992 or 1993 (I was12 or 13 at the time) I wrote a letter to Konami confessing my love for Legend of the Mystical Ninja, and asking if a part 2 was on the way. Konami took the time to reply in writing that unfortunately there would not be a Mystical Ninja 2. They thanked me for my love of the game though. I’m still thankful that they actually took the time, yet I’m still mad the game never officially came out in NA. Goemon collection or bust!

[@AlfonsoECruz]

I’m mad that they lied to you about “Mystical Ninja 2” when fans are arguably well aware of Ganbare Goemon 2. Goemon Collection is a Great idea! With the release of these game collections: Castlevania Anniversary Collection Contra Anniversary Collection Konami Arcade Classics Collection Ninja Turtles Cowabunga Collection Collection of Mana And more A Goemon Collection is totally possible! But this is up to Konami, but of course they’ll turn around and say “oh it’s up to the fans”.

[@TrickyMcnickle]

@@AlfonsoECruz To be fair, and it’s been way too long to remember, I believe they may have just said it wasn’t coming to U.S. I may have seen part 2 in EGM before I wrote them but really can’t remember. Konami back then was one of my favorite video game companies

[@AlfonsoECruz]

@@TrickyMcnickle Me too, I’m just mad at them over their “company directions”.

[@rebelmoon9059]

Back in the days i wrote a Letter to Activision they never answerd😢

[@AlfonsoECruz]

@@rebelmoon9059 Screw them.

[@rcblazer]

Funny that Rockman and Forte (Mega Man and Bass) was originally meant for younger players, but ended up being considered one of the hardest games in the Mega Man franchise!

[@hawshimagical]

rockman 2 gave me more trouble and thats the popular one. forte/bass really made the game easy except against burner man to be honest

[@poweroffriendship2.0]

_"Megaman is Rockman, but where are the rocks?"_ *~ Western players who played the Japanese version for the first time*

[@hawshimagical]

@@poweroffriendship2.0 and then they find them at gutsman's level

[@andrewortiz5797]

@@poweroffriendship2.0 it's Mega man not rockman and it's not super famicon, it's super Nintendo and it's also not mega drive it's Sega Genesis

[@andrewortiz5797]

Magical pop'n and that racoon game is so fucking adorable.. it's egg-dorable!! Too soon!

[@ophidianmind333]

I haven't played most of these games, but I've had a lot of fun with Ghost Sweeper Mikami and Magical Pop'n. Both of those are definitely worth checking out.

[@Krystalmyth]

I never understood how in the 80s and 90s, Japan just assumed Americans wouldn't like anime and kept it hidden from us everywhere. They just never bothered to share the love. Even worked to remove its presence in many games. When we actually loved it!

[@huevonesunltd]

It was a complete tragedy that many people missed out on magical pop'n , it's one of the greatest

[@jordanharrelson8500]

Mikami was an enjoyable slice of life/action/comedy manga. Didn't finish it, but I liked that the punching bag apprentice did eventually get his own powers and was able to fight.

[@CharlyHyo]

Es increíble que Magical Quest 3 solo lo llegamos a ver en el GBA pero la versión de SNES tiene ese toque unico por su sonido, no hago menos las version de GBA pero tras ver como quedo Megaman & Bass en GBA prefiero regresar a la version de SNES, buscar su parche al ingles y disfrutar su hermoso OST. Con Ganbare Goemon deberias darle un video dedicado, ya que hubo 4 juegos mas en el SNES que de plano son unas joyitas, Goemon 3 es como un Metroid/Zelda muy bueno, el 4 regresa a ser como el 2 pero un poco mas dificil, a parte salio un spinoff con Ebisomaru el cual si algunos jugaron los minijuegos del TinyToons de SNES les recordara esa fase con Hamtom, ya que en este juego toma ese concepto de puzzle. Con Go Go Ackman si, el 3 es el mejor de la trilogía y si es un manga hecho por Toriyama. Mikami fue hecho por gente de Natsume que hizo Wild Guns y Ninja Warriors Again, un juego mas raro pero que tambien es cute Hameln no Violin Hiki(The Violinist of Hameln) esta bastante entretenido y es un juego muy olvidado en el catalogo del Super Famicom, creo que tu seccion Left in Japan tendria muchas partes con los cientos de juegos que se quedaron en Japón ;3

[@BitsBeats]

Qué gusto leer comentarios tan extensos e informativos como el tuyo. Dan más calidad a mis vídeos.

[@poweroffriendship2.0]

_"Strangely enough, Super Back to the Future 2 was never released outside of Japan."_ It's no wonder why Angry Video Game Nerd has suffered for playing bad Back to the Future games, but hey, at least he managed to play the SNES one.

[@DracosKasurani]

I wouldn't be surprise that the choose was made by Nintendo of American which actually rarely understand what gamer wanted to play. Remember they have bench some game from being too hard and probally think that Back in the Futur was too cartony for the american audience.

[@HandlebarOrionX]

6:02 The anime this one is based on, Ghost Sweeper Mikami is hilarious.

[@BitsBeats]

It's great, very funny (and sexy!)

[@hell-yeah8776]

I remember now back then I acquired a disk that got a whole bunch of SNES games inside including Super Famicom. Managed to play Doraemon 4: Nobita to Tsuki no Oukoku but never managed to remember much of it. I also played Ghost Sweeper Mikami but I thought the game was far from cute, but rather creepy to my younger self lol. Thanks for reminding me of those days.

[@tomaslolaswettling2079]

I've spent most of my adolescence looking for Miracle Girls, it was one of my favourite games when I was a child, thank youuu good video 💋

[@tonn4586]

日本のアニメが題材のゲームが海外で発売されていないということなら理解できるが、ミッキー、ドナルドやバックトゥザフューチャーのゲームすら発売されていないというのは驚きだ。この様子だと20なんてものではなく、数えきれないほど、もっと多くありそうだ

[@DenisSailor130]

You Missed another Japanese Exclusive Final Fantasy V that also sounds Beautifully

[@jotakux7489]

Love this series’s!! My fave of this type of vids!! Thank you so much!!!!!

[@Zahir658]

As Retro Bird had said in one of his videos: Japan mostly or even always gets the good stuffs.

[@lilwyvern4]

We're just going to gloss over how Gon "gets so annoyed by the local wildlife that he destroys the planet", eh?

[@panelvixen]

Fun Fact: Ghostsweepers TV series did have an English dub. Sure wish someone would dig through their tape collection and see if any more AXN dubs can be rescued.

[@osamaroum]

Magical pop'n is really a great platformer game , there is a fan translated one .

[@IllusionMaster17]

4:50 Its TRUNKS

[@graemevaughey7432]

Ah, _Mickey and Donald Magical adventure 3_ -- i knew that had to be on this list. Great animation. I love the level where Mickey is given a fancy suit of armor, but the only thing they can find to fit Donald (and his big butt) is a wooden barrel. LOL.

[@pcachu]

Mickey's outfits: Proper costume budget Donald's outfits: Whatever he could cobble together between the closet and the thrift shop

[@TwoTailedSponge]

You forgot to say that Pachio-kun also resembles Pac-Man too.

[@chrislaustin]

Another great video, as I have several of these games already, but I discovered some new ones I didn't know about like always. In the future, would it be possible to put a label on those games that have English translations available? There's so much interesting info for each game given, but it seems a missed opportunity to not at least put a stamp or something in the clip to show an English option is available. Thanks Again.

[@Krystalmyth]

Good feedback!

[@RedRanger2001]

Mega Man & Bass actually takes place between 8 and 9. During development, it's "Rock 8.5".

[@azazelleblack]

I am legitimately shocked that Hamelin no Violin Hiki was not in this list.

[@blackflame4506]

Been watching your videos lately and I enjoy all the retro content. Thanks Bits and Beats!

[@BitsBeats]

Many thanks to you for your time!

[@vividleo]

These video game artists are really amazing at what they do

[@jeffcox6539]

I'm sure there's more then enough for a second list, but it's almost criminal you forgot Violinist of Hamlin.

[@BitsBeats]

That's too bad! That is indeed a very big omission on my part. Thanks for reminding me!

[@karlsinclair9918]

Interestingly some of these games, graphically, are as good as anything that ever came out on SNES and I'm positive many of these games would have sold well in the UK and the West. Not all of them by any stretch but it seems like there are at least half a dozen sure fire hits here.

[@fazares]

Fantastic video..i didnt know about a couple of games here

[@HellTantrumbull]

Always found it weird that games starring characters made by American companies never left Japan. all these games with Disney characters for example should have been released over here too along with the Popeye games that were only in Japan.

[@megadragoony7712]

The sound effects in the intro sounded like the sound effects from a certain fishing game on the snes that I forgot the name of.

[@Bloodreign1]

Here's what I own from this video: Doremi Fantasy on Wii VC Go Go Ackman 3 (own the trilogy for SFC) Magical Quest 3 starring Mickey and Donald (got that trilogy as well) Rockman and Forte, aka Mega Man 8.5 as some have said going by the info in the ROM Ganbare Daiku no Gen San, aka Hammerin Harry Ganbare Goemon 2 (got all 4 SNES/SFC games) Doraemon 4 Super Bonk 2, also have the first one on SNES Would love to have Magical Pop N and Ghost Sweeper Mikami (the anime is funny and pretty good), but the prices they sell for, especially Pop N, too rich for my wallet. That Donald Duck game is pretty expensive as well these days.

[@weirdproq]

Never heard of Ghost Sweeper before. Looks good. I honestly thought that blue haired girl on the thumbnail was Botan from Yu Yu Hakusho.

[@lordanubis1458]

Based for having "Ghost Sweeper Mikami" in the thumbnail. Still waiting for Viz to give the manga series an English release here in America.

[@ydlmzSound]

9:53 - It's Megaman vs. Bass and it's came to West but it was renamed!

[@andrescalderon6159]

Amazing, a great selection of videogames.

[@meot.meo.1097]

It's criminal we didn't had Goemon for SNES all around the World.

[@セイヤーネオ]

I recall playing Mickey Magical adventure 3 in a play center long ago in my childhood, it was so fun the gameplay that I only play that game at that place, ironically I didn't notice it was a Japanese exclusive and I was not living in Japan yet.

[@kapheene]

Didn't know about some of these! That sprite of Marty McFly though!

[@BitsBeats]

I am glad to read this comment! It means I did a good job of research

[@rodlonghi]

Great list, but missed Hameln no violin, one of the best plataformers on the SF.

[@joezar33]

That Gon game wasn't made by Namco ? Wonder why they added him into Tekken 3 ?

[@soulreaver1983]

Awesome as always thanks dude 👍

[@BitsBeats]

Many thanks 👍👍

[@soulreaver1983]

@@BitsBeats 😎👍👍

[@luisreyes1963]

Those games are quite cute, even though I consider GS Mikami to be a more "mature" game. 😉

[@Mrshoujo]

If you rip out the 2 plastic tabs in the bottom of the SNES cartridge slot, imported games from Japan will work.

[@maddestmike5791]

Ok, now I understand why Ackman is Japanese exclusive.

[@lucasmartinez5703]

Had no idea they even made a Ghost Sweeper Mikami game that's wild.

[@Bloodreign1]

There was another on the PC Engine CD, but it was more a point and click adventure game.

[@danielrivera3306]

Thank you! I was looking for Wagan Paradise since I played in my childhood! I always thought it was another game of Gon (they look alike).

[@childofthe80s1981]

Man younger players in Japan must be really good at videogames because Mega Man and Bass is brutally hard lol

[@BitsBeats]

🤣👍

[@sridrawings4510]

Not hard as 8

[@Grillman45600]

You should including the super robot war series because it was an every robot fans games

[@SpaceDuppy]

Ghost Sweeper Mikami was also a great show!

[@lordgs1569]

You can play Rockman&Bass in your GBA system in NTSC&PAL ver.

[@JASpiring]

Weird that MegaMan & Bass and one of the Disney games only came out in the West when re-released on GBA, and several other Disney games and Back to the Future II were never released at all. I can understand the anime and manga stuff not coming over, but surely games based on AMERICAN characters should've been released in the US and Europe?

[@Mari_Izu]

There could be two answers: - Suits thinking it wouldn't sell well for whatever reason - Licencing, a company having the licence in Japan doesn't mean it has the licence worldwide.

[@Bloodreign1]

@@Mari_Izu Capcom had the Disney license in the US at the time it was released in Japan. Could be more a case of released late enough in the SNES lifespan that they decided it might not sell well here. Suits don't always make the best choices.

[@OtakuDeju]

Hhhmmm Unreal. Some of these titles leaves me scratching my head over. I get that some of these games were heavily influenced by media that was exclusive to Japan at the time. Yet at the same time it could have served for a good entry point as well. Some those games look good enough to stand on their own even without knowing more about their origin. I think Magical Pop looks similar to a Sega CD game called Popful Mail. Megaman and Bass was ported to the GBA later. The thing that really gets my goat here is Back to the Future II. What in the world is wrong with these people?! If I was a cartoon my jaw would have hit the floor on that one.

[@wmfsgachaanimationsandgame3583]

Megaman And Bass Also Release Outside Japan In Gameboy Advance

[@cryptocsguy9282]

Imagine in an alternative world where some of these franchises were popular and had 3D iterations in their franchises to compete with Crash bandicoot and super mario 😆😁

[@thespectre1071]

So that's where Gon from Tekken is from lol

[@renanvictorinivaz4267]

I didn't find translations for Ganbare Daiku no Gen-San and Miracle Girls, the rest is super easy to find.

[@MatheusCayresdeMello]

It doesn't even make sense for a Back to the Future game to be a Japan exclusive. [*asks in Terry Crews voice*]: Why!?

[@JonLeung1]

So much 16-but cuteness! Ahhh! Kawaii!

[@YSBunny573]

didn't DoReMi Fantasy release on Wii Virtual Console outside of Japan?

[@Jormunguandr]

Truly, snes a wonderful console I revisit, sad I no longer own a crt tv :D

[@MarioFan171]

What? Rockman and Forte was Megaman And Bass outside Japan, And was released Outside of Japan (With the edition of the GBA Port if it counts)

[@Bloodreign1]

It was never released in the US in it's original form.

[@skaldlouiscyphre2453]

That one in the middle looks like Sayuki from Initial D.

[@goissilva]

4:44 akira toriyama detected, its trunks twin

[@yazmenakamura6750]

What about Umihara Kawase?

[@thenonexistinghero]

That chibi version of the thumbnail redhead looks like a chibi version of Sam from Totally Spies.

[@MagisterHamid]

How do you shoot your CRT shots when you show the title screen? It looks crisp with the scanlines. Is it on actual CRT or are you using scanline filter?

[@BitsBeats]

It's all video edition. The TV is a static image and the gameplay is edited in Premiere

[@MagisterHamid]

@@BitsBeats how do you add the scan line effect? Through a filter ?

[@BitsBeats]

@@MagisterHamid it's a PNG at 4K simulating scanlines. Also the layer have a lens distortion effect

[@timothywoods8089]

HEy Bits and Beats? Doremi Fantasy Actually DID get released on the WiiU in its original Japanese form. I have it on my system. it was about collecting several instruments right for a Fairy?

[@Cloud971]

Mega Man & Bass for younger players? Lol, we all know that it isn't. 🤣🤣🤣

[@RappingNinja]

Maybe it’s specially for “younger players who deserve suffering”?

[@krisnantoprayogosantoso4033]

Mega man and Bass is meant to be a prep game before playing the Zero series

[@phorchybug3286]

Pachio is like a weird mix of Dizzy and Ristar.

[@danand4918]

Hammerin hero release on PSP too with English release, and try Great Battle series 😀

[@maniacaldude]

Shame that these games never left Japan. Some of them look pretty fun. Is there a way to play some of them?

[@andremalerba5281]

Wait that Go go Ackmen 3 character is just future Trunks!

[@NickEnlowe]

You really need to dig deeper into the Super Famicom library, but there are tons of really kawaii ones, as some of the ones in this list are a stretch for the word "cute", IMO.

[@BrickmanZero]

Thank you for this, made me remember i still have to play Gon hahaha

[@BitsBeats]

Thank you very much for your viewing!

[@Londonlink]

I want a 2.5D game of Magical PopN and DoReMi fantasy Guy teams up

[@reubenguttenberg7405]

We're sending it back to the future

[@enrimc8454]

Love Magical Pop'n , is a good game , sadly its expensive as f word..

[@verron1600]

Super Ninja-kun is also one that is beatiful one that stay in japan.

[@andrewortiz5797]

Magical pop'n and poko Nyan is so fucking adorable. Its Egg-dorable. Too soon!!

[@bobbyologun1517]

4:52 WHAT

[@williamspell5692]

I used to play Do Re MI Fantasy on my Wii U. Too bad Virtual Console isn't a thing anymore NINTENDO.

[@IvanFranco120]

Magical Pop,n sounds good and intresting Japan only game for mine...

[@tanjobi0202]

I finished Doremi Fantasy twice

[@rodrigogirao8344]

Magical Pop'n is extremely sought and expensive these days because the voice actress was a celebrity who had a tragic life.

[@Bloodreign1]

She was a former adult video star who got out of that lifestyle by choice. She would've made a great anime voice actress I believe, but sadly died in her home, alone.

[@kirimusse]

With so many Disney games, you would expect them to come to the country they originated from, right? *Right?* Also (4:52) that's a weird af summary…

[@italodiscool]

What about the wonderful Umihara Kawase? Not cute enough for the list?

[@m71n]

4:52 you cant just drop a sentence like that

[@andrepizani]

LOL Ikr

[@obscuremix8198]

Some of them look so cute and sweet that I am going to get type 2 diabetes. I am going to play them all.

[@johnangelotenorio]

I understand games based on anime/manga not to be released out of Japan due licensing issues, but games based on American IPs (Mickey Mouse and Back to the Future)?

[@MrMartellSincere]

I wonder if there's any English translation of these games?

[@the-NightStar]

Some of them, yes

[@MrMartellSincere]

@@the-NightStar awesome 🤠

[@Neethan3247]

I wonder what would be people's top 5 games out of this list?

[@あのあれ-w1y]

2:53 何故かチャプターが「ドラえもん」になってる？

[@BitsBeats]

は修正されました、ありがとうございます

[@AR-xd3dp]

I can see why these games never made it state side and cuteness has nothing to do with it,most of these would be seen as copycats,some are of shows that haven't been broadcasted state side,and some are of characters whose popularity either dwindled over time or was minor at best

[@marioreyes7971]

Gameplay most of these games are fun it's primarily due to the cultural differences and the sheer amount of work that'd be done in order to "westernize" these games to appeal to American gamers rather than letting a game stand on its own. Shame too because we missed out on a ton of games.

[@retro3188]

Adorable.

[@yonmacklein]

buen recopilata de juegos cute

[@BitsBeats]

Muchas gracias Yon!

[@the-NightStar]

Can you really call GS Mikami "cute" when the anime it's based on was intentionally aimed at a more mature audience than morning or daytime anime was?

[@TanookiSuit]

Hah younger players, that was some side shade if there ever was saying that about Rockman & Forte. I've had the game a long time (SFC) it's no cake walk. Good list here with some really nice gems, glad I own a few, others like Mikami I'd like but western garbage flippers have driven prices up bad.

[@hedgeetmanu]

Rockman and Bass Cute ? lol Not sure !