Bizarre Japan Only PS1 Games 【ThorHighHeels】

Racing Lagoon? Racing Lagoon. And a ton of others as well of course.
●▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬●
Links:
Twatter: tinyurl.com/a2ns479
Patronize: www.patreon.com/user?u=2285408
Ask me stuff: ask.fm/ThorHighHeels
My music: adolfnomura.bandcamp.com/music
Thanks for watching!

[@thorhighheels]

SIDE NOTE: I made a short little album with some short little trap / trip hop (trap hop? trip? trop? trip trap?) beats. The whole thing's like 10 minutes long in total. Very cool. adolfnomura.bandcamp.com/album/00

[@GuyOnAChair]

👌

[@actionchie]

Have you considered making more music? I like what you have going here so far.

[@deadsinceforever3724]

Interested in collabs?

[@Seriouskai]

Very cool

[@lepooperman6827]

Pretty damn chill

[@blackwatchbandstudio]

For anyone coming to this video in the year 2021 there is a fan translation of Racing Lagoon in progress, a couple of chapters are already playable UPDATE: the patch is now complete! Amazing how quickly a dedicated team can work on something

[@kamidesu6414]

Link?

[@blackwatchbandstudio]

@@kamidesu6414 it was done by Hilltop Translations, Thor did a follow-up video on the translation and that one should have a link to the patch download

[@kamidesu6414]

@@blackwatchbandstudio thanks!

[@samvimes9510]

Man, I miss the days when devs were throwing whatever shit they could think of on a disc just to see if it worked. The game industry was way more creative in the PS1/PS2 era and people actually took risks. Sometimes the games were more than little janky, but there's a certain charm to that, and when the ideas are cool people are willing to overlook wonky gameplay. Often times the most memorable games are the ones made by creative weirdos (Suda51, Yoko Taro, Hideo Kojima).

[@Hengsbr]

Nowadays all the games are the same

[@Nov-5062]

A Discworld fan eh?

[@ixaac453]

this comments old but i feel compelled to reply the main reason this aspect of the gamn industry changed was due to games costing too much to produce in the modern hd era if you want to compete amongst the mainstream. there is still some good indie games and some other smaller compamy's making interesting games though. just commenting this in case some one wonders why this isnt as common.

[@FerVisser]

I agree, back in the 90's was a bit more experimental though also considering games nowadays cost millions to make

[@ThexXxXxOLOxXxXx]

@@ixaac453 People who watch channels like this one tend to be older gamers so we know. Games used to be much more difficult to develop back then yet studios experimented so much, nowadays it's like all larger companies share blueprints as how to make and implement game mechanics and games in general. no one is innovating, large studios ( which make up most of games sold) rely solely on technological innovation not creativity in when making a game part of the innovation which was occurring back then was due to limited hardware and how developers can make the most of it by thinking outside the box. Yes games currently cost a lot more especially because of the larger marketing budgets, but that doesn't excuse bigger studios with great talent to stick to the beaten path, they're the ones who've the resources to go out of their own way and make different games.

[@mkonji8522]

I was actually working on a translation for Square's Racing Lagoon about 8 or so years ago and sorta stopped about half way through... maybe I should pick it up again as it seems there is some want for it.

[@thorhighheels]

I would be super grateful if you did.

[@WindBendsSteel]

You should definitelly do it!, if i knew japanese i would help

[@mkonji8522]

I have plans to try and get at least 50% of the dialog finished up this weekend. Finished all menus after seeing this video. Not much left honestly. After I finish I'll proof everything then hex dump it so it can be patched to a .bin .cue

[@camranbant]

@@mkonji8522 fucking sick lad, anywhere i can stay up to date on this?

[@kryptomanik]

In the words of ThorHighHeels in this video HRRRRRRRRRRRRNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG~ I think that means a yes.

[@nowheredan27]

I swear to god I’ve played Racing Lagoon before. The weirdest shit made it to Brazil via bootleg CDs.

[@alteregoreview]

Wow Racing Lagoon is oozing with style

[@MrPathorn]

The Graphic looks amazing for the time!

[@r.c.christian4633]

Why is there no fan translation?!?!

[@TJdrums]

BGM sounds great!

[@plottwist1733]

Yeah, I remember playing it through ePSXe back in 2010. I didn't even know what it was, I just saw it on a list on an ISO site and downloaded it. As soon as I saw and heard the intro, I was in love. I actually managed to get quite far through it, even though I don't know Japanese. It's one of the coolest and most unique racing games ever made in my opinion. I haven't played it in 9 years now, but I still regularly listen to the soundtrack.

[@vinceaballa7401]

Indeed

[@yeez13]

Man, Racing Lagoon looks like an alternate reality take on Gran Turismo if Kazunori Yamauchi got really into Street Racing and decided not to go down the “Real Driving Simulator” route. Like how his/Polyphony Digital’s first game was basically a Tex Avery/Chuck Jones cartoon as a racing game

[@UndergroundTico]

Can't understand why I love these kind of videos so much since I never had a PS1 nor any console at all. I guess the retro style and the sense of discovery, since these kind of games are lost in time, are what keeps me hooked up. Thanks for these videos, you'll be great one day!

[@thorhighheels]

It's definitely a sense of discovery for me. There's so many PS1 games out there, digging in almost makes me feel like a type of games archaeologist lol

[@Nimbereth]

@@thorhighheels Almost 4000 games on that console. I've sold mine to buy a PS2 back in the 2000s but I bought a PS1 classic version to feeling the games from the past.

[@shockhs7371]

Racing Lagoon looks a nostalgic game that I never played

[@TMTLive]

「SouthYOKOHAMA...... ...俺たちのSTREET........」 「新しいPARTS」 I want to play this game just for the weird use of English.

[@thorhighheels]

Something about all CAPS english paired with Japanese characters looks so cool to me.

[@RoboBoddicker]

lol i was watching the vid saying "oretachi no STREET" to myself over and over

[@Needle0]

Gamers in Japan who played this game had begun to refer to this weird language use as Lagoonese (ラグーン語).

[@caffeinex3]

Racing Lagoon finally got a fan translation by Hilltop, you should check it out (little tip: always use the side brake instead of the normal brakes, it's just much better)

[@Zayindjejfj]

The amount of nostalgia I felt at the options menu at 5:37 was immense. I actually felt a certain type of way that only old ps1 racing games make me feel.

[@thorhighheels]

R4 Ridge Racer still has some of my favorite menu/UI designs ever.

[@Zayindjejfj]

@@thorhighheels I'm actually disappointed just as you were in the video that I can't play that game. An Rpg racing game.

[@LukasRocks001]

God, I wishs they still made games as stylish as smooth as Racing Lagoon. Everything now uses the same dry minimalistic style.

[@ThePerspectionist]

Wow, you talked about Racing Lagoon. I've been drooling over the style in that game for years. Still hopeful for an english translation. Great work. You just totally get it.

[@vojtisekhovor]

There is an english patch

[@reallybigmistake]

Japan used to make so many of these Japan only games it sucks that most of them went from consoles to handhelds and now mobile. ps1/Saturn/ps2 are a treasure trove of these type of games

[@thenothing2786]

The algorithm has smiled upon you.

[@FakYuhGoogel]

God damnit, I love the style of Racing Lagoon. I wish I could read and speak Japanese fluently...

[@pan4662]

Most of my PS1 to-buy list comes from these very informative and awesome Japan only videos. It helps that we have nearly the same taste too, so yeah thanks for the choice content my dude

[@TckeyTheGlove]

Love your transitions and cuts, very much fits the strange mid-late 90s Suda 51 type feel you mentioned some of these games having

[@jaaykaay]

Just chillin with coffee.. * Evil Fly Enters * *RAAGGGEEE!!!*

[@svetoslavivanov9458]

You really bring in to the weirdness with the background music and final thoughts on each game :D that Africa cover...

[@crusader1472]

That MetalJesus joke had me dying lol.

[@ronindebeatrice]

The cameo?

[@Teheskimo]

Wow the Racing Lagoon soundtrack is awesome! In fact, after hearing just 2 songs I thought something about it sounded REALLY FAMILIAR about the sound and composition of the songs. They sounded just like the Final Fantasy X-2 soundtrack. A little googling and I found out that Racing Lagoon and FFX-2 have the same music composer! Funny how you even mentioned the first FFX in the video as well, maybe that is part of what made me notice the music sounded similar. Good stuff, thanks!

[@randybutternubs4647]

I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I absolutely LOVE 90s marble and mahogany aesthetic. Especially in 3D 32 bit graphics. (Bonus points if it's on the Saturn or 3DO.)

[@grimpyrox1683]

Great vid as always man. Hats off to you for the M.J cartoon at the end.

[@VZed]

Love these kinds of videos. I'm interested in the weird stuff out there but i'm not exactly jumping at the chance to try it out myself.

[@thorhighheels]

To be honest if it wasn't for this video I wouldn't be playing most of these either.

[@madcat4563]

It's amazing to see people put the effort in to translating a game. I am currently watching Thorhighheel's ps1 videos. And Moon (the anti RPG) has been translated as well as the prologue of racing lagoon. Also King of crusher

[@Andy-kf4ug]

That MetalJesus in the intro tho. hahaha Love you both keep up the amazing content. I missed your videos man.

[@rachrasterbutt]

i'm so glad i found this channel. it's like classics of game but with words.

[@3van1993]

Winback still holds up today. I've been replaying the campaign and still loving everything about it

[@Sandro234]

Racing Lagoon's OST will now be gracing my car's speakers for the next, oh I dunno, ETERNITY. Thank you.

[@ooferrell]

Exactly what was saying!!!

[@TimeBunny]

I’ve just discovered your channel today and I’m binge watching at work. Your videos are well researched and presented. I’ve found them very interesting and entertaining.

[@basedsketch4133]

The jazzy drum and bass in the racing lagoon map menu was nice

[@DeathToJihad]

That was a pretty vicious MetalJesusRocks burn there at the end.

[@edxmon]

This is the "Regular Car Reviews" of video games.... I LOVE IT!

[@araknair9605]

Gonna need more of these videos, great stuff

[@kudosbudo]

How do they get in the cars with shoulders that wide?!

[@Vonalray]

Damn, Racing Lagoon looks amazing. And I'm not even into racing games.

[@Frank_42]

I just watched Space Pirate Cobra. It's basically like Total Recall. I'd recommend for anyone who likes Lupin the 3rd type Anime.

[@greenhowie]

Sold.

[@lionheartxiii7122]

A classic

[@SpektreProxy]

I am officially addicted to Racing Lagoons OST. Thank You! ^_^

[@rjmario2234]

what a great thumbnail to see. very eye-catching and great video!

[@gabevodrey4392]

Hands down these videos are the most fun and interesting videos on KZbin.

[@ncshuriken]

When being able to physically time travel back to 1997 for about 5 days isn't possible :( Oh wait, I wouldn't've been able to play any of these games even if you could, but man the PS1/N64/2D & Early 3D arcade, and even the PS2 days were the days to grow up as a gamer!

[@Dookie5495]

Good video as usual Thor. Very informational. Racing Lagoon is very A E S T H E T I C. (The South Yokohama Joint is so good.)

[@LPGrodus]

6:38 Damn this music and Megaman network transmissions music sound really close to each other. That one song anyway. 12:07 wow you don't see that every day. Great video Thor! Some of the game titles sounded right out of a horror game though.

[@Yt-jc5sj]

15:35 that COMPLETELY careless burp awarded you a new subscriber, my good sir

[@mthwr]

Your channel is important in my life like the snail scene A MUST

[@Paur]

God, I see what you mean about getting the creative juices flowing. King of Crusher's on to something. Fix all the jank and give the man a moveset and some combos that evolves as you transform, along with the usual unlockables like extra playable characters, wrapped in a ridiculous and fitting B monster movie plot, and you'd really have something here. Perhaps the new King of Monsters.

[@Ryuu2609]

You know what's a REAL hidden gem? Your channel, keep it up

[@RexcorJ]

RACING LAGOON FAN TRANSLATION IS A GO, LESSGOOOOOOOO!!

[@khoikidd]

Racing Lagoon?! I had to subscribe , you know the truth man, glad I've stumbled across your channel, blessings upon you.

[@hellwolf7]

This kind of content is the reason i subscribed to your channel and i consider you my favorite youtuber.

[@thorhighheels]

aww thanks!

[@eduardohoyos885]

u got a new sub. 2 and half years later. i need this kind of sht that i never played

[@kingjoe3rd]

"ThorHighHeels" sounds like a randomly chosen XBOX Live username.

[@thecandlemaker1329]

You say that these games can't be played without knowing Japanese, but Russian game journalists played games in Japanese in the 90's, obviously without knowing the language. They didn't even speak English in the first place, and no games were translated into Russian back then, so they determined the controls and gameplay via trial and error. Then they just applied the same approach to the Japanese games. I still have a journal lying somewhere with a walkthrough for some Phantasy Star game, obviously in Japanese.

[@hugodogobob]

@@MisfitoX wut

[@Nesty9]

I played dino crisis in japanese

[@HaohmaruHL]

As a Russian I can confirm. We couldn't be stopped by some text. Now Russian gamers are whiny. "Game isn't localized in Russian = I'm not playing it" attitude

[@brodymiller7304]

racing lagoon looks so great man, time to crowdfund a sequel

[@CodingGenesis]

Thank you for sharing those games. You totally made me wanna play Racing Lagoon. I think I'll get myself that game. ^^

[@nikodem123asdf]

I cannot believe just how stellar that point and click looks, it's some of the most detail you see on PSX models, I man hell I don't know of any game this old either PC or otherwise that had lip sync on actual models.

[@WoobooRidesAgain]

You know, the sad part is, Racing Lagoon might have had a U.S release had it only come out a few years later. The Fast and the Furious came out in 2001, just two years after Racing Lagoon was released, and that movie effectively kicked off the American version of the pop culture street racing craze. I bet Square would have loved to have released it then, but by that point the PS2 had released and there must not have been much point in porting over a PS1 JP exclusive.

[@helgenx]

Everything about Racing Lagoon is done so well... Except the actual driving, it's really kusoge in that area.

[@raidenthekat2444]

I think this is the first time i have heard someone say FF10 had "flaws" and they had to "look past them" to enjoy it. Everyone i know holds that game in the highest of regards.! Learn something new everyday

[@MyAulos]

side note: the GOAT Hilltop has also now translated Aconcagua.

[@r3n837]

Oh goodness, not the south american woman being called pachamama, that just feels like a slap in the face on my indigenous ass. I'm currently going on a marathon of your content and i'm loving it so far!! I hate not having found your channel earlier, your content is so good ahhh!

[@Thr33Sh33ts]

Another awesome channel...yes! Subscribed!

[@Arcanua]

I find it amusing you mention the whole just letting go of accelerate to do turns, I always play racing games like that and it tends to beat drifting does too. So long as you're good at it.

[@OniBaku123412]

I just found out your gem of a channel from Super Eyepatch Wolf. Your videos are amazing, keep it up!

[@_EVANERV_]

Holy Shit!!! I LOVE COBRA ANIME!!! The intro alone puts this late 70's early 80's gem in a league of its own!!

[@prenoko]

first time seeing your channel; Im 10 minutes in and i am really enjoying your content. Thanks and keep up the great work.

[@MoonSpiritChannel]

Glad to see someone loves the works of Japan's eccentric collection of PS1 games. Makes me want to get a region-free PS1.

[@shortbreadhead]

just came across your channel from my random diving into documentary times on horror games and lmaaaaao at the Metal Jesus dig at the beginning, you've earned your sub. Hey I like the guy but he really don't take no risks and it's boring sometimes

[@hemangchauhan2864]

Dude, I'm shocked looking at that anaconda game. A PnC adventure game on PS1, with amazing graphics, and good story?! Also the cover art is also rad?!

[@thorhighheels]

Yeah same. Would've never found out about if it weren't for a random commenter. Was surprised to see how good it was.

[@allnodding9666]

7:17 “look at it and feel things” and i’m staring at the six foot porpoise stuffed animal my wife won at the carnival

[@zolikat4458]

Holy SHIT! I thought that R4 was the best looking game on ps1! That racing lagoon game is INSANE

[@jh316]

Racing Lagoon is giving me extreme front mission 3 vibes I can't quite put my finger on it

[@DiddlyDiPotatoes]

Man I love when you talk about obscure Japanese PS1 games. Always a fun time. Think I wanna give Racing Lagoon a go at some point. Aesthetic as fuck.

[@santiagogustavoo]

As of this comment, Racing Lagoon, Aconcagua and Project Laika have released patch translations. If only we could get Kowloon's Gate...

[@EIMisionero]

Great video as always! Your content is always so unique and good. I just can't get enough of it. I've been somewhat depressed lately and this video managed to get some hearty laughs outta me, and by the end I was with a big ass grin on my face. I thank you for that. Anyways, damn, the aesthetics of that Racing Lagoon game look hella sexy. While I was watching the footage, I just kept thinking how right up your alley the whole thing seemed. I'd love to see more videos similar to this one. There are so many weird and cool obscure games for the PS1. I feel like revisiting some of them now.

[@thorhighheels]

Thanks! Glad I was able to make you feel a bit better. I've also dealt with depression a bunch, and being able to binge watch KZbin videos at the time, really helped me through it, so I get where you're coming from :) And yeah, I'm totally gonna do more of these. Nothing super regular, but a sequel is already in the works!

[@piccolo3291]

"ever wanted to know what Initial D would be if it had a smooth jazzy soundtrack and square circa 1999 storytelling?" yeah, its Wangan Midnight

[@francogamer3468]

Weird japanese ps1/ps2 games make me happy :)

[@TheLegionsama]

Cobra was one of the anime I watch when I was little all the episode are free to watch here in youtube but in french (my language) also good video dude !

[@batlin]

"as you Jack Torrance your way around Tokyo" - ha!

[@Drag0n2Fire]

Your English is pretty funny. Like it makes sense but is just a little off every now and then. It keeps me on my toes just waiting for that one weird cadence or sentence structure hahah

[@KaMui_AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs]

7:18 - 7:45 hits me hard with nostalgia: the music, this game-directing, the atmosphere... this is pure gold!!!

[@Skellingtor97]

Holy shit, I played Racing Lagoon with my cousin like ages ago. It took me this long to rediscover it (and the name, which I had forgotten). What a godsend of a video

[@puxtbuck6731]

I was mildly shocked by the thumbnail for a second

[@TheOneAndOnlySame]

I enjoy your channel very much .

[@Zontar82]

man i really need to play racing lagoon...drum n bass music, cool cityscapes, style and more style

[@urzirwanomar1962]

Racing lagoon!! Such as frigin good Racing RPG!! I miss that game man. Thank you for reminding the memory

[@ignaciohinojosa4287]

love this channel

[@YouTube82123gw]

so glad i subbed to your channel

[@olafbuddenberg4787]

What made me lol was the Toto track "Africa" playing in the background of the Aconcagua gameplay. :)

[@DurianKing]

Game Idea: King of Crusher Battle Royale 100 players randomly drop in a large city where you can destroy everything. All melee no guns. The things you destroy gets absorbed. The more you destroy, the bigger you get. You develop monster attributes based on the things you absorb. When you meet another player, you either fight like a fighting game if your sizes are similar, monster hunter-like, or colossus-like if you're smaller, or godzilla-like if you're bigger. NPCs either shoot at you or run away. You win when everybody else is dead.

[@kaiokendo]

19:56 he has to JUMP that crevice -EXTERMINATION,2001

[@mimipeahes5848]

"and we just got caught up IN YOUR FUCKING WAR?!" absolutely murdered me omg . like I did not expect his blocky ps1 face to try to convey such strong emotion

[@geminielectro]

Woaaah! It's clearly the best Metal Jesus fanart i've ever seen in all my life!!! ^_^

[@recoverymza]

Greetings from Memdoza, Argentina - where the Aconcagua actually is ;)

[@TheMauroxdrew]

I subscribe because of this video, maaaan is super entertaining!!! I want more like this

[@Roxas661]

Man, what I would to to see a current gen remake of Racing Lagoon. Inertial Drift is a definite tribute to it and Initial D but...idk this game blows me away, menus so sleek like the old Ridge Racer games mixed with Persona, mix of rpg and live races and an amazing soundtrack, oomphf, gets the seratonin pumping. 😍 It was waaaaay ahead of its time. It's really unfortunate we westerners missed out on this one.

[@christophercarlozo5691]

PS1 Quarantine Zone...nice

[@pixelsbykris5494]

THAT COBRA GAME IS SO BAD-LOOKING I LOVE IT I’M SCREAMING YAAAAAAASSSSSSS!