Emerald Dragon: Avalanche Reviews

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In the desert wasteland that is modern RPG games, sometimes you have to think outside of the box to find a title worth your time. These last few weeks I have been
doing just that. Emerald Dragon is a Japanese RPG that never made it to western shores, but unlike 90% of the role playing games released in Japan only, this one was
translated by the fans. Now that this little gem is accessible to those of us who can't read Japanese, let's give it a look and see what all the fuss is about.
You can find the translation patch to this game here!
www.romhacking.net/translation...

[@skyrunner14]

Holy crap, I LOVE this game! Thanks so much for reviewing this, this is a game that NEEDS more attention!

[@fireheartis1]

I just randomly found this game on eBay looking up the price of Dragon View. It's only $12.99 for the fan translated version. I might just have to pick it up. Thanks for the review and I will be subbing to you right now.

[@AvalancheReviews]

+fireheartis1 13 bucks for it?! Damn! I'm looking for it right now. Thanks for the heads up, and the sub.

[@zetandpeligaming]

Wow recently subbed, and dug through your older videos. This is a really interesting piece of history I never knew existed. I remember back in 2004-2005 trying to get a fan translation of FF3, which was almost impossible to find. Great stuff

[@muhanc.a.9299]

Just discovered you channel and I love it.

[@AvalancheReviews]

Thanks! Glad to have ya!

[@edoardom.1795]

You're the man! GREAT hidden gems selections!

[@AvalancheReviews]

Edoardo Marciano Thanks! Glad you like em!

[@TWKReviewsOLD]

This game sounds really fun.

[@AvalancheReviews]

Damn fun! Plus it's one of those games that you can just get into. Nothing overwhelming, just brass tacks, no nonsense, rpg goodness.

[@joshuahelmeke]

Dopest OST EVERRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!! I think there is a PC Engine version as well.

[@AvalancheReviews]

It did have a really memorable ost.

[@joshuahelmeke]

Avalanche Reviews, for sure. Maybe not the most iconic, but I got into it; I think it was do to the interesting gameplay as well.

[@LeftoverCultureReview]

I'd love to see your take on Bahamut Lagoon and maybe even Segagaga (Segagaga being harder due to no complete translatation), regardless man, awesome episode. Thanks for posting!

[@AvalancheReviews]

Thanks man, I love Bahamut Lagoon! Never really heard of Segagaga though. Gonna have to check that out.

[@LeftoverCultureReview]

Dear to the heart of any hardcore Sega fan, basically a Business Simulation/RPG/Parody for the Dreamcast. Still holding out for a full translation of it *sigh*

[@AvalancheReviews]

Leftover Culture Review Just looked it up, looks so damn cool!

[@michaelsnow1]

Great review. I'm definitely going to check this game out. Did the white dragon at 6:00 remind you of the Luck Dragon from Neverending Story? I swear that looked exactly like him.

[@AvalancheReviews]

Ha! Mustache and everything!

[@CyrusBluebird]

Emerald Dragon has had its fair share of versions for different platforms. Looking through them the NEC PC-Engine CD-ROM version seems to be the best one with it having more space for voice acting and animated cutscenes, albeit choppy but that's early CD games for you, more so for a 8-bit console. The Sharp X68000 version also seems crisp.

[@AvalancheReviews]

+CyrusBluebird Some of those X68000 games look so damn cool, but there's such a steep price for entry into collecting for that behemoth of a computer.

[@UltimatePerfection]

CyrusBluebird Is there fan translation of the pc-engine version? Would love to play it after I'm done with snes version.

[@jonathanplooij3666]

it is not wrong to emulate old games (mostly because these games get sold for 400 bucks on ebay)

[@Tochir0]

Great review! I'll have to check this one out

[@AvalancheReviews]

Thanks, I love the Galaxy Express 999 avatar!

[@Tochir0]

Thx, I love me some Reiji Matsumoto. I think you're the first to recognize it

[@RPGtourguide]

Jumped over here from your PSO2 video. I've never heard of this one, but it looks like a game I should know about. ;) The Dragon aspect definitely reminds me of Breath of Fire. And the movement range in battle sort of puts me in mind of Lunar, although you don't get as much control over it in that game. I'll definitely check this game out! :) I feel that old games are fine for emulation, especially games like this that would never get played otherwise.

[@AvalancheReviews]

RPGtourguide I feel the same way, but luckily, one of the commenters let me know that Emerald Dragon does have a repro cart floating around out there somewhere, so all the bases are covered.

[@ogdb]

What's the music which plays throughout the review?

[@MathewHaswell]

I thought of Ys too when I played this. Everything about it screamed "Older Japanese computer game" to me, especially the simplistic battles.

[@AvalancheReviews]

Yeah it really does have that feel to it. I think that's why it stood out to me.

[@MathewHaswell]

Ys is my favourite series and learned the tell-tale traits of Asian computer games from playing it.

[@MathewHaswell]

Like Ys - and other Falcom games - this also originated on the PC-88.

[@AvalancheReviews]

Not going to lie, a large portion of my learning Japanese, is to make sure I don't miss out on games like this. I hope to get an old Japanese computer like the Pc88 or X68000 one day.

[@MathewHaswell]

Elsewhere in the world of obsucure RPGs... In late 2016 a full English fan-translation for the Famicom/NES version of Last Armageddon hit the internet.

[@ImportGamingFTW]

Good review of the game, it's nice to see you do one on another RPG. I've been sitting on a couple of RPG reviews myself...they're just so time consuming, so I commend you for having two in just a couple of months. Emerald Dragon has always caught my eye because of its interesting box art....but I never committed to buy because I've played other SFC RPGs where the box art was fantastic, but the game played more like one of the SaGa GBA games...that is, a tad uninspired and boring. After watching your review, I have decided to pick it up and regret not taking the gamble sooner. For me, there's not much better in gaming than a solid RPG.

[@PerrydactylShow]

This game sounds DOPE. I'm a fan of Breath of Fire, so I'm all about dem dragons. Great review as always!

[@AvalancheReviews]

Thanks, BoF fucking rules! Easily the most consistent rpg franchise out there.

[@johnthompson8428]

What translation sites would you recommend?

[@AvalancheReviews]

RomHacking.net is a good place to find new and old translations. They will let you know if it is a complete translation or partial. It's also a good place to stay up to date with new ones being worked on.

[@johnthompson8428]

Cool, thanks!

[@sdragon21]

I think it's perfectly fine to use emulation. But i always use this rule of thumb: If the game i want to emulate hasn't been remade, made part of a compilation, or made available via a service like the Virtual Console or PSN here in the US, then it's fair game. And if it's a fan translated game, i.e. it was never brought to America., then it's fair game as well.

[@AvalancheReviews]

Agreed!

[@zborgerd]

Since emulation doesn't necessarily equal piracy (and vice-versa), this can be a loaded question. I'm not personally a fan of emulation, purely because I'm a bit of a snob about the real hardware and console experience. However, I respect that other people enjoy emulation. Gaming is about the experience that you get from the game. Some people prefer the real deal, while others are cool with the emulators. For me, I usually find that there are technical imperfections even in the best emulators. Generally, it's related to audio. I recently read that only now do we have PCs that are powerful enough to create 100% accurate SNES emulators. We've had full-speed SNES emulators since the '90s on early Pentium machines, but that doesn't mean that they were accurate. As far as the publishers are concerned, it probably doesn't have any significant impact on profits for a game. Fan translations are largely done for games that would never have a market outside of their original release (usually they are 16-bit games). Even in the case of newer releases, emulation doesn't automatically equal piracy. It's entirely possible to play real media on an emulator. And it's entirely possible to buy a real manufactured version of a game while still resorting to a patch for a fan translation. There are some in-between scenarios. If you play PS1 games on a PSP, one might assume them to be emulated, but they are in fact not really. The PSP has a MIPS III processor that retains some of the MIPS I compatibility of the PSOne, so it's not "emulation" in the most literal sense. What I'd really love to see is a game console with a powerful and adaptable FPGA that could be potentially 100% hardware / code compatible with legacy game systems. There are some projects out there, but I've not seen anything that really looks promising. Only then might I begin to sell of some of my retro game machines.

[@electricmastro]

Interesting. Might as well mention some SNES JRPGs I think are worth trying out: The Adventure of Hourai High School Far East of Eden Zero Hot-Blooded Continent: Burning Heroes Lennus II: The Apostles of the Seals The Magical Land of Wozz Metal Max Returns Robotrek Sailor Moon: Another Story Treasure of the Rudras

[@AvalancheReviews]

I have always had a thing for Treasure of the Rudras, also played a bit of Hourai High School. That game is hilarious so far.

[@electricmastro]

Robotrek is also pretty funny, and has a quirkiness reminiscent of EarthBound's. Robotrek also seems like a game which could have easily stayed in Japan, but was actually also localized for America. I think both were easily obscure at one point, but of course, that isn't quite the case now.

[@AvalancheReviews]

+electricmastro Yeah, I remember emulating it, without knowing how in demand it was. I had a lot of fun with it

[@johnthompson8428]

I'd like to see a review for the first Shin Megami Tensei game for an emulator, you would be the first person who reviewed it on this entire site if you did!

[@AvalancheReviews]

Hmmmmmmmm. I might do that, but I have to admit, I'm not a big fan of first person fighting engines, but I loved the Persona, Nocturne and Devil Summoner games.

[@johnthompson8428]

I'm not trying to force you to do it I just think that it deserves some attention, I mean it's the game that started it all, without it there would be no Persona series, no Devil Survivor and no Nocturne or Devil Summoner, and no one has bothered to give a review on it.

[@AvalancheReviews]

I can't believe there hasn't been anything already done on it. It's rare that you find a game that no one has tried to capitalize on yet. I should find out if I like it pretty soon.

[@johnthompson8428]

Cool! I eagerly await your response!

[@metalheadgazboyle]

I think emulating old games is fine, unless you can buy it digitally for less than $5.

[@AvalancheReviews]

True enough

[@Gillian_Seed]

the pc engine ost is better but i cant find the full one

[@MrGhoulster]

I never emulate anything. Because I know a guy that flashes carts, making them regionfree and translated with the version I want.

[@AvalancheReviews]

That's fucking awesome

[@MrGhoulster]

Yeah and Super Famicom-carts are a lot cheaper as well.

[@Ponimaju]

Funny you mention Dragon Quarter, you may be one of the few people who looks positively on it. I haven't played it much yet myself but the reviews I've watched all find faults with a lot of the mechanics.

[@AvalancheReviews]

I really liked DQ. I plan on doing a video about soon. I think a lot of people were expecting a traditional BoF game, and didn't it because of that.

[@iankanderson14]

the game was real not too bad

[@leogirlbabyleo82187]

Awesome video.I think emulation is okey when the absolute final solution when it comes to getting a game that's never release in the U.S(for an unexplained or stupid ass reason)

[@AvalancheReviews]

Thanks, If they won't translate them, we'll emulate them! New warcry

[@SegaCDUniverse]

Nice video bud =)

[@AvalancheReviews]

Thanks man

[@TheUltimateMarioFan]

"Guys' asses"? Just how accurate is this fanslation?

[@AvalancheReviews]

Either it's insanely accurate, and the creators are hilarious, or not that accurate and the translator is a funny guy.

[@TheUltimateMarioFan]

Probably the latter, though I'm sure the original Japanese implied something along those lines. XD Glad to hear this game is actually supported by someone though. Most people always rag on the automated battle system and say the other FMV game was better, so it's nice to hear a fresh opinion. Maybe I'll finally get around to buying it.

[@MenfisRetroSpace]

I don't deal with amulation. I prefer to pay for a reproduction with box.

[@AvalancheReviews]

Can't blame you for that. I don't like my snes carts in cardboard boxes, but I would love a repro of this.