Japanese Konami NES Games We Never Got in the United States

Konami is one of the best companies on NES. So many classics here in the states but they also had some 40 games in Japan that we never got to see or play. Here's a brief look at most of those games.
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[@JohnRiggs]

Nintendo Famicom Games that Never Came to US kzbin.info/www/bejne/gZqVoKCFicuYgM0 Capcom Famicom games we never got in the states kzbin.info/www/bejne/rWHEpZRunb2EgJo Hudson Soft Famicom games we never got kzbin.info/www/bejne/b3yVdn6Nl9Jki8k Sunsoft Famicom Games we never got in the US kzbin.info/www/bejne/laGVZ2ujn7VonsU

[@spayseghost]

the driving game ws night driver

[@TheMortalkombat2007]

United States did get Kid Dracula fully localized in the Castlevania Anniversary Collection for modern platforms in 2019. I was surprised you did not mention that.

[@VIRACYTV]

A lot of these games have *eventually* came out in North America in one way or another in the decades that followed. That’s why he specified we never got them on NES in the title.

[@pandsanthi9072]

In Brazil we had a lot of these games. They were not released here, but since Brazil has the biggest japanese population outside Japan, many of those games were available. Nintendo only released the NES console here in 93, so we had a lot of non official consoles that had both the american and japanese slots for the cartridges

[@Xanatos21]

So thankful that I live in a time where these can be easily played on my PC or smartphone via emulation. Kudos to the fans who also took the time to translate a lot of Japan-only games that we never got in North America.

[@markg155]

Most of these games were also released for the MSX in Europe. So a lot of people who had an MSX back then could enjoy a lot of these titles, despite them not being available for the NES.

[@BigOleWords]

Lagrange Point is insane. I think a few of those got PAL releases like Road Fighter and Formula 1. They also got a total Konami exclusive in Europe and Australia: Konami Hyper Soccer which is is pretty fun :)

[@Kanovich_]

The game of the chubby penguin brought back memories for me. I used to play it a lot when I was a child, and I had completely forgotten about it. Here in South America (Argentina), official Nintendo products didn't reach us, so through piracy, we received many copies of Asian games and Japanese exclusives (and we had to play them like that, without knowing Japanese).

[@used39]

I love that the music in Kid Dracula is just a variation on some of the Castlevania themes, but in a major key.

[@DigiPen92]

@JohnRiggs In 13:53 for Kid Dracula NES, technically Konami did brought NES Kid Dracula to the West in the Castlevania Anniversary Collection. It’s technically the first Western release of the NES Kid Dracula.

[@RobertBottoms-rg3yo]

Thank you John for all of your videos. I watch them to help calm down my constant anxiety. Your positive attitude is so soothing.

[@cencil6497]

Wow, I have childhood memories playing almost all of these games due to owning one of those "500 in 1" carts, and I had no clue most of them were Famicom exclusive until now.

[@yaboywilly4224]

Same here

[@travistouchdown9448]

You just talking about multi carts reminds me of Taiwanese night markets that sold them in the late 80’s and early to late 90’s.

[@bamsegod]

Awesome video John. As someone who grew up in India at the time, these are the games we had in an unofficial Nintendo called "samurai". No overseas company was allowed at the time in India so Nintendo created this top loader called samurai sold by a "local" company. I always looked for those games like pooyan, kungfu, road fighter, twin bee and circus but never found them and now it makes sense.

[@Pixelmusement]

Some of the Gradius II music can be heard in the Captain N episode where they introduce Game Boy, though I think it might be because said music might also be in the Game Boy Gradius games; not certain on that. Also, in my early teens in the 90s I had a Korean friend who had an NES bootleg multi-cart and as such I got to play a whole bunch of those early Japan-only Konami titles long before most people knew they existed! :D

[@Sucker_MC]

Great video, John! Enjoy your weekend!

[@forcedfeedbackclassicgamer5499]

Gradius II is a gorgeous game, unbelievable graphics. Love Quarth, still a pretty unique game after all these years. Kid Dracula is great, probably the second Famicom title I ever owned. Parodius is really good on Famicom, actually a great entry level shm'up for people new to the genre. Lagrange Point is nice, but almost more of an interactive novel than a game at times. Crisis Force is awesome, but the cart can be $$$$.

[@SaintKaede]

Great as always John. So many great games we never got here. I knew most of these but I didn't realize some other ones...King Kong?!...Have to give a huge nod to Lagrange Point though it isn't a top tier game by any stretch but still good. However though Konami loved to make special chips to add more to their games and Lagrange Point is one of two games to get the VRC7 which improves the music and sound effects of the game. The music legitimately doesn't sound like it is on the system it's so unique well worth just hearing that if nothing else.

[@NipplesTheEnchilada2323]

Kid Dracula on the Famicom did eventually get a full localization in the Castlevania Anniversary Collection on PC, Switch, Xbox One, and PS4, so it can easily be gotten there if you don't want to import.

[@WatchSnatcher]

My dad came home one day from work with a 72 in 1 game cartridge and it had most of these bangers, it was amazing

[@ragnarrandom7367]

goemon is my favorite "not enough love in the usa" series

[@danholo]

Thank you so much for the video. You granted my wish!!!

[@TIDbitRETRO]

Dream Penguin Adventure is an awesome side scrolling platformer with one of the most hilarious premises for a game ever. Lol

[@HiNRGboy]

Not to mention all the Konami MSX and Disk System games we didn't get over here too that would've been great on NES

[@type0negative55]

road fighter was my first game i ever play. great video! chears from argentina

[@MotherKojiro]

Esper Dream 2 is easily my favorite game in the entire NES library; I did also play the first one for the Famicom Disk System, and it wasn't bad, but not quite as good as 2. I love how the weapons are different guns, so you'll start with a bow, but get things like boomerangs, land mines, and even a flamethrower. Pacing is great, and it's not grindy, plus the worlds are really unique.

[@ladyjaye27]

Here in Montreal, Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa is known as Mario Baby, thanks to bootlegger Micro-Genius. So many mom and pop video stores had it as a rental back in the day! The bootleg game came with a game converter so it’d work on the NES.

[@crazedlink]

@10:42 Gradius 2 is one of my favorite vinyl in my collection.

[@BurstError]

great stuff in here, never saw that Motocross game before!

[@TeleNostalGeek]

There is also Arumana no Kiseki (The Miracle of Almana) from Konami but on Famicom Disk System. It's probably my favorite one with Goonies (some sound effects are even shared by these 2 games!).

[@OlivierCaron]

I had a lot of those games on our 190-in-1 cart! They were great.

[@danielkun616]

I remember playing circus charlie on the terminator console, a famiclone which was popular in my country, anyway great video and man, I have such great memories with circus charlie

[@rave715]

Good to see you this morning

[@waltsoph3]

Oh man its a shame we didn't get these titles in the states. Some of this look awesome! I use to have Goonies 1 and Gradius 2 on famicom. What a shame these weren't ported on the US system. There really fun and challenging. Thanks for the video JohnRiggs! 😀

[@rocky1169pt]

Back when i was a kid, i remember playing circus charlie several times but barely passed the 2nd level. Hard as hell but still fun...

[@Hotsuma2711]

Kid Dracula is probably my favorite Famicom games ever, for sure.

[@Jackalope592]

A neat idea for a video would be to look at some of the coolest manuals

[@n8ivegogo1]

Konami officially translated Kid Dracula when they released the Castlevania Anniversary Collection a few years ago & it’s much appreciated because there’s a quiz show level where you have to answer a few questions. I probably would’ve guessed the answer if I had to play the FamiCom Version

[@n8ivegogo1]

& I’m absolutely loving these vids❤

[@BENULTIMAN2000]

Great Video Though I'm surprised you didn't mention any of the Konami Games that were exclusively on the Famicom Disk System

[@neilthomas6042]

Having read Retro Gamer and watched other KZbin channels, it appears that a few of these were released in Europe on computers. Being a console user I missed them at the time.

[@ezequielgomez7083]

My Favorite Famicom Konami Games Twinbee, Falsion 3D, Waki Waki World, Circus Charlie, Quarth, Road Fighter, Parodius and especially my all-time favorite The Goonies.

[@JohnC19902]

Thanks for the entertainment, John

[@cliffjumper1984]

early days of getting into collecting for me, looking for Goonies 1, knowing that I played it for years on a players choice cab. that starting my overall learning for the NES/Famicom as a whole, and never looked back. Wai Wai World 2 is one of my top favorite Famicom game

[@xmini-ul7je]

Would be cool to see a similar video on those great Snes/Super Famicom games that never left Japan, like Rendering Ranger, Gundam E.D. (both 16megs, slowrom, no chips.), Art of Fighting 2, Flying Hero, etc. See ya.

[@Perfect1583]

I own some cool Japanese releases still sealed in the plastic. I have MGS3 Subsistence (first run). Links adventure for the famicom Disc system. McDonalds Happy Disc and several others. Keep up the good work and keep these videos coming!!!

[@dansalmon8]

Ai Senshi Nicol is an excellent game that was missed in this list, although it was technically released for the Famicom Disk System add-on

[@janX9]

6:31 "where does the door go, where does the door go!" Leaves screen 😮 Comes back towards door 😁 Goes to next game *JUST BEFORE* Entering 😢 "Shoot! Now I must play too find out!"

[@JohnRiggs]

haha, just an underground part of the game.

[@justinmohan7103]

So many games to explore so little time

[@VEGANVANIA]

Also by Konami: the Famicom Disk System version of Gyruss. That version never came out in the united states, although a cartridge version did -and the FDS version is the greatest version of a truly great game.

[@JohnRiggs]

FDS will always be a superior version.

[@user-eh2mi2oh4h]

Now we need a video about Japan exclusives that were developed by Nintendo.

[@nicegan8902]

One of the best gameboy games ever is a Konami Japanese exclusive too. Cave Noire is a portable roguelike with randomly generated dungeons and everything from 1991, years before things like Mystery Dungeon appeared on SNES!

[@dionelr]

The Famicom gradius games have almost no slowdown because in Japan they were less stringent on pcb board designs and extra accelerator chips. In the US, they didn’t want extra chips, so the games here suffered more slowdown (but then Nintendo could have more control). 😅

[@hectormontalvo5565]

So many neat games! But I wonder back when the NES came out I was beginning to study and work and could bearly keep up with the amount of games being released in the US. So if all of these games were released I just wouldn't be able to afford them. Anyway great list of games and cool video John!👉😃👈

[@dire51]

Plan on covering Konami's FDS exclusives, like Almana no Kiseki and Falsion, at some point? Also, if I recall correctly, the Famicom Yie-Ar Kung Fu was based on the MSX version of the game (which itself got a sequel that never left the MSX, much like Antarctic Adventure's sequel, Penguin Adventure).

[@wongyc5585]

The US fans felt the pain for not having such release for Crisis Force,Wai Wai World 1 and 2,twin bee 3,Gradius II, Parodius ,King Kong 2 and F-1 Sensation.

[@czmisfitsfan]

Okay, it was a trip seeing a boxer from Panama in that boxing game and it wasn't Duran. Our country rarely pops up in sporting games. Also, I could've sworn Dragon Scroll came out stateside.

[@Sarcophagus74]

You get cool points for saying Gradus the correct way. Drives me nuts when ppl say Gradeeus.

[@pixelsncreatures]

I still have Goonies and Kid Dracula. I also have “Castlevania 3“ I've been wanting King Kong 2

[@josevillouta4588]

Road Fighter was released in Europe under the Palcom brand

[@JesterEric]

Yume Penguin Monogatari is said to be the third game in the Konami penguin trilogy. Antarctic Adventure is the first and Penguin Adventure the first game Hideo Kojima worked on (msx only) the second. In Penguin Adventure, which is Antarctic Adventure on steroids you have to travel round in order to rescue Penguette. When he stops travelling and settles down he gets fat

[@nathanwallace3337]

I grew up playing Antarctic Adventure on Colecovision. I've been wanting it on Famicom.

[@Sinn0100]

Great list Riggs! I wish we would be gotten Gradius II for the Nes. One of my favorite games to play was Life Force. The game had incredible graphics and the power-up system was next level compared to anything else. Fun Fact or not so Fun Fact- The reason we didn't get Gradius II was because it used a specialized chip that was designed by Konami. Back then if you wanted to create an Nes game you had to go through Nintendo as they made all the cartridges. Typically companies like Konami would just use a Nintendo made chip for the features they needed. Unfortunately, Konami's chip was far more advanced than anything Nintendo had at the time so it stayed in Japan. Also with only being able to produce 5 games a year in the US (Nintendo rule) they decided porting Gradius II might not make as much as a Castlevania like III and they were probably correct. Such a shame. Fun Fact 2- Excite Bike actually did get a sequel in Japan only. It was called VS Excite Bike and it's fantastic.

[@shigshug8581]

This is a good series, please more Japanese games we never got.

[@galadriusthemighty]

The Goonies! It just makes no sense.

[@bigandyt-man3010]

I cannot agree more!!!

[@jeffhauser8031]

Dragons Scroll looks like it uses the engine from Metal Gear 2 for NES, even same art style with the thick borders.

[@claytonmiller3754]

@john Riggs I'm actually shocked there isn't a komani 8bit anthology, kind of like the midway collections for PS2 back in the day....

[@kombatfan28]

Kid Dracula is also on the Castlevania collection on Xbox One and Playstation 4

[@patrickhein6986]

In Europe we got lucky and had gotten Parodius through Konamis Palcom Sublabel. Great Game.

[@JohnRiggs]

Crackout, too! (We never got crackout, and came out in Japan as FDS

[@lldjslim]

I also wish Konami would do a graduis collection and a twin bee collection, I love that 1st twin bee game

[@dericrobb7224]

Although it's not the cartridge, I do own Kid Dracula on the switch. The game came with the Castlevania Anniversary Collection that I bought a few years ago. It has a lot of Castlevania packed in!

[@JohnRiggs]

great way to play it.

[@marctoad]

I used to play Antarctic Adventure as a kid (Canada) all the time on one of those bootleg multicarts that everyone seemed to have. 100-in-1 maybe.

[@chauncypeppertooth9438]

That’s crazy! I never knew that two Goemon famicom games were rpgs

[@zacholdgames]

Great video do you have a list of the games according to timestamp ?

[@JohnRiggs]

I don't. I'd rather people just watch the video so they don't miss out on any games.

[@AFFL1CTED1]

Mr. Riggs, could you please list the titles of the games in the description? I'm trying to search for a game based on your pronunciation @6:39 ... it's not going so well, lmao. Even when searching for "Kadokawa Shoten" from the title screen I'm still not finding it. EDIT: I just found it... "Hi no Tori Hououhen: Gaou no Bouken" is the title.

[@MarshallFlores]

Crisis Force and Gradius II are two banger shmups that push the Famicom hardware to its limits. Awesome games that are among the best for the generation.

[@oscaruglyface]

Yie Ar Kung Fu is definitely the first 1 on 1 that I remember but for some reason Budokan on the Genesis was the first one I played a lot even though it doesn't hold up today lol

[@DeanMcFarland]

Weird, I swear I remember playing Circus Charlie on our NES when I was a kid.

[@AngryCalvin]

GetsuFumaDen is a must! The remake on Steam comes with the original. It wasn't difficult to spot the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles mechanics. Really tragic this game didn't make it here. It's Konami so you know it's going to be good.

[@paulwilliams9381]

Hey Big Riggs! Great video. That penguin game reminds me of a Sonic hack... Sonic gets fatter and slower when he collects rings, and if he gets too fat and dies. Out of curiosity, have you tried seeing what happens if the penguin eats too much?

[@JohnRiggs]

If you eat too much, it just means you need to get more diet drinks before you lose weight.

[@mevb]

The animals that you try to dodge in Arctic Adventure aren't otters but seals as it makes more sense. Seriously, otters in the Arctic? It's too vold for them to live there.

[@mattmctaggart8836]

I like these but what I really want is more ranking videos for the NES…I know there are ones that were missed!

[@joesshows6793]

Good stuff

[@Big5mokE719]

Kid Dracula is one of my favorite nes (fc) games. It's amazing I've beat it multiple times. We got it in the u.s. on gameboy but it's not as good

[@GenerationPixel]

I get that some games might have not translated well back in the day, but a lot of these games are universal. Shmups, one in one fighters, and the like were played the world over, so who knows the logic behind not making these world wide releases 🤷‍♂️ And Yie ar Kung Fu got a release on the 8bit Microcomputers such as the ZX Spectrum (which is where I played it).

[@johngavalas74]

Gradius 2 is the best shoot em up on the NES next to Crisis Force it would of been sweet if both came to the United States

[@toddburgess5056]

Whenever i need a Gradius fix, I play my Gradius III/Gradius IV disc on Sony PlayStation 2

[@geminisfl]

The good thing about having a FAMICLONE, is that I could enjoy most of these only japanese Konami games.

[@bigandyt-man3010]

This is why for many many years I was so confused as to why I went to the store back in the day and saw Goonies 2 for the NES on the shelf, yet I had not seen or heard Goonies come out before.. especially because I was, and still am, a Goonies film lover! I mean TRUFFLE SHUFFLE people!!!! ... GOONIES NEVER DIE... ok I feel better now... 😊

[@mjdf122]

John Riggs early in the morning

[@zoolaspring]

Contra - different japanese version, looks same but more interesting, cause map and animations

[@JohnRiggs]

Yeah, we were ripped off on all that awesomeness.

[@mr.horseshoe2301]

Kind of irks me how many retro gaming KZbinrs never learned to pronounce Japanese. It took me a day or two to learn. The good thing about Japanese is that there is only one way to pronounce a certain syllable (unlike English).

[@duhmez]

Thanks bro, just oaded WaiWai world and goemon and bio aby game onto my everdrive

[@spoonshiro]

The late 80s/early 90s was peak Konami in my book. So many killer titles. Then one by one their IPs just disappeared into the ether...

[@MaxOakland]

Poo Yan is fun and addictive. Not sure how I’ve played it before though 🤔

[@catholicactionbibleonlyist1813]

The name escapes my that car toy you were talking about my OG Church had one

[@bok3rnes425]

But good news is that they're still playable. Via Console or emulator. Great Review John ❤❤❤

[@JohnRiggs]

well, yeah! How do you think I captured this footage ;)

[@lldjslim]

Konami had a fetish for penguins back in the 80's and 90's

[@SPac316]

We never got Gradius 2 in the states either

[@thecunninlynguist]

I wish we got the Noah's Ark shooter stateside, least it's in English via PAL

[@manichispanic999]

I’m willing to bet that a bunch of these games didn’t get released in America bc they had special chips and at that time Nintendo of America didn’t allow special chips in their nes games. Pretty weird.

[@TAFKABB]

I thought Arumana no Kiseki would've got a look in, great Indiana Jones style game

[@JohnRiggs]

It was FDS. Even more games on that.

[@derrickbeaubearic4100]

Antarctic Adventure almost looks like it came off of the Atari 2600 console 😄