Oh, so this thread is for discussion of translations, rather than just for posting new ones.
Well, just like when prototypes are released for old hardware, a new fan translation is the only time I get that “new game on christmas morning” feeling. Many average gamers wouldn’t believe this, but it’s far more exciting to me than any new game on the market in the past two generations.
And since most of the games I play are fan translations, and I keep track of all of them as best I can, there’s no way I can remember to list every single one here. Better off just posting the root folder of all my ROM translation libraries.
I’m more concerned about spreading awareness of games that seem like they’d be translated by now, if only people on the english web were aware of them. Here’s my thread for the 1997 Game Freak title no one talks about for some reason. May seem like entitlement, but with how passionate we all are about these games, I feel it’s nearly an inevitability that everything will be translated. Just the past 5 years or so, translations have been completing at an amazing rate compared to before. I’ve mentioned before (and was corrected by @Syzygy) That nearly every last RPG for Super Famicom has been translated. I’ll never forget how it felt waiting for Mother 3’s translation from the day it released in 2006.
The first game I ever patched into English was Princess Maker 2, PC version. I was eleven years old, far too young to be on internet forums.
Here comes a rant, if you want to avoid negativity, or just don’t care about this, you don’t have to read this. @donrumata sorry I am just dumping buckets of criticism on these fan projects… I’m all for people making whatever they want, but yeah I personally really dislike the creative and artistic choices made in that mother hack, especially the enemy sprites. I find it presumptuous to call something “definitive edition” or “anniversary edition” also.
I admit my bias is that I find most MOTHER fan projects are taking themselves way too seriously and making the same presumptions.
Just as I am 100% more interested in “ODDITY” once it had changed its name from …cringe… “MOTHER 4”, I would be far more interested if this was called “MOTHER - DragonDePlatino Edition”. There’s similar stuff in the works for MOTHER 2, that is claiming outright to be the new definitive edition. Again, I find this to be presumptuous and in poor taste.
If you replace all the original art assets with your own questionable drawings, you don’t get to call it the definitive edition. It is now XxGamerBobby2001xX’s edition.
Another example, breaking up the aesthetic of the original text boxes to add a name to it is not necessarily a QOL improvement. I’m in the Discord for this hack and have stated my opinion there as well, so I’m not even talking behind their back on this one. At least it’s open source.
Usually, these creators include optional patches. In this case, they don’t, and, since it’s an amalgamation of many other patches as well, it comes off as very self-promotey. I’m also not the only one who feels this way. The creators usually are really into promoting themselves as creator of the “definitive edition”.
A lot of it is appeasing the people who vocally dislike the game, why pander to them? The intention behind changes like this seems to be an appeal to western tastes, and making the game more Final Fantasy-like. I feel this detracts from what made the game unique in the first place, and totally misses the point.
An example of how to do it respectfully: The creator of AM2R could have very easily called their game “Metroid II: 30th Anniversary Edition” since it released right around the anniversary of the series. But instead, they gracefully took the humble path, Another Metroid II Remake. As though it were just another one amongst the many that tried and failed over the years. (and I remember those many)
I’m fine with people making whatever they like, but the presumption here, the gall of naming it something pseudo-official is what’s so off-putting. I acknowledge these people’s hard work while criticizing them constructively. End Rant.
@exodus I’m normally sensitive to fidelity issues and only play on originally intended hardware. But Cave Story feels like a very mega-drivey game. The waveform instruments were translated beautifully to the MD sound chip, that’s the main reason why it feels so right. Not to mention the Mega Drive controller superiority. Since I’ve played Cave Story so many times, since the original release, I’ll accept the loss of fidelity here. I played the MD version through back in 2017, and then once more recently when a major patch was released. Very exciting! 
All that said, another favorite is delocalization / uncensored versions. I hardpatched my MOTHER 2 cartridge to english with a patched version of Earthbound that puts the awesome MOTHER 2 title screen back in, along with alcohol references, adult themes, and nude Ness in magicant rather than PJs Ness.
Fan translations give us the chance to change history, and our cultural lexicon along with it. Like words determine thought, video game-cabulary determines taste and world view, and game design theory. The more unique experiences we can enjoy terrestrially, the more the industry as a whole can expand. That is why, in some cases, it is weird to make a decidedly non-squaresoft RPG wear the Squaresoft mask. The fact Earthbound was mainly compared to FF6 and Chrono Trigger ever since it’s western release is a cultural narrative I’d like to change, and it already is– Now it’s mostly compared to Persona and Undertale. :P
There are people out there waiting for games to release that have already existed since the 90’s. They just can’t read them!
Translate Shigesato Itoi No.1 Bass Fishing and/or Shigesato Itoi No.1 Bass Fishing Definitive Edition.
