Love the Sega CD version the best. Working Designs did a great job bringing it out in English. It was a monster task since every line of dialogue was fully voiced. Impressive for the time and a lot of fun. I just sold my original copy for $800 and put the money towards a savings account for my brother and niece in case something happens to me. Been going thru a lot of my collection that I've amassed since the second generation of games and selling off stuff that I no longer use. Collecting simply for the sake of collecting doesn't mean much now that I've gotten older. Great show as always Mark.
Ah, I sold off a large chunk of my complete Japanese Saturn set a few years ago. It was great to have over a thousand different Saturn games but at the end of the day most were just sitting on the shelf, never to be played. So yeah, I can understand where you are coming from. As we get older our needs change.
And at this point, these games are easily emulated. Saturn is pretty impressive on a desktop from the last five years with RetroArch. Get that bag and use a small bit of it to pimp out a rig.
Lucky I was playing backups of old games I didn't own WAY before this bubble started in vintage game collection. I do have to admit that emulation of disk drives has some way to go, though.
@@RetroCore Unfortunately, Working Designs made the US version of Popful Mail FAR too difficult for its own good, just like what happened with Vay, Exile II, and Elemental Gearbolt.
To think the Japanese voice actress for Mail is the same woman who did the female half of Ranma, and Lina Inverse, amongst many roles, Megumi Hayashibara. First time I heard the Japanese version, there was no mistaking her voice.
Popful Mail should have been the standard all 2d platformers looked too when porting games to the Mega CD. Reminds me of Rondo of Blood. Those animated intros look amazingly retro 👍
There is an "Un-Working Designs)" patch out there as well. Can't say that I have played it yet, but these patches typically lighten the difficulty and rework the script to be more in line with the Japanese originals. Happy hunting!!
@@FoxbatStargazer Yes. I really enjoyed Victor Ireland's efforts in bringing these games out in the West that no one else would touch. I actually didn't have an issue finishing the game and even unlocked the extras by doing it in under 5 hours. I doubt I could do it now though. Lol.
@@FoxbatStargazer As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, I can’t personally say whether the original script or the Working Designs one is better since I’ve never had the opportunity to experience the original in a language I’m fluent in. That said, from what I’ve read, I feel like it may be more accurate to call the Working Designs script a rewrite rather than a translation.
There was something special about those old Falcom RPGs. I've played all the console versions of this game, and my favorite is actually the PC Engine version. I love the chunky little sprites and classic Falcom "smash into things" combat.😂
This is totally silly, but I remember seeing the Popful Mail name in a magazine and I thought it was an e-mail service - since e-mail was the new hot thing in early 1996 in Brazil. I didn't paid attention. I only realized it was a game much later, in mid-2000s, when I found it in an emulation site. 😂
Thanks for the video! The Sega CD version was one of my favorite games growing up, so this was a nice little trip down memory lane for me. I know Working Designs humor isn't for everyone, but I liked the overall feeling of the story more than the other versions. For me, making the setting a bit more goofy just worked, at least at the time. Really didn't need the gameplay balance adjustments, though, but at least it was just be slightly more annoying and grindy, rather than nearly unplayable. Once again, thanks for your work on the video.
I never understood why Falcom's RPGs on SEGA consoles got unfairly reviewed by Famitsu. They always bring the SNES versions higher than the in-house SEGA developed versions, even though almost every single SEGA version seems to be better. ..Eh, still better than modern gaming "journalism"
I kinda get why that would have happened to both "Legend of Heroes" games; their graphics were directly converted from the PC-88 version without concern for the much more limited resolution, causing screen crunch. Everything else, though? How?
I think the Sega CD version not being developed directly by Falcom enabled a fresh perspective that opened the door for alterations and improvements that Falcom would never have considered. Sometimes it's a disaster, sometimes though the stars align and it works out. I'm not generally a fan of 'reprogrammed by Sega' releases, I despise their version of Toki for instance but this time they surpassed the original.
This was lead by a group jointly created by Sega and Falcom, called Sega Falcom. They did a very sweet job in everything they created, also with the Mega Drive versions of Lord Monarch, The Legend of Heroes and The Legend of Heroes II (these were never brought outside orf Japan, Lord Monarch was fantranslated some time ago). Too bad their other planned games like the Mega CD version of Brandish and especially Ys IV were sadly cancelled. I'm sure their version of Ys IV may have been stellar and maybe even better than the famed PC Engine CD version.
First time here. Loved the in-depth comparison. I didn't get the chance to play this one, but I remember seeing an ad for the Mega-CD version. I think it was in EGM. Keep up the good work!
Gotta say each version looks and sounds very different to eachother! Perhaps excluding the updated version on the PC98, but at least it's an upgrade and not just a straight port~ *cough modern day systems*
One cool thing about the SNES/SFC version is the HUD moving to the top and bottom of the screen, depending on where you are. Always lets you be able to see everything
I remembered this game from when I was a kid. My friends brother had it. Fast forward 30 yrs & thanx to the wonders of emulation I finally got to play it. Killer!
I thought I had a complete collection of western published Falcom games, until I learned Popful Mail was a Falcom game. Then I checked its price at eBay. Sorry but it seems my collection will always be incomplete. I can live with that.
While it is different to the original I actually kinda have a soft spot for the Working Designs translation here on the Mega CD. Is it accurate to the original Japanese version? Not really but for the time it's a lot better than many other translations we were likely to get (if we got any at all) and probably the best one Working Designs did. Hell it's far better than the original Ys on Master System which did get a release in America and Europe and they couldn't even spell the main character's name correctly calling him Aron instead of Adol Christin or even the name of the game, it was stylised as Y's instead of Ys (sighs). I did not realise about the lower bitrate though in the Western release and the Japanese version is superior mainly through that alone probably. Anyway, the game is actually really good, it holds up surprisingly well, I only really found out about it having played some of the more recent Ys games by Falcom and having enjoyed those ended up learning there was over 40 years worth of titles I barely knew anything about. I'm now knee deep playing the Trails series which might just be one of the longest and most ambitious set of games out there with a story all interconnected to one another spread over 11 games. Seriously though if you like classic JRPGs then don't sleep on many of Falcom's titles as they are very underrated here in the West.
I somehow thought the PC88 was on par with an 80’s dos CGA system, never knew the resolution was so high and it could scroll anywhere nearly as smoothly as it does
10:52 The Arcade CD-ROM² version was not developed by Falcom, but by HuneX, which was an joint venture between NEC and Human Entertainment. Unlike Human, HuneX still is doing games for many platforms, except for Xbox systems.
@@TurboXray Those Xanadu games are not "ports", but rather completely original games called "The Legend of Xanadu" that were made during the short time in the early 90's when Falcom released a few console games themselves. Falcom didn't develop any other PCE games themselves. The Legend of Xanadu games are mostly unrelated to the original Xanadu, and are great games by the way.
@@RetroCore Also, you said in the video that the PCE version has 2 new original maps. Actually, it's 3 not 2. One for each character. The interesting thing is that you can't change characters during this portion of the game. Each new map is designed to be played as a particular character.
@@metalman_j Freudian typo. I meant 'games' not ports. I know.. I imported them when they first came out. But anyway that's my point; during the time Falcom was developing on the PC-Engine, this game was released. So I just naturally assumed Falcom had also directly handled it.
I remember wanting to get this game back when I had a Sega CD-ROM on my Genesis, (I had the top loaded model,) but the only store I could find it at was charging so much for it that I couldn't afford it. I was in college at the time and didn't have a lot of extra money. Can't remember how much it was, but I ended up getting a RPG instead. Until I saw your video, I had forgotten all about it.
Got a copy of the SEGA cd version. Love it, only complain is that you have to walk too close to the edge of the screen to scroll it. Makes for cheap enemy hits.
I wish that Popful Mail PV got turned into a short anime. It didn't look spectacular, but with Megumi Hayashibara voicing the main character and doing the theme song it'd be better than a lot of the OAVs of the time.
There is a Popful Mail promo anime (maybe a little over five minutes long) called "No No Pessimist" with Hayashibara, so there's at least that. It's on TH-cam.
In retrospect, there was no need for it. This game was largely derived from Slayers, both in characters and world designs. It made no sense to create 2 animated series with similar settings and characters, if anything it's a bit unprofessional too.
My brother wanted to play the Sega CD version for the longest time, so one weekend I finally let him play my copy. It didn't take long for the changes Working Designs made to it to put him off the whole thing. Still, I managed to get through it, and it's a charming if flawed game. I probably prefer the Sega CD version over the Super Famicom and PC Engine, but I haven't touched those in a while. Great video!
I really wish there was an English subbed version of the Sega CD version. Some of the American voice acting is painful, and as for the script, I know a lot of diehard Working Designs fans are in love with it, but I find it’s hard to compare two things when you’ve only actually experienced one of them. If anyone DOES want to play the game in English, though, I strongly recommend looking up the un-worked designs patch that’s floating around out there-it fixes all the artificial difficulty Working Designs added to the gameplay to try to force people to buy their games instead of renting. Also the PC Engine graphics may be more simplistic than the Sega or Nintendo versions, but they’re adorable.
I heard there is a demake of the working designs release but I don't know if it removes the horrid voice acting and puts the Japanese voice acting back in.
@@RetroCore Assuming that’s the same as the Un-Worked Designs patch I mentioned, it doesn’t. It only fixes the mechanical changes. Sadly, as most CD-based games of the era don’t have any kind of in-engine subtitle tracks for voiced cutscenes, adding subtitles in is challenging enough before even talking about sourcing an accurate translation, which can make coordinating a proper translation patch for these sorts of games almost impossible.
@@diebesgrab If the cut scenes are actual video files (I'm not sure if this is the case looking on how clear they are) it is possible to re encode and hard sub them. Like it has been done with other Un-Dubs of newer systems (PS1, PS2,)
@@GenesHand Because of the limitations of the video hardware of the 4th generation systems, and the codecs available at the time, cutscenes in these games are pretty rarely video files, and are instead programmed to be generated by the system hardware.
If it wasn't for working designs we wouldn't have gotten the very best games on the Sgea CD and the Saturn. Without them we would have gotten almost no RPGs on both of those consoles in the West and we would never have experienced Lunar 1 and 2, Magic Knight Rayearth, Albert Oddessy, Shining Wisdom, Arc the Lad collection, Alundra, Growlanser Generations and many more Japanese RPGs and other games on the PS1, PS2, Sega CD and the Sega Saturn. Those generations would have been much worse without the work done by Working Designs.
Thing is, most of the English speaking world didn't get them. Only the US did. Working Designs never released games in other English speaking parts of the world 😔
This is a game I tried a few times on emulator and even though it was hard, I still wish it was released in Australia. I saw it being sold at a gamer's market about two years ago but it was going for like $800AU but it was amazing to see in person though!
Well this is quite the revelation...a videogame software where Sega's internal dev team in Japan made mind blowing next generation leap of a game for MegaCD hardware... Now you know what I'm gonna say... the 32X should never have existed and certain Sega of America management staff should have been "let go" before launching the Sega Saturn and of course THAT is the best way to assure resources to make a 32Bit Sprite graphics remaster or remake for the Sega Saturn hardware... yes because we know that despite MegaCD doing well in Japan it simply didn't sell the multiple millions of systems that Sega Saturn did. That and Sega's MegaCD Final Fight CD also on Sega Saturn too. Anyways... amazing and no disrespect towards the original creators of the game since the MegaCD didn't exist when those NEC PC-88/98s were released. Then there's the Super FamiCom and NEC PC-ENGINE Super/Arcade version... I mean just using the Super CD-ROM2 should have meant a bigger boost than what we have here but this seems like a design decision since we know what the Super CD-ROM2 is capable of... but the Super FamiCom version??!! That should have been the best possible ROM Cartridge version (only ROM Cartridge)...maybe they should have put a longer development term and get a bigger ROM size in 1995 but as it is why would they not play test to see if that game design change was gonna be a problem but looks good as a challenge with cheating save states... Isn't the Super FamiCom version using battery backup?
The 32X was a waste of time. The time spent on that should have been used to develop real Mega CD games. There are a few Japanese Mega CD games that really show what the machine could do. Sadly, most western studios besides UK based core design just ported cartridge games to it or crappy FMV games. The SFC game is using battery back-up from what I know.
@@RetroCore I feel there was some type of corruption on most of the Western game publishers and developers on the Sega Genesis/MegaDrive where for example that conversion of Mortal Kombat 1 and even MK2 does NOT represent the capabilites of the original Sega MegaDrive hardware and there is a Brazilian fan/hobbyist programmer who has so far made a WIP conversion of the original shoddy conversion of MK1 that actually gets much closer to the arcade original. I say corruption because in the U.S.A. the Sega Genesis was originally aimed at late teens and older audiences but that changed in 1991 when a certain big shot kept claiming to the face of the entire Sega brand. By 1993, MK was a highly anticipated game similar to SF2 in 1992 and instead there was a questionable effort put into the Sega MD/G version with what was definetly a pre-planned MegaCD/SCD port that was rather sloppy effort and gave people the impression that the Sega system was weaker than the competition. As far as the Live Action FMV games... well that's all the shadow and salesman pitch from the 90s Sega of America... even though I knew Popful Mail was out on the SegaCD back then, the gamer magazines hardly reflected this in North America... instead the image on live action fmv games was constantly on gamer magazines from America That really hurt the image of the MegaCD. Ok then somehow Falcom made a faux pax
@@RetroCore But yeah, indeed, when I saw the 32X show up out of nowhere in 1994 gamer magazines it was a bit confusing because we already actually knew that there was a big bruiser 32bit powerhouse named "Project Saturn" during 1993... I even went back and double checked many gamer magazines and found a mid to near late 1994 EGM magazine which had a Sega of America rep or staff actually admit that the 32X was a Sega of America idea, NOT Sega Enterprises or Japan... Old interviews do back this up with how Tom Kalinske kept diminishing the Sega Saturn as a hardware platform since 1993, deep into 1994 and during 1995 and even to this day... that quack pushes the notion that he believed he was gonna get "Sega" to work with "Sony" to make a "Sega Station" and it's sad because people who were younger than their mid teens, who were not working gamers or late teen adults or 20 year old adults with jobs and videogames as a hobby that they and casuals easilly take those stories in the American books as fact instead of a biased perspective and twisting the truth to make certain people look less incompetent and worthy of being fired... basically 32X was a pure Tom Kalinske and Joe Miller idea... a sales pitch that Sega headquarts in Japan should have vetoed to kill that 32X fiasco from happening.
This is why I love this channel series. I never even knew there were any versions of this other than the Sega CD one. Even if in this case, none of them could compete.
@@RetroCore 😆. You’re not lying. I’m actually a long time American Computer gamer that only really delved into console games during the Sega years that never really cared much for Nintendo outside of their many great story driven linear JRPGs that have been fan translated from the NES/SNES years. But I know you made that statement somewhat in jest. To this day, the only physical console japanese imports I own are either for the Dreamcast, Saturn, PSX, or PC Engine and one obscure super famicom title I have no means to play, RPG Maker II. Which I only purchased because I’ve been obsessed with the RPG Maker series since I played the almost finished fan translation of II back in like 97. All that being said, outside of some of the MSX and Sharp titles that I’ve emulated, I know basically nothing of the japanese PC market if it hasn’t been translated and/or ported or emulated to faster machines. Kinda makes me wish I learned Japanese instead of or in addition to Korean and Spanish. Until that happens, your channel is where I’ll learn about it.
I should probably play through the SFC just to experience it. SegaCD one, well yeah MegaCD one, is great! I actually like the PCE-CD version being an upgraded version of the PC98 version. I love that it's cutesy version and not just a clone of the MegaCD one. One thing I will say about the SFC version - the music technically isn't that good, and it hides it with the consistent 'reverb' of all instruments. I found that kind of annoying. I'd rate them MegaCD 1st, PCE-CD 2nd, SFC 3rd..
Hmmm. Welp, this happens to be those moments I don't have much to say since I'm unfamiliar of it Mark. But well done for sharing this for us to learn. 8^) Anthony..
I had no idea this game started out as an old pc8801 game, my only exposure to the game when i was a kid was the sega cd version, which looking back on it now, I'm surprised they localized it at all. Thank god they didnt make it into a sonic spin off game.
Not even a contest, the Sega CD version kills it. I actually enjoyed the game, difficulty and all. Plus the soundtrack was awesome too. Best looking and playing version of the bunch.
Interesting. PCE port's mad cute with the new sprites, but it does feel like a design choice aiming for the original. Technician in me thinks the 8bit limits of the hardware would have hit the end product a bit too hard if trying for double-height sprites like MD/SFC.
I don't know about that. There are so many games on the PC Engine that really do look 16bit and there's games on the PC Engine that are also on the Mega Drive but the PC Engine version blows the MD version away. I think it was more a case of a quick and simple port.
@@TurboXray Yeah, but have you played Falcom games? They have never been on a technological advantage, instead sticking to what they do best which is making one solid game engine and jamming really great games into it, until it gets so old it falls apart and it's time for something new, and they do it better than Bethesda.
@@Mamiya645 I'm not sure what that has to do with using sprites 2x2 larger? I mean it literally has hardware sprites up to size 32x64, and the same vram size as MD and SFC. It doesn't take any more cpu resource to show those larger sprite cells than it does to show the smaller ones. Collision is the same too, regardless of the size of the box. It's just an aesthetic thing for Falcom games on PCE. Has no bearing on the PCE hardware and capability, like it does for PC88 and PC98 systems where the cpu actually has to do the sprite drawing.
Thanks for the video Mark 💕 Btw have you ever done a battle of the ports on gunbird? Isn't there different version on ps1 and 2? Regional differences? Cover art and so on? Thanks again 💕
Thanks for watching. Hmm, Gunbird only really has two ports, Saturn and PlayStation. All the other versions are variations of Arcade emulation. Maybe I can do it as a quick video and include the awful renamed US PlayStation version as well.
Hey! It's one of those fabled GOOD Sega-CD games that isn't just a cartridge game with CD niceties slapped on it! The US market was starved for those, which is probably one of the factors in the platform's failure here.
It indeed would have been awesome to see a proper PC Engine port with graphics and gameplay more in line w the Mega CD version. That would have been awesome to see. The colors probably would have outshone the Mega CD version at least.
I don't agree with you over Working Desgins sorry. Also the Japanese version had audio compression running at 22.05 Khz in parts, because the Japanese version also came out on one disc and also had over 2 and half hours of spoken dialogue. I liked the fact that the cloud effect was better in the USA version too, a shame that WD made it harder mind
The only source I can find in English is the Wikipedia page. Taking a look at the audio files could show the difference I guess but I would presume they are stored on the disc as some form of PCM track.
@RetroCore Volcanic zone exploration PC engine CD Popful Mail I found it and wow I only played the Sega cd version but love thus melody if not equally more! Thank you again for for the upload :)
Another great comparison video even though I'm a fan of Working Design's translations (not so much of their gameplay alterations, though). I wish there was an English patch for the SFC version. I bought it in the 90s since I love the Sega CD game but without english translation it's nearly impossible to beat. Is there even an english walkthrough for the game?
pc 88 always impresses me because its games always look so janky, but sound so good. Also, is there a version of the Sega game with English text but the original difficulty? Or even a retranslation that's more accurate to the original
Hi, this is not related but an oratorio tangram botp sound nice, there is not just a dreamcast and xbox port but there is also a naomi version that isnt just a lasy port of the dreamcast version but actaully completly changes the soundtrack and adds new characters, this very naomi port is also the basis for the xbox 360 version.
I'd also love to see a re-translation patch for the Sega CD version that restores the original dialogue in the cutscenes so we can see how the original story actually was vs the radical changes Working Designs made. I actually really like the changes from what I've seen, gives the game some nice humor & has some of my favorite scenes because of it. But I would love to see the original dialogue too just to see how it compares.
I'm actually working on the dialogue translation right now. I can tell you the overall dialogues aren't very radical like it's western port, it tells a basic high fantasy story, with simple, to the point conversation. Are there gags? Sure there is, but it's mainly tailored to a Japanese audience, and it's in the tone of the voice actors and their method of delivery that makes the joke, not the content. Hopefully, I can get it out sometime this year. I'll need to look for someone who can create patches. If that's a no go, I'll just upload gameplay videos with subtitles (since the dialogue changes depending on which character is in use, I'll probably have to do 3 separate videos, one for each character)
You misunderstand, I'm not getting someone to do an English rendition of the translated Japanese script. I'm simply translating the script itself, then see if I can either get someone to make a language patch for it, or I just create a set of subtitles, hard code it into gameplay videos and let viewers see the dialogues that way.
@@jackylee5850 Oh I see what you mean. That certainly sounds cool. What I originally meant though was that it would be cool to have the actual voiced cutscenes use the original dialogue & have those be in English, just to see what the original Japanese script experience would be like. Subtitles along with the original Japanese voicework would definitely be the next best thing though! I'd play it!
I don't understand your reviews. you slash the use Sega version (bad voice acting, changed story) , the pc engine version too (no action anymore) and yet you say the super famicom version which has the action and no bad voice acting is the worst? please explain again, the SF looks amazing to me!
@@RetroCore I got that game and the Sega CD version and I disagree. SFC version plays wonderful to me, you probably compare it too much to the original or you just aren't good with that game. To me the Sega CD version just way too easy.
There seems to be graphical improvements to the WD English version. Would gladly get the Japanese Mega CD version if the menus weren't in Japanese, haha Really hoping someone like Limited Run reissues this game.
I like the portraits and cutscenes art/design style of the PC Engine CD version better, but there's not doubt that overall the Mega CD version is the superior one. The Sega Falcom group that was created jointly by Sega and Falcom did a good job with the games they did, too bad they were short lived and aside from this Mega CD version of Popful Mail, they also did the Mega Drive versions of Lord Monarch, The Legend of Heroes and The Legend of Heroes II (which I hope you will do Battle of the Ports for all of them so they are showcased, they are very good too). They also intended to do Mega CD versions of Brandish and Ys IV, it was a shame not to ever see what they were able to do with those ones given the quality of their other games, especially with Ys IV which maybe it would have resulted the best version of that game too.
@@RetroCore To be fair, until Memories of Celceta all previous versions of Ys IV were not made by Falcom anyway, though the Sega Falcom collaboration making a version for the Mega CD would of been neat to see.
When I was playing this US version is was wondering why on earth it was so difficult compared to my Japanese original. After a bit of research I found it was yet another game Working Designs messed about with.
I've heard of this game quite a while ago but still haven't gotten around to trying it out. It looks interesting. Unfortunate that the early PC version chose such a simplistic attack mode as simply running into enemies.
Only played the Sega CD version and yeah not a fan of the western version, need to try the japanese one. Also the music in both the PC-88/98 versions and the Sega CD are the best, it shows that the music was composed with FM in mind. The Sega CD version uses the PCM soundchip for the percussions and other instruments but also both the FM and PSG chips of the MD. The PCE arrangements are nice too, just not as great imo.
I'm sure there are but I tend not to play the Western versions. I know Time Gal is missing the vocal theme song and most voice acting in the western release.
Popful Mail became one of my favorite SEGA CD game after being introduced to it later on by a friend of sorts. I put it in my top 3 favorite SEGA CD games, but I'm also weird and probably in the vast majority of people because my favorite SEGA CD game waffles between Final Fight CD (which isn't too unusual of a choice) and Vay (which I'm not sure if anyone else besides me actually loves). Of the other versions, I've only ever tried the Super Famicom version, and that was >20 years ago and without a translation, and I didn't play a whole lot of it (I certainly didn't feel like I was missing anything by sticking to the SEGA CD release). I should give the Japanese Mega CD release a shot as some point, but that might require not being lazy on a weekend or something haha...
@@RetroCore I'm glad there are some people out there that appreciate Vay 👍. I got my copy decades ago by keeping a girlfriend's copy after breaking up because she couldn't be arsed to give back my copy of Puggsy...🤦♂️
The mega cd/ sega cd was released in April 1st!?!? I feel that the this port is a joke for the many ports of mega cd that are just mega drive/ genesis games
Mega CD all the way! Man, I have to give Working Designs props for at LEAST we got a western release. The bad translations? You just had to grin and bear it . Always wanted to play this game, never knew of the other versions.
The PC Engine CD port is just the last iteration in the NEC PC line, the Sega CD is a complete remake, both are good imo. Personally, I prefer the Sega CD version.
That being said, I very much like the upped difficulty as the game would be FAR too easy without it. It's now a bit challenging but nothing too horrible, and I imagine it would be REALLY easy if the changes weren't made. You are now forced to learn the boss patterns or you will die horribly which I like. You shouldn't be able to just breeze thru the bosses. I can understand those who aren't pro gamers not liking the difficulty but I personally like it a lot. Luckily there are patches out there that get rid of the added difficulty for those who struggle with it.
The PC Engine does have a vastly better colour pallet and can show more but it lacks ram which is where the Mega CD shines. There's only a small clip shown on this video but the Mega CD version is animated so well were as the PC Engine is mostly a few frames of animation and stills that slide across the screen.
@@RetroCore Still, I also think the animation design of that intro is better, even if overall it's not as much fluid and vivid as the Mega CD one. Probably a matter of tastes though. In every other single aspect the Mega CD version is undoubtely superior.
@@RetroCore The animation engine is amazing, I think few games on the system use similar style, lunar 2, lodoss war, vay.. all other games fmvs are just a grainy dithering mess
Not a fan of the working design's version, and that's not just because of the artificially increased difficulty. All these western pop and film references just sound out of place in a high fantasy setting, with elves and dwarfs for crying out loud. There's also some minor changes, like a pot of tea was changed to coffee. What, tea is too "oriental" for the west? Perhaps the best part of the Sega CD version was the voice acting. Although the English version had mostly voice actors with limited experience under their belt (John Truitt is pretty good I admit) the Japanese version used some very big names. Case in point, Megumi Hayashibara, widely regarded as the Queen of voice acting in Japan, with a legend like her endorsing the game you just know it must have high production value, she wouldn't just work on any random game unless it has merit and requires her talent
I 100% agree with you about working designs. They totally ruin games with all the stupid childish humour and American pop culture (there are many countries that speak English including the original who couldn't care less about the poor pop culture references and "humor".) And why did they always have to make the games more difficult? I tried playing through their English translation of Magical Knight Ray earth on the Saturn. Oh my God, the voices and awful "translation" put me off so much.
Well the English version was released in '94, and back then game rentals were still a thing. Hence, they likely raised the difficulty to ensure players don't beat it too quickly, which translates to more profit for rentals Although in this case, there's really no such thing as beating it "too quickly" as this game takes an average of 4 hours to beat, for an action platformer this is way too long. Players could certainly do without the extra difficulty that lengthen it unnecessarily
That whole game rentals thing is a strange one. Japan has had game rentals since day one yet it saw no need to change any western made games when they were brought over to Japan.
Best guess, Japan don't feel the need to erase cultural references from a western game to suit it's own audiences. The west on the other hand can't say the same, there's a reason "Americanization" was a thing back then, publishers tried hard to make an imported Japanese game appeal to it's own audience by removing any Japanese references in favor of western cultural cues that the average westerner can relate to. In the end it boils down to a difference not only in culture but mindset as well
Nope, they suck. They are often quite far from the original dialogue. I'm also not a fan of many of the voices used. I guess if I couldn't understand the original it wouldn't be a bad.
I hope that's sarcasm hahah A lot of people hate WD. BITD we tolerated it because it was the only way we got to play translated versions, but that doesn't people liked what they did with the localization. WD was a necessarily evil, but that doesn't mean people were fans of their work.
wait what seriously Sonic Sister ? are you saying that Sonic actually should have Sister ? now I really want Sega make Sonic Sister with RPG element than Platformer game.
Yeah, seriously. This was probably the code name for the game but it would have been a game related to Sonic and probably a sister. Thank god Sega never went through with it.
@@RetroCore i just remember wasn't there Sonic older sister from Sonic cartoon where Sonic use music to kill his enemies ? I forget the the title of show but it's quite entertaining at least to my youth back then 😌.
![[TH] 2024 PMSL SEA W2D5 | Fall | พลาดวันนี้ จะต้องเสียใจ](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/A5-Cuo12p6A/mqdefault.jpg)
Love the Sega CD version the best. Working Designs did a great job bringing it out in English. It was a monster task since every line of dialogue was fully voiced. Impressive for the time and a lot of fun. I just sold my original copy for $800 and put the money towards a savings account for my brother and niece in case something happens to me. Been going thru a lot of my collection that I've amassed since the second generation of games and selling off stuff that I no longer use. Collecting simply for the sake of collecting doesn't mean much now that I've gotten older. Great show as always Mark.
Ah, I sold off a large chunk of my complete Japanese Saturn set a few years ago. It was great to have over a thousand different Saturn games but at the end of the day most were just sitting on the shelf, never to be played. So yeah, I can understand where you are coming from. As we get older our needs change.
And at this point, these games are easily emulated. Saturn is pretty impressive on a desktop from the last five years with RetroArch. Get that bag and use a small bit of it to pimp out a rig.
Lucky I was playing backups of old games I didn't own WAY before this bubble started in vintage game collection. I do have to admit that emulation of disk drives has some way to go, though.
Quite right Kellin. Working Desgins did a awesome job and their voice acting was even better than the Japanse version
@@RetroCore Unfortunately, Working Designs made the US version of Popful Mail FAR too difficult for its own good, just like what happened with Vay, Exile II, and Elemental Gearbolt.
To think the Japanese voice actress for Mail is the same woman who did the female half of Ranma, and Lina Inverse, amongst many roles, Megumi Hayashibara. First time I heard the Japanese version, there was no mistaking her voice.
Megumi is a legend in voice acting. She also did Ichinose's son in Maison Ikokku. Probably her first work I was aware of.
And she was Rei Ayanami, just to point out her sheer RANGE.
She also voiced one of the Tanuki in Pom Poko :) and tons of other stuff!
And Faye Valentine in Cowboy Bebop.
Jessie in Pokémon and Ai Haibara in Detective Conan.
Popful Mail should have been the standard all 2d platformers looked too when porting games to the Mega CD. Reminds me of Rondo of Blood. Those animated intros look amazingly retro 👍
There is an "Un-Working Designs)" patch out there as well. Can't say that I have played it yet, but these patches typically lighten the difficulty and rework the script to be more in line with the Japanese originals. Happy hunting!!
Unworking usually focuses on mechanics, the "creative" translation for this game is definitely part of the charm!
@@FoxbatStargazer Yes. I really enjoyed Victor Ireland's efforts in bringing these games out in the West that no one else would touch. I actually didn't have an issue finishing the game and even unlocked the extras by doing it in under 5 hours. I doubt I could do it now though. Lol.
@@FoxbatStargazer
As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, I can’t personally say whether the original script or the Working Designs one is better since I’ve never had the opportunity to experience the original in a language I’m fluent in. That said, from what I’ve read, I feel like it may be more accurate to call the Working Designs script a rewrite rather than a translation.
Thanks for letting me know about this!
My favorite Sega CD game by far. Absolutely underrated!
There was something special about those old Falcom RPGs. I've played all the console versions of this game, and my favorite is actually the PC Engine version. I love the chunky little sprites and classic Falcom "smash into things" combat.😂
This is totally silly, but I remember seeing the Popful Mail name in a magazine and I thought it was an e-mail service - since e-mail was the new hot thing in early 1996 in Brazil. I didn't paid attention. I only realized it was a game much later, in mid-2000s, when I found it in an emulation site. 😂
Lol, that is such a funny story 🤣👍. I can certainly understand that.
Thanks for the video! The Sega CD version was one of my favorite games growing up, so this was a nice little trip down memory lane for me. I know Working Designs humor isn't for everyone, but I liked the overall feeling of the story more than the other versions. For me, making the setting a bit more goofy just worked, at least at the time. Really didn't need the gameplay balance adjustments, though, but at least it was just be slightly more annoying and grindy, rather than nearly unplayable. Once again, thanks for your work on the video.
The NEC PC version just got released as part of the EGG CONSOLE collection on the Switch.
I never understood why Falcom's RPGs on SEGA consoles got unfairly reviewed by Famitsu. They always bring the SNES versions higher than the in-house SEGA developed versions, even though almost every single SEGA version seems to be better.
..Eh, still better than modern gaming "journalism"
well it is called "Famitsu" for a reason LOL nintendo bias
Yeah, Famitsu pride themselves on being fair and correct but they sure do have some questionable scores at times.
I kinda get why that would have happened to both "Legend of Heroes" games; their graphics were directly converted from the PC-88 version without concern for the much more limited resolution, causing screen crunch.
Everything else, though? How?
@@jonespianist3189 *_Almost_* every single version :p
@@909crime Why are your replies always hidden for a day or two before appearing? Could've sworn Retro Core was the first reply
I think the Sega CD version not being developed directly by Falcom enabled a fresh perspective that opened the door for alterations and improvements that Falcom would never have considered. Sometimes it's a disaster, sometimes though the stars align and it works out. I'm not generally a fan of 'reprogrammed by Sega' releases, I despise their version of Toki for instance but this time they surpassed the original.
This was lead by a group jointly created by Sega and Falcom, called Sega Falcom. They did a very sweet job in everything they created, also with the Mega Drive versions of Lord Monarch, The Legend of Heroes and The Legend of Heroes II (these were never brought outside orf Japan, Lord Monarch was fantranslated some time ago). Too bad their other planned games like the Mega CD version of Brandish and especially Ys IV were sadly cancelled. I'm sure their version of Ys IV may have been stellar and maybe even better than the famed PC Engine CD version.
i have been waiting for someone to showcase all the versions of this game. thank you!
First time here. Loved the in-depth comparison. I didn't get the chance to play this one, but I remember seeing an ad for the Mega-CD version. I think it was in EGM. Keep up the good work!
Thanks for watching. Hoping you'll enjoy other videos in the series.
Awesome video,really enjoyed it.
There's a patch for the sega cd version to bring it back to the original Japanese,makes the game way more fun.
Ah, now that would be a well needed patch.
Oh and of course I forget to mention how great this game's soundtrack was. Seriously Falcom make some absolutely awesome soundtracks for their games!
Falcom do indeed make some awesome soundtracks. I still remember being wowed by the main Dragon Slayer world theme.
Falcom are musical geniuses when it comes to compositions, they are among the best in the industry in the musical field
Excellent episode, really enjoyed this game back in the day
Gotta say each version looks and sounds very different to eachother! Perhaps excluding the updated version on the PC98, but at least it's an upgrade and not just a straight port~ *cough modern day systems*
One cool thing about the SNES/SFC version is the HUD moving to the top and bottom of the screen, depending on where you are. Always lets you be able to see everything
Yep, a feature we don't see too often these day. It's surprising how many games from back in the day actually did that.
YES!!! YOU ARE THE BEST MARK!! Great job as usual bud!!
Thanks! 👍
@@RetroCore So was the Mega CD your favorite version or was it one of the NEC PC versions?
I remembered this game from when I was a kid. My friends brother had it. Fast forward 30 yrs & thanx to the wonders of emulation I finally got to play it. Killer!
I thought I had a complete collection of western published Falcom games, until I learned Popful Mail was a Falcom game. Then I checked its price at eBay. Sorry but it seems my collection will always be incomplete. I can live with that.
Yeah, the US version is crazy expensive.
So many games that I would never knew existed. Thanks to you, I learn about those games and try to get a chance to play it.
That's great. I know so many games but there are even games I don't know about. We can all learn a lot 😁
While it is different to the original I actually kinda have a soft spot for the Working Designs translation here on the Mega CD. Is it accurate to the original Japanese version? Not really but for the time it's a lot better than many other translations we were likely to get (if we got any at all) and probably the best one Working Designs did. Hell it's far better than the original Ys on Master System which did get a release in America and Europe and they couldn't even spell the main character's name correctly calling him Aron instead of Adol Christin or even the name of the game, it was stylised as Y's instead of Ys (sighs). I did not realise about the lower bitrate though in the Western release and the Japanese version is superior mainly through that alone probably. Anyway, the game is actually really good, it holds up surprisingly well, I only really found out about it having played some of the more recent Ys games by Falcom and having enjoyed those ended up learning there was over 40 years worth of titles I barely knew anything about.
I'm now knee deep playing the Trails series which might just be one of the longest and most ambitious set of games out there with a story all interconnected to one another spread over 11 games. Seriously though if you like classic JRPGs then don't sleep on many of Falcom's titles as they are very underrated here in the West.
I somehow thought the PC88 was on par with an 80’s dos CGA system, never knew the resolution was so high and it could scroll anywhere nearly as smoothly as it does
10:52 The Arcade CD-ROM² version was not developed by Falcom, but by HuneX, which was an joint venture between NEC and Human Entertainment. Unlike Human, HuneX still is doing games for many platforms, except for Xbox systems.
Looks like I got some bad info there from the Japanese Wiki. Normally the Japanese Wiki is correct.
Oh wow I didn't know this. I just assumed Falcom because they did the Xanadu ports on the PCE CD.
@@TurboXray Those Xanadu games are not "ports", but rather completely original games called "The Legend of Xanadu" that were made during the short time in the early 90's when Falcom released a few console games themselves. Falcom didn't develop any other PCE games themselves. The Legend of Xanadu games are mostly unrelated to the original Xanadu, and are great games by the way.
@@RetroCore Also, you said in the video that the PCE version has 2 new original maps. Actually, it's 3 not 2. One for each character. The interesting thing is that you can't change characters during this portion of the game. Each new map is designed to be played as a particular character.
@@metalman_j Freudian typo. I meant 'games' not ports. I know.. I imported them when they first came out. But anyway that's my point; during the time Falcom was developing on the PC-Engine, this game was released. So I just naturally assumed Falcom had also directly handled it.
Just discover this game with your excellent video and so I tried the game on the Mega CD core of the Mister FPGA... GREAT !!! Thank you for your job !
You're very welcome.
Summer 1996 I played through this game and had imported Samurai Spirits III for the ps1. Amazing times.
I remember wanting to get this game back when I had a Sega CD-ROM on my Genesis, (I had the top loaded model,) but the only store I could find it at was charging so much for it that I couldn't afford it. I was in college at the time and didn't have a lot of extra money. Can't remember how much it was, but I ended up getting a RPG instead. Until I saw your video, I had forgotten all about it.
It's probably 10 time the price now as it was back when you were in college 😭
@@RetroCore I wouldn't be surprised.
This is my favorite Sega CD game, loved this episode ;p
First time hearing of this game. Looks interesting. I think I'll try it out.
Got a copy of the SEGA cd version. Love it, only complain is that you have to walk too close to the edge of the screen to scroll it. Makes for cheap enemy hits.
I wish that Popful Mail PV got turned into a short anime. It didn't look spectacular, but with Megumi Hayashibara voicing the main character and doing the theme song it'd be better than a lot of the OAVs of the time.
There is a Popful Mail promo anime (maybe a little over five minutes long) called "No No Pessimist" with Hayashibara, so there's at least that. It's on TH-cam.
In retrospect, there was no need for it. This game was largely derived from Slayers, both in characters and world designs. It made no sense to create 2 animated series with similar settings and characters, if anything it's a bit unprofessional too.
Thanks for culturize me in video games that I never had :)
YAY, I can owned 3 different copies of Popful Mail 😁.
My brother wanted to play the Sega CD version for the longest time, so one weekend I finally let him play my copy. It didn't take long for the changes Working Designs made to it to put him off the whole thing. Still, I managed to get through it, and it's a charming if flawed game. I probably prefer the Sega CD version over the Super Famicom and PC Engine, but I haven't touched those in a while. Great video!
I had no idea Falcom were the ones behind Popful Mail! I definitely need to check this game out now; looks a lot of fun! 😄
I really wish there was an English subbed version of the Sega CD version. Some of the American voice acting is painful, and as for the script, I know a lot of diehard Working Designs fans are in love with it, but I find it’s hard to compare two things when you’ve only actually experienced one of them. If anyone DOES want to play the game in English, though, I strongly recommend looking up the un-worked designs patch that’s floating around out there-it fixes all the artificial difficulty Working Designs added to the gameplay to try to force people to buy their games instead of renting.
Also the PC Engine graphics may be more simplistic than the Sega or Nintendo versions, but they’re adorable.
I heard there is a demake of the working designs release but I don't know if it removes the horrid voice acting and puts the Japanese voice acting back in.
@@RetroCore
Assuming that’s the same as the Un-Worked Designs patch I mentioned, it doesn’t. It only fixes the mechanical changes. Sadly, as most CD-based games of the era don’t have any kind of in-engine subtitle tracks for voiced cutscenes, adding subtitles in is challenging enough before even talking about sourcing an accurate translation, which can make coordinating a proper translation patch for these sorts of games almost impossible.
@@diebesgrab If the cut scenes are actual video files (I'm not sure if this is the case looking on how clear they are) it is possible to re encode and hard sub them. Like it has been done with other Un-Dubs of newer systems (PS1, PS2,)
@@GenesHand Because of the limitations of the video hardware of the 4th generation systems, and the codecs available at the time, cutscenes in these games are pretty rarely video files, and are instead programmed to be generated by the system hardware.
If it wasn't for working designs we wouldn't have gotten the very best games on the Sgea CD and the Saturn. Without them we would have gotten almost no RPGs on both of those consoles in the West and we would never have experienced Lunar 1 and 2, Magic Knight Rayearth, Albert Oddessy, Shining Wisdom, Arc the Lad collection, Alundra, Growlanser Generations and many more Japanese RPGs and other games on the PS1, PS2, Sega CD and the Sega Saturn. Those generations would have been much worse without the work done by Working Designs.
Thing is, most of the English speaking world didn't get them. Only the US did. Working Designs never released games in other English speaking parts of the world 😔
I wish there were more translations of this game than the Mega CD one.
This is a game I tried a few times on emulator and even though it was hard, I still wish it was released in Australia.
I saw it being sold at a gamer's market about two years ago but it was going for like $800AU but it was amazing to see in person though!
Ah, try the Japanese version. It's much better. Working Designs ruined the English release.
@@RetroCore WD was irksome, but they weren't quite as destructive as with Exile II on the Turbo.
I'm glad they didn't re-skin this into a Sonic game. They've done that with Puyo Puyo multiple times, as it is.
Nintendo also ruined Puyo Puyo in the West by making it a Kirkby game.
Well this is quite the revelation...a videogame software where Sega's internal dev team in Japan made mind blowing next generation leap of a game for MegaCD hardware...
Now you know what I'm gonna say... the 32X should never have existed and certain Sega of America management staff should have been "let go" before launching the Sega Saturn and of course THAT is the best way to assure resources to make a 32Bit Sprite graphics remaster or remake for the Sega Saturn hardware... yes because we know that despite MegaCD doing well in Japan it simply didn't sell the multiple millions of systems that Sega Saturn did.
That and Sega's MegaCD Final Fight CD also on Sega Saturn too.
Anyways... amazing and no disrespect towards the original creators of the game since the MegaCD didn't exist when those NEC PC-88/98s were released.
Then there's the Super FamiCom and NEC PC-ENGINE Super/Arcade version... I mean just using the Super CD-ROM2 should have meant a bigger boost than what we have here but this seems like a design decision since we know what the Super CD-ROM2 is capable of... but the Super FamiCom version??!! That should have been the best possible ROM Cartridge version (only ROM Cartridge)...maybe they should have put a longer development term and get a bigger ROM size in 1995 but as it is why would they not play test to see if that game design change was gonna be a problem but looks good as a challenge with cheating save states...
Isn't the Super FamiCom version using battery backup?
The 32X was a waste of time. The time spent on that should have been used to develop real Mega CD games. There are a few Japanese Mega CD games that really show what the machine could do. Sadly, most western studios besides UK based core design just ported cartridge games to it or crappy FMV games.
The SFC game is using battery back-up from what I know.
@@RetroCore I feel there was some type of corruption on most of the Western game publishers and developers on the Sega Genesis/MegaDrive where for example that conversion of Mortal Kombat 1 and even MK2 does NOT represent the capabilites of the original Sega MegaDrive hardware and there is a Brazilian fan/hobbyist programmer who has so far made a WIP conversion of the original shoddy conversion of MK1 that actually gets much closer to the arcade original.
I say corruption because in the U.S.A. the Sega Genesis was originally aimed at late teens and older audiences but that changed in 1991 when a certain big shot kept claiming to the face of the entire Sega brand. By 1993, MK was a highly anticipated game similar to SF2 in 1992 and instead there was a questionable effort put into the Sega MD/G version with what was definetly a pre-planned MegaCD/SCD port that was rather sloppy effort and gave people the impression that the Sega system was weaker than the competition.
As far as the Live Action FMV games... well that's all the shadow and salesman pitch from the 90s Sega of America... even though I knew Popful Mail was out on the SegaCD back then, the gamer magazines hardly reflected this in North America... instead the image on live action fmv games was constantly on gamer magazines from America That really hurt the image of the MegaCD.
Ok then somehow Falcom made a faux pax
@@RetroCore But yeah, indeed, when I saw the 32X show up out of nowhere in 1994 gamer magazines it was a bit confusing because we already actually knew that there was a big bruiser 32bit powerhouse named "Project Saturn" during 1993... I even went back and double checked many gamer magazines and found a mid to near late 1994 EGM magazine which had a Sega of America rep or staff actually admit that the 32X was a Sega of America idea, NOT Sega Enterprises or Japan...
Old interviews do back this up with how Tom Kalinske kept diminishing the Sega Saturn as a hardware platform since 1993, deep into 1994 and during 1995 and even to this day... that quack pushes the notion that he believed he was gonna get "Sega" to work with "Sony" to make a "Sega Station" and it's sad because people who were younger than their mid teens, who were not working gamers or late teen adults or 20 year old adults with jobs and videogames as a hobby that they and casuals easilly take those stories in the American books as fact instead of a biased perspective and twisting the truth to make certain people look less incompetent and worthy of being fired... basically 32X was a pure Tom Kalinske and Joe Miller idea... a sales pitch that Sega headquarts in Japan should have vetoed to kill that 32X fiasco from happening.
very cool!
This is why I love this channel series. I never even knew there were any versions of this other than the Sega CD one. Even if in this case, none of them could compete.
Ah, it pays to watch channels that know about games other than Mario, Zelda and Sonic 😁😅. Glad you could learn about the other versions out there.
@@RetroCore 😆. You’re not lying. I’m actually a long time American Computer gamer that only really delved into console games during the Sega years that never really cared much for Nintendo outside of their many great story driven linear JRPGs that have been fan translated from the NES/SNES years. But I know you made that statement somewhat in jest.
To this day, the only physical console japanese imports I own are either for the Dreamcast, Saturn, PSX, or PC Engine and one obscure super famicom title I have no means to play, RPG Maker II. Which I only purchased because I’ve been obsessed with the RPG Maker series since I played the almost finished fan translation of II back in like 97. All that being said, outside of some of the MSX and Sharp titles that I’ve emulated, I know basically nothing of the japanese PC market if it hasn’t been translated and/or ported or emulated to faster machines.
Kinda makes me wish I learned Japanese instead of or in addition to Korean and Spanish. Until that happens, your channel is where I’ll learn about it.
thanx, it was useful
You're welcome!
My first exposure to this game was when I searched for "PC engine CD music". Too bad it didn't had a Saturn port.
I should probably play through the SFC just to experience it. SegaCD one, well yeah MegaCD one, is great! I actually like the PCE-CD version being an upgraded version of the PC98 version. I love that it's cutesy version and not just a clone of the MegaCD one. One thing I will say about the SFC version - the music technically isn't that good, and it hides it with the consistent 'reverb' of all instruments. I found that kind of annoying. I'd rate them MegaCD 1st, PCE-CD 2nd, SFC 3rd..
Hmmm. Welp, this happens to be those moments I don't have much to say since I'm unfamiliar of it Mark. But well done for sharing this for us to learn. 8^)
Anthony..
No worries.
I wish the Sega CD version was ported to modern platforms.
With Japanese speech and a proper English text translation.
i saved up and bought a sega cd to get this game and when i finally got it it was more expensive than the console 🥺
Sadly that is the way for most games in the US.
@@RetroCore very unfortunate :\
I had no idea this game started out as an old pc8801 game, my only exposure to the game when i was a kid was the sega cd version, which looking back on it now, I'm surprised they localized it at all. Thank god they didnt make it into a sonic spin off game.
Not even a contest, the Sega CD version kills it. I actually enjoyed the game, difficulty and all. Plus the soundtrack was awesome too. Best looking and playing version of the bunch.
Interesting. PCE port's mad cute with the new sprites, but it does feel like a design choice aiming for the original. Technician in me thinks the 8bit limits of the hardware would have hit the end product a bit too hard if trying for double-height sprites like MD/SFC.
I don't know about that. There are so many games on the PC Engine that really do look 16bit and there's games on the PC Engine that are also on the Mega Drive but the PC Engine version blows the MD version away.
I think it was more a case of a quick and simple port.
Well, the "technician in you" is definitely be wrong hahah. Have you not played games in the PCE/CD library?
@@TurboXray Yeah, but have you played Falcom games? They have never been on a technological advantage, instead sticking to what they do best which is making one solid game engine and jamming really great games into it, until it gets so old it falls apart and it's time for something new, and they do it better than Bethesda.
@@Mamiya645 I'm not sure what that has to do with using sprites 2x2 larger? I mean it literally has hardware sprites up to size 32x64, and the same vram size as MD and SFC. It doesn't take any more cpu resource to show those larger sprite cells than it does to show the smaller ones. Collision is the same too, regardless of the size of the box. It's just an aesthetic thing for Falcom games on PCE. Has no bearing on the PCE hardware and capability, like it does for PC88 and PC98 systems where the cpu actually has to do the sprite drawing.
Great show as always.
Thanks for the video Mark 💕
Btw have you ever done a battle of the ports on gunbird? Isn't there different version on ps1 and 2? Regional differences? Cover art and so on? Thanks again 💕
Thanks for watching.
Hmm, Gunbird only really has two ports, Saturn and PlayStation. All the other versions are variations of Arcade emulation. Maybe I can do it as a quick video and include the awful renamed US PlayStation version as well.
@@RetroCore mobile light force right? 😅.... Well it found it's way to Europe too 😅
Hey! It's one of those fabled GOOD Sega-CD games that isn't just a cartridge game with CD niceties slapped on it! The US market was starved for those, which is probably one of the factors in the platform's failure here.
Very nice !
It indeed would have been awesome to see a proper PC Engine port with graphics and gameplay more in line w the Mega CD version. That would have been awesome to see. The colors probably would have outshone the Mega CD version at least.
I don't agree with you over Working Desgins sorry. Also the Japanese version had audio compression running at 22.05 Khz in parts, because the Japanese version also came out on one disc and also had over 2 and half hours of spoken dialogue. I liked the fact that the cloud effect was better in the USA version too, a shame that WD made it harder mind
IDK, there's something about the look of the S/Mega CD game that makes it feel like a western game.
Do you happen to have the source for the US version of the Sega CD having worse quality music? Can't find anything about that online
The only source I can find in English is the Wikipedia page.
Taking a look at the audio files could show the difference I guess but I would presume they are stored on the disc as some form of PCM track.
What song/music is this being played in the opening of the video? It is amazing!
It's a track taken from the Mega CD release of Popful Mail. I'm not sure of it's title.
@RetroCore Volcanic zone exploration PC engine CD Popful Mail I found it and wow I only played the Sega cd version but love thus melody if not equally more!
Thank you again for for the upload :)
First time I've heard of this game.
It's not well known in the West since the only western release was on the Mega CD. Well worth checking out though.
@@RetroCore it looks really cool
Awesome
Another great comparison video even though I'm a fan of Working Design's translations (not so much of their gameplay alterations, though). I wish there was an English patch for the SFC version. I bought it in the 90s since I love the Sega CD game but without english translation it's nearly impossible to beat. Is there even an english walkthrough for the game?
I'm sure there must be an English walk through for the SFC version on GameFaqs.
7:30 Hey, wait a minute. I noticed that this game can be a reference to Sofia the First because the shop has the word "amulet" in it.
pc 88 always impresses me because its games always look so janky, but sound so good. Also, is there a version of the Sega game with English text but the original difficulty? Or even a retranslation that's more accurate to the original
I really hope we get translations for the other versions at some point. Have always wanted to try these other ports!
Some how I doubt that will ever happen 😢
@@RetroCore That's part of my to-do list in the near future. After all, what good is learning Japanese if I don't put it to good use.
Hi, this is not related but an oratorio tangram botp sound nice, there is not just a dreamcast and xbox port but there is also a naomi version that isnt just a lasy port of the dreamcast version but actaully completly changes the soundtrack and adds new characters, this very naomi port is also the basis for the xbox 360 version.
I can't cover the Xbox version because I don't have an Xbox. I do own the 360 version though.
I'll have a think about it.
@@RetroCore i meant the xbox 360 version there is no version for the original xbox
I'd also love to see a re-translation patch for the Sega CD version that restores the original dialogue in the cutscenes so we can see how the original story actually was vs the radical changes Working Designs made.
I actually really like the changes from what I've seen, gives the game some nice humor & has some of my favorite scenes because of it. But I would love to see the original dialogue too just to see how it compares.
I'm actually working on the dialogue translation right now. I can tell you the overall dialogues aren't very radical like it's western port, it tells a basic high fantasy story, with simple, to the point conversation. Are there gags? Sure there is, but it's mainly tailored to a Japanese audience, and it's in the tone of the voice actors and their method of delivery that makes the joke, not the content. Hopefully, I can get it out sometime this year. I'll need to look for someone who can create patches. If that's a no go, I'll just upload gameplay videos with subtitles (since the dialogue changes depending on which character is in use, I'll probably have to do 3 separate videos, one for each character)
@@jackylee5850 That would be awesome! & these would be fully voiced during the cutscenes? Who would you have doing the voice acting?
You misunderstand, I'm not getting someone to do an English rendition of the translated Japanese script. I'm simply translating the script itself, then see if I can either get someone to make a language patch for it, or I just create a set of subtitles, hard code it into gameplay videos and let viewers see the dialogues that way.
@@jackylee5850 Oh I see what you mean. That certainly sounds cool. What I originally meant though was that it would be cool to have the actual voiced cutscenes use the original dialogue & have those be in English, just to see what the original Japanese script experience would be like.
Subtitles along with the original Japanese voicework would definitely be the next best thing though! I'd play it!
I don't understand your reviews. you slash the use Sega version (bad voice acting, changed story) , the pc engine version too (no action anymore) and yet you say the super famicom version which has the action and no bad voice acting is the worst? please explain again, the SF looks amazing to me!
Because the SFC version plays the worst.
@@RetroCore I got that game and the Sega CD version and I disagree. SFC version plays wonderful to me, you probably compare it too much to the original or you just aren't good with that game. To me the Sega CD version just way too easy.
I like the original music the best
I do too. Can't go wrong with FM synthesis
FM synth audio is always class.
@@solarflare9078 Ohh yes you can hahah
There seems to be graphical improvements to the WD English version.
Would gladly get the Japanese Mega CD version if the menus weren't in Japanese, haha
Really hoping someone like Limited Run reissues this game.
Not really, they just changes some things like clouds.
Ah, I know the beginning of the Sega CD version well...never got past that first boss...
Try the Japanese version. It's easier than the US one.
I like the portraits and cutscenes art/design style of the PC Engine CD version better, but there's not doubt that overall the Mega CD version is the superior one. The Sega Falcom group that was created jointly by Sega and Falcom did a good job with the games they did, too bad they were short lived and aside from this Mega CD version of Popful Mail, they also did the Mega Drive versions of Lord Monarch, The Legend of Heroes and The Legend of Heroes II (which I hope you will do Battle of the Ports for all of them so they are showcased, they are very good too). They also intended to do Mega CD versions of Brandish and Ys IV, it was a shame not to ever see what they were able to do with those ones given the quality of their other games, especially with Ys IV which maybe it would have resulted the best version of that game too.
It's a shame Ys IV never saw the light of day on the Mega CD
@@RetroCore To be fair, until Memories of Celceta all previous versions of Ys IV were not made by Falcom anyway, though the Sega Falcom collaboration making a version for the Mega CD would of been neat to see.
Good thing I only knew the Sega CD version, too bad I only knew the American version.
When I was playing this US version is was wondering why on earth it was so difficult compared to my Japanese original. After a bit of research I found it was yet another game Working Designs messed about with.
I wish I could give you an extra like for dissing Working Designs' translations.
Lol, glad to hear I'm not the only one who isn't fond of Working Designs translations.
I've heard of this game quite a while ago but still haven't gotten around to trying it out. It looks interesting. Unfortunate that the early PC version chose such a simplistic attack mode as simply running into enemies.
I think they went with that as other Falcom games also used that style.
@@RetroCore That makes sense.
Say what you will about the PC Engine CD version, at least that one has proper scrolling.
Oh, that's true. I honestly didn't notice 😅
A shame it doesn't seem like we got a port for the MSX. :)
Nope, I don't think there was one.
Why did they give s to regular enemies in the Sega CD version? It seems so clunky.
0:13 ik this is fan service
who is pulling her bra
what is Beaver pulling it's hands on
Only played the Sega CD version and yeah not a fan of the western version, need to try the japanese one. Also the music in both the PC-88/98 versions and the Sega CD are the best, it shows that the music was composed with FM in mind. The Sega CD version uses the PCM soundchip for the percussions and other instruments but also both the FM and PSG chips of the MD. The PCE arrangements are nice too, just not as great imo.
Yeah, falcom were great when it came to game soundtracks. They really did well. With the NEC PC versions. I do like the Mega CD arrangements too.
Any other Mega CD versions that better than their Sega CD counterparts that you're aware of sir?
I'm sure there are but I tend not to play the Western versions. I know Time Gal is missing the vocal theme song and most voice acting in the western release.
@@RetroCore Alright. Thanks. 🖒
wish someone translate the snes
Popful Mail became one of my favorite SEGA CD game after being introduced to it later on by a friend of sorts. I put it in my top 3 favorite SEGA CD games, but I'm also weird and probably in the vast majority of people because my favorite SEGA CD game waffles between Final Fight CD (which isn't too unusual of a choice) and Vay (which I'm not sure if anyone else besides me actually loves). Of the other versions, I've only ever tried the Super Famicom version, and that was >20 years ago and without a translation, and I didn't play a whole lot of it (I certainly didn't feel like I was missing anything by sticking to the SEGA CD release). I should give the Japanese Mega CD release a shot as some point, but that might require not being lazy on a weekend or something haha...
Vay was a great RPG. Very different soundtrack too. I like Vay 👍
@@RetroCore I'm glad there are some people out there that appreciate Vay 👍. I got my copy decades ago by keeping a girlfriend's copy after breaking up because she couldn't be arsed to give back my copy of Puggsy...🤦♂️
PC8801 is great here. PC9801 is mostly good. Sega CD has nice improvements. SNES is a huge downgrade. Turbo CD isn't all too hot.
The mega cd/ sega cd was released in April 1st!?!? I feel that the this port is a joke for the many ports of mega cd that are just mega drive/ genesis games
Japan release was April 1st, no April fools day in Japan 😁. The US version came later but I'm not sure when.
@@RetroCore oh, I didn’t know that there are no April fools in japan, thanks for that
Mega CD all the way! Man, I have to give Working Designs props for at LEAST we got a western release. The bad translations? You just had to grin and bear it . Always wanted to play this game, never knew of the other versions.
iアプリバージョンもあったな。
OPだけしか再現されてなかったけど。
I actually really like Working Designs' translations... Well, except for the Shining Wisdom translation. That one is hot garbage.
The PC Engine CD port is just the last iteration in the NEC PC line, the Sega CD is a complete remake, both are good imo.
Personally, I prefer the Sega CD version.
That being said, I very much like the upped difficulty as the game would be FAR too easy without it. It's now a bit challenging but nothing too horrible, and I imagine it would be REALLY easy if the changes weren't made. You are now forced to learn the boss patterns or you will die horribly which I like. You shouldn't be able to just breeze thru the bosses. I can understand those who aren't pro gamers not liking the difficulty but I personally like it a lot. Luckily there are patches out there that get rid of the added difficulty for those who struggle with it.
I find the new difficulty to be extremely annoying. It's not a fair challenge in many areas.
A review of Dragon’s Lair?
That's on the list. Someday it will be covered.
I read theres a Microsoft windows port as well not 100% sure
Maybe it's a new one. I did hear there was a emulation re-release of this recently.
I kind of like the animated intro on the pc engine, shows lot's more color richness than the mega cd one, the in game graphics are lame though
The PC Engine does have a vastly better colour pallet and can show more but it lacks ram which is where the Mega CD shines. There's only a small clip shown on this video but the Mega CD version is animated so well were as the PC Engine is mostly a few frames of animation and stills that slide across the screen.
@@RetroCore Still, I also think the animation design of that intro is better, even if overall it's not as much fluid and vivid as the Mega CD one. Probably a matter of tastes though. In every other single aspect the Mega CD version is undoubtely superior.
@@RetroCore The animation engine is amazing, I think few games on the system use similar style, lunar 2, lodoss war, vay.. all other games fmvs are just a grainy dithering mess
Not a fan of the working design's version, and that's not just because of the artificially increased difficulty. All these western pop and film references just sound out of place in a high fantasy setting, with elves and dwarfs for crying out loud. There's also some minor changes, like a pot of tea was changed to coffee. What, tea is too "oriental" for the west?
Perhaps the best part of the Sega CD version was the voice acting. Although the English version had mostly voice actors with limited experience under their belt (John Truitt is pretty good I admit) the Japanese version used some very big names. Case in point, Megumi Hayashibara, widely regarded as the Queen of voice acting in Japan, with a legend like her endorsing the game you just know it must have high production value, she wouldn't just work on any random game unless it has merit and requires her talent
I 100% agree with you about working designs. They totally ruin games with all the stupid childish humour and American pop culture (there are many countries that speak English including the original who couldn't care less about the poor pop culture references and "humor".)
And why did they always have to make the games more difficult?
I tried playing through their English translation of Magical Knight Ray earth on the Saturn. Oh my God, the voices and awful "translation" put me off so much.
Well the English version was released in '94, and back then game rentals were still a thing. Hence, they likely raised the difficulty to ensure players don't beat it too quickly, which translates to more profit for rentals
Although in this case, there's really no such thing as beating it "too quickly" as this game takes an average of 4 hours to beat, for an action platformer this is way too long. Players could certainly do without the extra difficulty that lengthen it unnecessarily
That whole game rentals thing is a strange one. Japan has had game rentals since day one yet it saw no need to change any western made games when they were brought over to Japan.
Best guess, Japan don't feel the need to erase cultural references from a western game to suit it's own audiences. The west on the other hand can't say the same, there's a reason "Americanization" was a thing back then, publishers tried hard to make an imported Japanese game appeal to it's own audience by removing any Japanese references in favor of western cultural cues that the average westerner can relate to. In the end it boils down to a difference not only in culture but mindset as well
I'm pretty sure you're the first person I've ever known that doesn't like Working Designs translations.
Nope, they suck. They are often quite far from the original dialogue. I'm also not a fan of many of the voices used.
I guess if I couldn't understand the original it wouldn't be a bad.
@@RetroCore I understand.
I hope that's sarcasm hahah A lot of people hate WD. BITD we tolerated it because it was the only way we got to play translated versions, but that doesn't people liked what they did with the localization. WD was a necessarily evil, but that doesn't mean people were fans of their work.
@@TurboXray Too bad they were shut down after the 3 year localization hell that was the cancelled English version of Goemon Zero for the PS2.
@@TurboXrayI honestly liked their sense of humor but they shouldn’t have insulted Beyond The Beyond in their localization of Shining Wisdom.
wait what seriously Sonic Sister ? are you saying that Sonic actually should have Sister ? now I really want Sega make Sonic Sister with RPG element than Platformer game.
Yeah, seriously. This was probably the code name for the game but it would have been a game related to Sonic and probably a sister. Thank god Sega never went through with it.
@@RetroCore i just remember wasn't there Sonic older sister from Sonic cartoon where Sonic use music to kill his enemies ? I forget the the title of show but it's quite entertaining at least to my youth back then 😌.
@@RetroCore Sonic was always overused by SEGA even back then, it seems... ugh. Thank god it's still Popful Mail.
Eh? If that was the case then Mario was whored. One reason why I can't stand Mario. He's in everything.
I couldn't say. I never watched the Sonic cartoon. I was probably too old by the time that came out
1.Sega CD
2.SNES
3. Genesis
4. Others