So this is an interesting one. We're used to games coming from Japan being localized and having their story changed or if they're a licensed game having that licensed removed. We've seen it with Keith Courage, Decap Attack, Spellcaster, Shatterhand, Black Belt, and so forth. But how about a game developed in Japan by Natsume for the US Market with a US licensed attached, only to later get a release in Japan scrapping said US license in favor of a different one. That's what we have here. The original game, The Jetsons: Invasion of the Planet Pirates, would be published by Taito in the US. Taito at this time held the licenses for lots of Hanna Barbera games, most famously The Flintstones.
While the Jetsons was a known property in Japan, this game would not see the light of day over there. Instead, Natsume would be contacted by Kadokawa Shoten to repurpose the Jetsons' game to star their Marukatsu Super Famicom magazine's mascot Ruka-chan. Ruka-chan is a demon girl who hunts down spirits, monsters, yokai, etc. Thus Yokai Buster: Ruka no Daibōken was born. Gone is George and his vacuum, replaced with Yuka holding the head of Enma, her boss. The plot is that Enma's body has been taken for nefarious reasons and so it's up to Ruka to get her boss' body back.
We'll be going live with the Yokai Buster stream in just a few moments, feel free to join us over at...
