Randomly decided to bring back something I used to post on my tumblr way back when about a topic that still interests me to this day, that being Japanese releases of Western-developed titles and how they were handled in some cases, and so here's some interesting ones, some of which I've mentioned in the past...
BloodRayne (PlayStation 2, 2004)
ORIGINAL PUBLISHER(S): Majesco / JAPANESE PUBLISHER(S): Electronic Arts Japan / DEVELOPER(S): Terminal Reality
This was one release I was aware of for quite a while, but I didn't really know much about it until recently when I saw a promo vid for it on YouTube, where they showed off a substantial synopsis of the game (shown as being Rayne narrating the events) and a bit of an interview with some of the talent they got for this version. Said talent being the famed Romi Park as the voice of Rayne, and none other than the almighty Norio Wakamoto as the voice of bad guy Juergen Wulf... and once he starts talking you can absolutely tell it's him doing it. lol
Famous Japanese seiyuu being brought on for dubs of Western-developed games was nothing new by that point (see also: Night Trap's Japanese dub having some big names, which was outright admitted to be part of the reason why it was included on the Japanese Mega Drive Mini 2), but it wasn't a common thing, since most localizations would just simply go the subs only route, even to this day. Indeed, the aforementioned promo video also features a trailer for another game EA Japan brought over around the same time, Sony's Ghosthunter, and that one just retained the English voices, so the fact that they went the dub route for BloodRayne means they definitely had some more confidence in it. I dunno if it was much of a success, but who knows. BloodRayne 2 didn't make its way over there, but BloodRayne: Betrayal did, under the name BloodRayne: Crimson Slayer, courtesy of Arc System Works, so that's neat.
The dub itself surprisingly made its way worldwide as part of an update for the remaster/new port that came out a few years ago, so you can now enjoy the performances of Park, Wakamoto et al paired up with the enhancements these ports feature... and also without any edits because unsurprisingly the Japanese release tones down the gore (that's CERO for ya. lol)
Here's the promo video in question, for those curious:
SpyHunter (PlayStation 2, 2002)
ORIGINAL PUBLISHER(S): Midway / JAPANESE PUBLISHER(S): Midway Japan, KOEI Net / DEVELOPER(S): Paradigm Entertainment
Anyone that knows me knows that I've always been fascinated by Midway's titles throughout the years, for various reasons, and seeing the ones that did make their way to Japan is even more fascinating, especially those they released in the 2000s onwards, as not a lot of them did get Japanese releases (though they did try; more on that later). Amongst those are the four games released by Midway's short-lived Japanese division throughout 2002, with their second release in question being the 2001 reboot of Spy Hunter.
It was a version I was curious about for years but never really saw anything of until a few years ago, when one streamer I follow decided to stream it after he got a copy of it out of curiosity (initially thinking it was a Japanese version of SpyHunter: Nowhere to Run, a game he'd later stream), and it is pretty much the same as the original versions, but with all text in Japanese; it didn't get dubbed, and apparently the Japanese translation itself is kinda spotty in places. It also interestingly lacks the unlockable "making of" video, presumably 'cause they didn't wanna translate it or something... but it does retain the two Saliva music videos (with the titles in katakana, even), so there's that, at least. lol (it does also retain all the other extras, but still)
Ultimately I dunno how well it did, nor how the other Midway Japan releases (Ready 2 Rumble Boxing Round 2, RedCard, Gauntlet: Dark Legacy) did; I presume Dark Legacy did somewhat good 'cause Gauntlet had some name recognition and it also got promoted a bit, but I doubt it was much. As I mentioned earlier Midway Japan did plan on releasing some more games, which they showed off at the 2002 Tokyo Game Show (under KOEI's booth, as they were the distributors), amongst those being Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, of all games (which I'm still curious as to how it would've been handled, especially as this was around the time of CERO's formation), but ultimately those didn't happen, and Midway Japan just quietly disappeared. Some Midway games would still make their way over there, but very very few (most famously Capcom's release of Psi-Ops with the unique Shinkiro cover art) until their eventual death in 2009.
It does seem that they did have another release planned, though, as the GBA version of SpyHunter here actually features a Japanese language option, with fully translated text and all, but as Japan did not get this version its presence remains an interesting curiosity, especially because amusingly, despite also having French/German/Spanish, there's no Italian, so I guess Italian players got kinda screwed. lol
Smuggler's Run [Crazy Bump's: Kattobi Car Battle!] (PlayStation 2, 2000)
ORIGINAL PUBLISHER(S): Rockstar Games / JAPANESE PUBLISHER(S): Syscom / DEVELOPER(S): Angel Studios
One that always amused me ever since I first saw it for the completely goofy title because it's so unfitting compared to the original and its aesthetic. Sure, Smuggler's Run itself isn't fully serious, but it is still an amusingly jarring title. I think they wanted to tone down the smuggling aspect a bit, 'cause besides the name+logo change they actually took out the entire intro movie (to the point where this is literally all they left of it, no joke. lol) and don't have the voiced mission briefings play (even though they are still present on the disc), plus it also slightly tones down things in that the random people going around on the levels aren't there anymore, to I guess not letting you run them over and probably risk a warning or something (even though this is pre CERO). Other than that it is pretty much the same as the other versions, still retaining the English voices for your navigator and the cops and such; it's interesting when compared to the Japanese version of Midnight Club, which came out a few months later, as that one got a dub instead (and I think they did have the pedestrians on that, though I think they don't let you actually run them over)
Also I gotta mention the cover for the re-release they did a few years later where they mixed the original Smuggler's Run cover art with the Crazy Bump's logo and it's even more jarring, it's excellent.
Also obligatory posting of the awesome soundtrack; Rockstar as usual killing it with the tunes:
(also the Bump's part of the title still bothers me to this day because goddammit that is not how you pluralize words. lol)