It has long been a desire of mine to translate into English a lot of the Japanese articles that have been written in magazines, etc. concerning games for the Virtual Boy that ended up never getting commercially released, since this is about the only access that we have to such games, unless their prototype cartridges happen to surface in the future and fall into the hands of one or ones who desire to dump the ROMs and release the games online for all to play. It looks like I will now have time in my life to work on such, and I hope to release all of my English translations on this thread. Now, it is important for the reader to understand that I myself do not know or speak Japanese, so I rely on the use of translation software programs such as Google Translate, SDL Free Translation, and BabelFish, as well as online Japanese-to-English dictionaries, such as Denshi Jisho – Online Japanese Dictionary. I do strongly believe that these programs allow me to create rather accurate English translations of Japanese text; nevertheless, there may still be errors on account of my lack of understanding of the Japanese language. As for the titles of certain Japanese games that never got released, I don’t know if there is any way to know what the “official” English titles would have been if they had ever gotten released in English. Nevertheless, I shall try my best to come up with what would have most likely been the English titles for these games, if they had gotten localized in North America. With that being said, the first article that I’ve translated into English appeared in the 367th issue of Famitsu Magazine, dated December 29, 1995, on page 243, and it was a write up for the unreleased game, whose title I have translated into English as “Doraemon and Nobita’s Heart-Pounding Ghostland.”
Translations for Doraemon and Nobita’s Heart-Pounding Ghostland:
バーチャルボーイ
VIRTUAL BOY
ドラえもん のび太のドキドキ！おばけランド
Doraemon and Nobita’s Heart-Pounding Ghostland
アクション
Action
カートリッジ
Cartridge
エポック社
Epoch Company
’96年発売予定
Expected Release: 1996
5500円
5,500 Yen
8メガ
8 Megabits
バーチャルボーイの機能を活かした立体的な遊園地で、ドラえもんやのび太たちが大活躍。ジェットコースターやバンジージャンプなどを使った、個性的なステージを走り回ろう。隠されたひみつ道具を捜しだして、おばけにさらわれた仲間たちを救出するのだ。
Doraemon, Nobita, and friends bustle about in a three-dimensional amusement park that takes full advantage of the Virtual Boy’s capabilities. Rush around unique stages, with roller coasters, bungee jumping, and more! Search for hidden, secret tools to rescue your buddies who have been kidnapped by ghosts!
夜の遊園地はおばけランド
The Amusement Park at Night is a Ghostland!
使用できるキャラは5人。それぞれ特徴的な攻撃ができるので、ステージごとに変えるといいぞ。
There are five different characters to choose from. Each one has its own characteristic attack, so it’s good to change characters for each stage.
ジェットコースターに乗って、おばけたちを退治しよう。
Ride a roller coaster and try to get rid of the ghosts!
©藤子・小学館・テレビ朝日
© Fujiko, Shogakukan Inc., TV Asahi Corp.
※画面は開発中のものです。
*The game’s screens are currently under development.
Here is another translation for “Doraemon and Nobita’s Heart-Pounding Ghostland.” The original Japanese article appeared in the 363rd issue of Famitsu Magazine, dated December 1, 1995, on page 104.
エポック社
Epoch Company
ドラえもん のび太のドキドキ！おばけランド
Doraemon and Nobita’s Heart-Pounding Ghostland
発売日未定
Release Date TBD
価格未定
Price TBD
アクション
Action
カートリッジ
Cartridge
遊園地にある多彩なアトラクションを舞台に、ドラえもんと仲間たちが力を合わせて敵と戦うアクションゲーム。
An action game where Doraemon and his friends join forces to fight against enemies across various stages within an amusement park containing a wide variety of attractions.
©藤子・小学館・テレビ朝日
© Fujiko, Shogakukan Inc., TV Asahi Corp.
The following Japanese to English translation is for the unreleased game: Virtual Dodgeball. The original Japanese article appeared in the 353rd issue of Famitsu Magazine, dated September 22, 1995, on page 187.
バーチャルボーイ
VIRTUAL BOY
ヴァーチャルドッジボール
Virtual Dodgeball
アクション
Action
カートリッジ
Cartridge
ヘクト
Hect
12月発売予定
Expected Release: December
価格未定
Price TBD
8メガ
8 Megabits
｜対｜で戦うドッジボール風のアクションゲーム。四角い箱のような室内でボールをぶつけ合ってダメージを与えていき、体力をすべて減らすと勝ちとなるぞ。壁、天井、床や相手の投げたボールに自分のボールを反射させて、さまざまな角度から相手を攻撃しよう。
Battle it out in a versus, dodgeball-style action game! Become victorious by hitting balls inside a room, such as a simple cube-shaped one, inflicting damage and reducing all of your opponent’s strength to zero. Try to attack your opponent from various angles by reflecting your ball off a wall, off the ceiling or floor, or into a ball thrown by your opponent!
単純だけど熱いよ
IT’S SIMPLE BUT HOT!
ステージは全部で8パターン。なかにはこんなへなステージも。
There are eight patterns of stages in total. Some stages, such as this one, look a bit strange.
ポコポコとボールをうまい具合に反射させていこう。
Try to reflect a ball, which gets hit back and forth repeatedly, in a skillful manner.
※画面は開発中のものです。
*The game’s screens are currently under development.
Attachments:
Here are some cleaner scans of the screenshots for some previous articles.
A note concerning my choice of translation: When I originally translated the title of this game into English for the Famitsu Magazine Release Schedules, I chose “Gulf Front” as part of the translation, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that such might simply convey the meaning of a nice vacation spot on a gulf coast, without conveying the meaning of a battle taking place near such. Thus, in order to make sure that “front” was to be understood as a “battlefront” or “warfront,” I wanted to use one of these words in the translation. Now, I don’t believe that the original developers wanted to make the actual setting of the game within the Persian Gulf War, even though the game was being made shortly after such had happened. This is why I did not want to choose “Gulf Warfront” as the translation, since such would have likely brought to mind the actual Gulf War. Thus, since the game’s setting is, I believe, supposed to be near a generic city, simply referred to as “Red City,” located on some unnamed gulf coast, I chose the translation of “Gulf Battlefront: Red City” to convey such. Moreover, “Battlefront” is, indeed, the choice term used in the game titled “Star Wars: Battlefront,” so it seems that such may have been chosen for the official English title of this game, if it had ever been released and localized for the North American market during the VB’s commercial life.
バーチャルボーイ
VIRTUAL BOY
湾岸戦線 RED CITY
Gulf Battlefront: Red City
シューティング
Shooting
カートリッジ
Cartridge
アスミック
Asmik Corp.
12月発売予定
Expected Release: December
価格未定
Price TBD
8メガ
8 Megabits
左右ふたつのカーソルを操り、眼下に広がる湾岸都市を狙って飛来するミサイルを迎撃する3Dシューティングが出るぞ。3ステージごとに登場する巨大戦艦を撃沈するのも任務のひとつ。最終ステージに待ちうける。超巨大戦艦を破壊し、自軍を勝利に導くのだ。
Here comes a 3D shooter where you must use both the left and right control pads to intercept missiles which come flying towards the city that is spread out along the gulf coast below. One of your tasks is to sink a huge battleship that appears once every three stages. Later awaits the final stage, where you must destroy a super-huge battleship to lead your army to victory!
敵ミサイル接近
ENEMY MISSILES APPROACHING!
都市が全滅するとゲームオーバー。すべてのミサイルを迎撃せよ。
The game is over when either the city is destroyed or all of the missiles are intercepted.
左右のカーソルを使いわけないと、クリアーできないぞ。
If you don’t use both the left and right control pads, it’s not possible to clear the game.
© ASMIK / AIM
※画面は開発中のものです。
*The game’s screens are currently under development.
My reasoning for choosing the translation of “Flying Henry” is quite simple. The Japanese “空飛ぶ円盤” or “soratobu enban” is translated as “flying saucer” in English. Therefore, I conclude that when the game developers came up with the title of “空飛ぶヘンリー” or “soratobu henri” for this game, they specifically intended it to have reference to a flying saucer. Thus, one can picture a crazy character related to the game saying something like, “Look up in the sky! Is that a flying saucer? No, it’s Flying Henry!”
バーチャルボーイ
VIRTUAL BOY
空とぶヘンリー
Flying Henry
アクション
Action
カートリッジ
Cartridge
ヒューマン
Human Corp.
’95年冬発売予定
Expected Release: Winter of 1995
価格未定
Price TBD
8メガ
8 Megabits
フワフワ浮いている、なんとも不思議な生き物ヘンリーが主人公のアクションゲーム。プチデビなどの敵を踏み潰したり跳ね飛ばしたりして蹴散らしながら”エレ坊”を集めていき、ステージクリアーをめざすのだ。奥行きのあるフィールドを縦横無尽に駆けまわれ!!
It’s an action game of the hero Henry – a fluffy, floating, downright strange creature! Strive to clear each stage as you go around collecting items and defeating enemies, such as small devils, by crushing them underfoot or blasting them away. Fly around freely in a field with depth!
おとぼけヘンリー大活躍!!
Innocent-Looking Henry’s Great Domination!
画面中央ちょっと上にいるのがヘンリー。犬みたい。
Henry is the dog-like character located a bit above the center of the screen.
ボスとの｜騎撃ち!! いきなり3Dシューティングになるのだ。
A shootout with a boss! It’s suddenly become a 3D shooter!
©HUMAN 1995
※画面は開発中のものです。
*The game’s screens are currently under development.
I forgot to mention that the original Japanese articles for the previous two unreleased Virtual Boy games, namely “Gulf Battlefront: Red City” and “Flying Henry,” appeared in the 355th issue of Famitsu Magazine, dated October 6, 1995, on page 223. The following Japanese article, also for the unreleased Virtual Boy game translated into English as “Flying Henry,” appeared in the 363rd issue of Famitsu Magazine, dated December 1, 1995, on page 113.
ヒューマン
Human Corp.
空とぶヘンリー
Flying Henry
発売日未定
Release Date TBD
価格未定
Price TBD
アクション
Action
カートリッジ
Cartridge
おとぼけ主人公ヘンリーが活躍するアクションゲーム。上下左右、果ては画面の奥から敵が迫りくるぞ。
An action game where an innocent-looking hero, Henry, plays the active role. Enemies approach him from the left, right, top, bottom, or even from the back of the screen.
The following Japanese article for the unreleased Virtual Boy game, which is translated into English as “Virtual Block,” appeared in the 349th issue of Famitsu Magazine, dated August 18/25, 1995, on page 205.
バーチャルボーイ
VIRTUAL BOY
バーチャルブロック
Virtual Block
アクション
Action
カートリッジ
Cartridge
ボトムアップ
Bottom Up
12月発売予定
Expected Release: December
5300円(予価)
5,300 Yen (Tentative Price)
容量未定
Capacity TBD
いっぷう変わったブロックくずしゲーム。画面中に現われるボールを2匹のキャラクターを使って打ち返し、ブロックに当てて壊していくのだ。多彩な動きをする2匹のキャラクターを、くっつけたり伸ばしたりしながらボールを打つことが、クリアーする秘訣だぞ。
This is an unconventional breakout game. It focuses on using two characters to repeatedly hit a ball, which appears in the screen, into blocks to break them. The trick to clearing each stage is hitting the ball while performing various moves with the two characters, sometimes sticking them together and sometimes stretching them out.
ステージは50以上
THERE ARE MORE THAN 50 STAGES!
パチンコやピンボールをモチーフにした面、巨大なボス面がある。
There are surfaces in the motif of pachinko and pinball, as well as giant-boss surfaces.
©1995 BOTTOM UP
※画面は開発中のものです。
*The game’s screens are currently under development.
This second Japanese article for the unreleased Virtual Boy game, which is translated into English as “Virtual Block,” appeared in the 363rd issue of Famitsu Magazine, dated December 1, 1995, on page 114.
●ボトムアップ
●Bottom Up
バーチャル・ブロック
Virtual Block
発売日未定
Release Date TBD
5300円
5,300 Yen
アクション
Action
カートリッジ
Cartridge
奥行きのある3D画面でブロックくずしが楽しめる。 各ステージの最後には、巨大なボスが待ちかまえているぞ。
Enjoy breaking blocks on a 3D screen with depth! A giant boss awaits you at the end of each stage!
©1995 BOTTOM UP
