No English release? These fan-translated games are worth emulating

Emulation is one of my biggest obsessions, whether I want to revisit a classic or check out a game I missed at the time. It’s also a fantastic way to experience games that never received an official English translation.

Hundreds of retro games have been restricted to Japan over the last few decades. That meant you had to use an online translation guide or Google Lens to actually play it — a finicky experience at best. The good news is that fans have translated many retro games over the years and created language patches for them. Here are a few notable fan-translated games you should play, including a few we’ve personally emulated.

Fans have been clamoring for an English version of Mother 3 ever since Nintendo released the Game Boy Advance RPG way back in 2006. The game is a follow-up to the popular Super Nintendo title Earthbound, which was, in turn, a sequel to the Japanese-only title Mother.

Enthusiasts decided to translate the game into English and released the patch in 2008, just two years after the game’s release. Needless to say, Game Boy Advance emulation is a piece of cake for pretty much any Android phone or TV box released in the last decade. So I definitely think it’s worth emulating this game if you’re an RPG fan or enjoyed Earthbound and Undertale.

Role-playing games (RPGs) have historically received the short end of the stick as far as translations go. Colleague Nick Fernandez is a fan of the tactical RPG sub-genre, and many of these titles missed out on English releases too.

However, a fan-translated patch allowed Nick to play Super Robot Wars Alpha Gaiden for the PS1. It’s also worth noting that there are well over a dozen Japan-only entries in this mecha-themed RPG, but Nick adds that this is the only fan-translated game in the series that he’s played so far. Either way, this franchise is worth considering if you’re into mecha anime.

I’m a massive Ace Combat fan, dating back to obsessively playing Ace Combat 3 for the PS1 at a family member’s house as a child. So imagine my surprise when I later found out that the version of Ace Combat 3 I played was a very different game compared to the Japanese original.

The Japanese original spanned two discs, had plenty of animated cutscenes, and featured a fairly deep plot with multiple endings. Meanwhile, the game that I experienced back in 2000 landed on a single disc and had virtually none of these cut scenes, a different plot, and far fewer missions. A real shame.

I jumped at the chance to buy the Japanese version of Ace Combat 3 when a friend told me it arrived at his game store several years ago. Thankfully, the fan-translated English patch allows me to play this on a modded console. But I’ve just been happy to play it via an emulator on my Steam Deck, enjoying the ability to actually understand the cutscenes and dialog.

Metal Gear Solid blew my mind when I first played it in 2000, a couple of years after its release. So I was very intrigued when I found out that director Hideo Kojima had released Policenauts years earlier. The title didn’t leave Japan, but fans released a translation over a decade after its 1994 release.

The game takes an “interactive cinema” approach with a point-and-click interface and follows a group of elite police officers turned astronauts. I’m not usually a fan of these types of games, but it’s still worth a shot if you’re a fan of Kojima’s approach to video games. In saying so, I found that the game’s generally slow pace made it a more enjoyable experience on a phone touchscreen.

Policenauts launched on the Sega Saturn and PlayStation, and the English patch is available for both versions. The Saturn might be a finicky console to emulate, but this version of the game features lightgun support and a few other extras.

The Fire Emblem games are among the most popular titles on Nintendo’s consoles. But did you know that the creator of the series left developer Intelligent Systems and made a spiritual successor on the PlayStation?

Tear Ring Saga was only released in Japan, but it received an English translation patch back in 2016. Nick says he’s only played the translated game for a few hours, but added that it was “excellent” so far. The fact that it’s a PS1 title means you should be able to play this on your old budget Android phone.

It’s worth noting that a sequel, Tear Ring Saga: Berwick Saga, was released for the PlayStation 2. Thankfully, this game also received a fan translation patch if you finished the original title and want more.

Honorable mentions

There are plenty more Japan-only games that received fan translations over the years. Check out a few honorable mentions below.

• King’s Field: Before From Software made Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls, and Elden Ring, the company released the King’s Field titles. These first-person dungeon-crawling games didn’t get great reviews at first, but they’ve developed a cult following all the way back to this PS1 original.
• Monster Hunter: Several games in the Monster Hunter series, such as Monster Hunter 2 and Monster Hunter Freedom, were Japan-only affairs. So they’re worth seeking out if you can’t get enough of this creature-slaying franchise.
• Namco x Capcom: Ever wanted to play a grid-based RPG featuring characters from Street Fighter, Tekken, Final Fight, and more? Well, you can if you want to, as this PS2 game also received a fan translation.
• Marvelous: Mohitotsu no Takarajima: Eiji Aonuma helmed the recent Legend of Zelda games, but one of his first games was a Japan-only affair. Marvelous, an adventure title for the SNES inspired by The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past, eventually received a fan translation in the mid-2010s.