Why do publishers choose to change names of games in certain regions around the world ? That is the million dollar question. They will give you all sorts of reasons and excuses, but it all boils down to the marketing teams and what they think will work in their segment.
I think these games would have an identity crisis if they were human. I mean, some games are known by more than two different names ! C’mon, that is absurd, no matter where you are from.
I have listed a few retro games that are known by various names around the world.
You be the judge of which region names you prefer for the following retro games:
ENJOY !
| Game Name | Also Known As (AKA) |
| Bare Knuckle | Streets of Rage |
| Life Force | Salamander |
| Contra | Gryzor, Probotector |
| Bad Dudes | DragonNinja |
| PC Kid | Bonk |
| Jet Set Radio | Jet Grind Radio |
| Devil Crash | Devil’s Crush, Dragon’s Fury, Devil Crash MD |
| Another World | Out of this World, Other World |
| Ninja Gaiden | Shadow Warriors |
| Two Crude Dudes | Crude Buster |
| Buggy Boy | Speed Buggy |
| Green Beret | Rush’n Attack |
| International Karate | World Karate Championship |
| Stunt Car Racer | Stunt Track Racer |
| Winter Olympiad 88 | Winter Challenge |
| Slap Fight | Alcon |
| International Karate + | Chop ‘n Drop Karate |
| Microprose Soccer | Keith van Eron’s Pro Soccer |
| Driller | Space Station Oblivion |
| The Sentinel | The Sentry |
| Nebulus | Tower Toppler |
| Pipemania | Pipe Dream |
| Rock ‘n Wrestle | Bop ‘n Wrestle |
If you know of others, please share them and comment/reply below
Bad Dudes was also sometimes called “Bad Dudes Vs DragonNinja”… you know, just to be even more confusing.
Gradius and Nemesis is another one which comes to mind. I had Nemesis on the C64, not realising that it was the same thing as this “Gradius” game I read about in my friend’s NES magazines.
Rockman / Megaman too. I kinda like Rockman better than Megaman, because then all of the music-related character names make sense (Roll, Bass, etc.)
I always liked “Another World” better then “Out of this World” which always reminded me of this 80’s sitcom. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2UkZzdyD0A
A few more I can remember:
Sonic Wings / Aero Fighters
Area 88 / UN Squadron
Tiger Heli / Twin Cobra
Bust-A-Move / Puzzle Bobble
Oh! And don’t forgot Star Fox / Starwing (later Star Fox 64 / Lylat Wars). Star Fox is a much better name, but I believe there were some legal issues with another game with the same name. That seems to be sorted now though, because the new 3DS version is called Star Fox 64 3D over here.
The Chaos Engine = Soldiers of Fortune in the US of A 🙂
Awesome game whatever the name!
I preferred Out of this World to Another World; StarFox is way cooler than StarWing and Nemesis is much better than Gradius… why oh why!
Great article and very handy when searching ebay 🙂
Thanks!
BTW Starfox is an old Commodore 64 game, so it is registered in the UK, therefore legal issues as mentioned by Mikey 🙂