Games that finally speak your language
For decades, many of the best handheld RPGs and adventures never left Japan. Volunteer translators changed that. They crack the game's text and fonts, rewrite thousands of lines, fit them into a cramped memory budget and test the result for months. All of it unpaid, and all of it out of love for the game.
Here are 74 fan-translated games (English, Spanish, French and more) in the form they deserve: a physical cartridge for real hardware. They are unofficial reproductions, handmade by us, with no affiliation to the original publishers.
What a fan translation involves
- Extracting the game's text and fonts
- Translating and adapting the writing, from item names to jokes
- Reinserting the new script, often after redesigning the font to fit
- Testing every menu and ending for errors
Where to start
- Fans of tactics and strategy: look for Fire Emblem, Tactics Ogre and Super Robot Wars
- Fans of cult RPGs: browse Mother 3, Shin Megami Tensei and Tales of spin-offs
- Fans of quirky Japanese handheld adventures: try the Game Boy section
