The Legend of Zelda: Analyzing Localization

So what exactly are the differences between the Japanese Famicom Disk System and North American NES versions of the Legend of Zelda? A lot of you have already accepted that Japan’s equivalent of the NES was the Famicom (which was upgraded with the Famicom Disk System), but what differences existed in the game that is the very reason this website exists? Well, plenty of more obvious things, such as sounds, small graphical touches, and overall gameplay. Look deeper and you’ll see differences in the games’ manuals.

It actually becomes a small project to find all the minute differences between the two games, and this is exactly what Mato Tree has done. Just like the creator of Mato Tree, you’ll soon realize that Nintendo put a lot of effort into the North American localization of the Legend of Zelda. (You know the drill, hit the jump already!)

Like I stated, trying to figure out the differences in the two releases, and more importantly the reason why the differences exist is not a simple task. For example, the FDS had extra sound hardware that NES did not, so it was natural that the FDS version would have better sound effects and background music. Check out this page to listen for yourself.

Another thing that Mato Tree points out is the differences in the actual languages of Japanese and English. Basically, more context can be implied with a Japanese statement than in English depending on how it’s said. Though it’s explained a lot better on this page, here’s an example in one of the most famous screens in gaming:

In English he says, “It’s dangerous to go alone! Take this.”

He says pretty much the same thing in Japanese: “It’s dangerous to go alone. I’ll give you this.” He also says it an “old wise man” sort of way, although that doesn’t come across in the English.

But not every decision was made because of the differences in Japanese and North American culture. Good old fashioned debugging still took place between the releases of the game. A prime example of this was a glitch that permitted the player to continue to collect the same heart container in the FDS version. Not so in the NES release!

But for a full analysis of this, please check out Mato Tree’s Legends of Localization: The Legend of Zelda. It’s definitely worth the read, I guarantee you’ll learn something new!

Source: Mato Tree