Remade for the Export: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

Of course, in this glorious age of the Internet where anyone who can use a web browser can discover that you've been holding out, your shortsightedness has reaped the wrath of a sizable chunk of your fanbase. Oops.

 

A sub-trope of [[Video Game Remake]]. See also [[American Kirby Is Hardcore]]. May be a result of [[Sequel First]], [[Adaptation First]] or [[Marth Debuted in Smash Bros]].

 

* ''[[Fire Emblem]]'' was first introduced to Western gamers through the appearance of Marth (from the original ''Fire Emblem'' for the Famicom) and Roy (from the then-current ''Fire Emblem: Fūin no Tsurugi'') in ''[[Super Smash Bros]] Melee''. It was shortly afterward that Nintendo, either emboldened by the new presence of ''Fire Emblem '' in the public consciousness or harassed by fans angry to realize that [[No Export for You|they had denied Americans one of their major franchises]], began releasing the ''Fire Emblem'' series in America. Of course, any ''Fire Emblem'' games released before they made this momentous decision (the first six in the series) remained Japan-only. Half of this status quo changed with the release of ''[[Fire Emblem]]: Shadow Dragon'' for Nintendo DS, a remake of the first game and the upcoming ''Fire Emblem: New Mystery of The Emblem ~ Heroes of Light and Shadow'' (a remake of the Super Famicom's ''Monshō no Nazo''). Roy remains an orphan on Western shores, and was even replaced with the more familiar Ike in ''[[Super Smash Bros]] Brawl.''

* The original ''[[Star Ocean 1|Star Ocean]]'' was never released Stateside, either; the franchise didn't gain ground in America until the coming of ''[[Star Ocean the Second Story (Video Game)|Star Ocean: The Second Story]]''. In 2008, however, Tri-Ace released PSP remakes for not only ''Second Story'' (as ''Star Ocean: Second Evolution'') but, before that, the original (as ''Star Ocean: First Departure'').

* ''[[Romancing Sa Ga]]: Minstrel Song'' is a [[PS 2]] remake of the SNES ''[[Romancing Sa Ga]]''. Until its release in 2005, while the first three [[SaGa]] games had made it over (under the 'Final Fantasy Legend') label, and the [[Executive Meddling]]-heavy ''[[Saga Frontier (Video Game)|Saga Frontier]]'' and [[Saga Frontier 2]] made it to the PS, none of the [[Romancing Sa Ga]] trilogy had made it stateside. Currently, it remains to be seen whether the DS remake of [[SaGa 2]] will make it over, or if the ''other'' [[Romancing Sa Ga]] games will ever get ''their'' remakes and ports...

* ''[[Harvest Moon]]: [[Exactly What It Says On the Tin|Back to Nature]] [[Distaff Counterpart|For Girl]]'' was never released on its home console, the Playstation, outside of Japan but was directly ported to the PSP.

* When [[Capcom]] originally made the ''[[Classic Disney Shorts|Magical Quest]]'' trilogy for the SNES, the third installment never made it out of Japan. Upon the second go-round for the GBA, Capcom made sure to bring it out of there.

* The [[Play Station]] game ''[[Kamen Rider Ryuki]]'' game was remade for the Wii as a ''[[Kamen Rider Dragon Knight]]'' game, with an added beat'em up mode. Bonus export remake points: Developer Eighting recycled the engine and many assets from the [[Play Station 2]] game ''[[Kamen Rider Climax Heroes (Video Game)|Kamen Rider Climax Heroes]]''. In turn, the stuff created for ''Dragon Knight'' was recycled by adding the rest of the ''Ryuki'' cast to ''Climax Heroes OOO''.

* The original MSX2 versions of ''[[Metal Gear 1987 (Video Game)|Metal Gear 1987]]'' and ''[[Metal Gear 2 Solid Snake (Video Game)|Metal Gear 2 Solid Snake]]'' were never released outside Japan (with the exception of an English version of the first game that came out in Europe). Around the time ''[[Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater (Video Game)|Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater]]'' came out, Konami remade both games for mobile phones, although these were still strictly Japanese releases. It wasn't until their inclusion in ''Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence'' that both games saw a proper international release.

* ''[[Castlevania]]: The Dracula X Chronicles'' for the PSP was made primarily because the original ''[[Castlevania Rondo of Blood (Video Game)|Castlevania Rondo of Blood]]'' for the [[PC Engine]] never had an overseas release before (the SNES version of ''Dracula X'' was not a faithful port, but simply adapted the same plot and game system into entirely new stages). The game contains both, a remake and the original, as well as its sequel ''Castlevania: Symphony of the Night''.

* ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]: Coded'' was remade (as ''Re:Coded'') for a non-Japanese release... because ''Coded'' was only for cell phones.

* ''[[Gundam]] Battle Assault'' is an entire series of this. The first game was a remake of the Japanese game ''Gundam the Battle Master 2'', tweaked to focus on ''[[Gundam Wing]]'', complete with Wing Gundam replacing the [[Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ (Anime)|Hamma-Hamma]] (Wing being little more than a [[Palette Swap]] of the Zeta) and a plotline centering on Heero Yuy kicking everyone else's butts to bring peace.

* ''Rockman & Forte'' was released exclusively in Japan for the [[Super Famicom]] in 1998 (which was pretty late during its lifespan, since the platform was already discontinued in the west) and then ported to the [[Game Boy Advance]] in 2003, in which it got an official western release as ''[[Mega Man (Video Game)|Mega Man & Bass]]''.

* Inverted with ''[[Wonder Boy III the Dragons Trap (Video Game)|Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap]]'' for the [[Master System]]. The game was meant to be released in Japan as well under the name of ''Monster World II'', but the low sales and eventual discontinuation of the Sega Mark III in that region caused the game to be canceled. The game was eventually released in Japan, in the form of a [[Turbo Grafx 16|PC-Engine]] remake titled ''Adventure Island'' (retitled ''Dragon's Curse'' in the west to avoid confusion with Hudson's own ''[[Adventure Island]]'' series), and later as a straight [[Game Gear]] port of the original Master System title.

* ''XZR II'' originally was a Japan-only computer game, but when it was greatly overhauled as ''Exile'' for the [[Sega Genesis]] and [[Turbo Grafx 16|Turbo Duo]], both console versions were translated.

* A [[Nintendo DS]] remake of the original ''[[Front Mission]]'' was released in the U.S., after [[Square Enix]] had released two later sequels there.