Japan Only
Games that never left Japan — language barriers or small print runs kept these titles tucked away. Now you can find them.
53 games in this room
Family Computer Disk System
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels
スーパーマリオブラザーズ2
Super Mario Bros. 2 (1986), released on the Famicom Disk System, is the direct Japanese sequel to Super Mario Bros. — a …
Read more →Family Computer Disk System
The Mysterious Murasame Castle
謎の村雨城
The Mysterious Murasame Castle is the second original title released for the Famicom Disk System, launching just two wee…
Read more →Family Computer Disk System
All Night Nippon: Super Mario Bros.
オールナイトニッポン スーパーマリオブラザーズ
All Night Nippon: Super Mario Bros. (1986) is one of the rarest officially licensed Nintendo games ever produced. Create…
Read more →Family Computer (Famicom) / NES
The Goonies
グーニーズ
A side-scrolling action game based on the 1985 Columbia Pictures film, released exclusively in Japan on February 21, 198…
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Rare Family Computer (Famicom) / NES
Layla
レイラ
Released by dB-SOFT in December 1986, Layla is a Japan-only Famicom action game inspired by the Dirty Pair anime. Player…
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Uncommon Family Computer Disk System
Famicom Mukashibanashi: Shin Onigashima
ふぁみこんむかし話 新・鬼ヶ島
Famicom Mukashibanashi: Shin Onigashima (1987) is a text-based adventure game that re-tells the Japanese folk tale of Mo…
Read more →Family Computer Disk System
Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic
夢工場ドキドキパニック
Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic (1987) is a Famicom Disk System action platformer developed by Nintendo, created in partnersh…
Read more →Family Computer Disk System
Eggerland
エッガーランド
Eggerland (1987) is the Famicom Disk System title that introduced the world to Lolo and Lala — a pair of round character…
Read more →Family Computer Disk System
Esper Dream
エスパードリーム
Esper Dream (1987) is an action RPG by Konami for the Famicom Disk System, set in a fairy-tale world where a young boy w…
Read more →Family Computer Disk System
Otocky
オトッキー
Conceived by media artist Toshio Iwai and released for the Famicom Disk System in 1987, Otocky is one of gaming history'…
Read more →Family Computer Disk System
Ai Senshi Nicol
愛戦士ニコル
Released exclusively for the Famicom Disk System in April 1987, Ai Senshi Nicol is a Japan-only Konami action-adventure …
Read more →Family Computer Disk System
Arumana no Kiseki
アルマナの奇蹟
Released in 1987 for the Famicom Disk System, Arumana no Kiseki is a Japan-exclusive Konami action-platformer with a str…
Read more →Family Computer (Famicom) / NES
Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei
デジタル・デビル物語 女神転生
Released in September 1987, Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei was Atlus's first video game and the origin of a franchis…
Read more →Family Computer Disk System
Detective Jinguji Saburo: Shinjuku Chuo Koen Murder Case
探偵 神宮寺三郎 新宿中央公園殺人事件
Detective Jinguji Saburo: Shinjuku Chuo Koen Murder Case is a 1987 detective adventure game developed and published by D…
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Uncommon Family Computer (Famicom) / NES
Getsu Fuuma Den
月風魔伝
Getsu Fuuma Den (1987) is one of Konami's most distinctive Famicom titles: a hybrid action game that blends side-scrolli…
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Uncommon Family Computer Disk System
Famicom Detective Club: The Missing Heir
ファミコン探偵倶楽部 消えた後継者
Famicom Detective Club: The Missing Heir (1988) is a murder mystery visual novel in which the player investigates the de…
Read more →Family Computer Disk System
Kaettekita Mario Bros.
帰ってきたマリオブラザーズ
Kaettekita Mario Bros. is a 1988 FDS title released exclusively through Nintendo's Disk Writer rewrite service — never s…
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Family Computer (Famicom) / NES
Hanjuku Hero
半熟英雄
Hanjuku Hero is a 1988 real-time simulation RPG developed and published by Square for the Famicom — an uncharacteristica…
Read more →Family Computer (Famicom) / NES
Famicom Wars
ファミコンウォーズ
Released on August 12, 1988 exclusively in Japan, Famicom Wars is the turn-based strategy game that quietly launched one…
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PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16
Super Momotaro Dentetsu
スーパー桃太郎電鉄
Super Momotaro Dentetsu (1989) is the PC Engine entry in Hudson Soft's beloved board game series — a game about travelli…
Read more →Family Computer Disk System
Famicom Detective Club Part II: The Girl Who Stands Behind
ファミコン探偵倶楽部 PartII うしろに立つ少女
Famicom Detective Club Part II: The Girl Who Stands Behind is a mystery adventure game released in 1989 on the Famicom D…
Read more →PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16
Tengai Makyō: Ziria
天外魔境 ZIRIA
Released on June 30, 1989, Tengai Makyō: Ziria is widely recognised as the world's first RPG on CD-ROM media. Exploiting…
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Uncommon PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16
Tengai Makyou II: Manjimaru
天外魔境II 卍MARU
Tengai Makyou II: Manjimaru (1992) is the most ambitious RPG ever produced for the PC Engine, and by some measures one o…
Read more →Super Famicom / SNES
Final Fantasy V
ファイナルファンタジーV
Final Fantasy V is the 1992 Super Famicom RPG that never reached Western players in its era — Japan-exclusive until the …
Read more →PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16
Snatcher
スナッチャー
Snatcher for PC Engine CD-ROM² — known as the 'CD-ROMantic' edition — is the 1992 cyberpunk adventure game created by Hi…
Read more →PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16
Star Parodier
スターパロジャー
Star Parodier (1992) is Hudson's self-aware parody of its own Star Soldier vertical shooter series, replacing the hard s…
Read more →Family Computer (Famicom) / NES
Fire Emblem Gaiden
ファイアーエムブレム外伝
Released in March 1992, Fire Emblem Gaiden is the second Fire Emblem game and a direct departure from the first — a Japa…
Read more →PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16
Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys
イースIV ザ・ドーン・オブ・イース
Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys is the PC Engine Super CD-ROM² exclusive entry in Falcom's celebrated action RPG series — a title …
Read more →Sega Mega Drive / Genesis
Monster World IV
モンスターワールドIV
The final chapter of the Wonder Boy / Monster World saga and the only entry to feature a female protagonist, Monster Wor…
Read more →Super Famicom / SNES
Seiken Densetsu 3
聖剣伝説3
Seiken Densetsu 3 (1995) is one of the finest action RPGs on the Super Famicom and among the most accomplished Japan-onl…
Read more →Super Famicom / SNES
Tales of Phantasia
テイルズ オブ ファンタジア
Tales of Phantasia (1995) is the origin of one of JRPG's most enduring franchises — the Tales series — and arrived as th…
Read more →Super Famicom / SNES
Front Mission
フロントミッション
The first entry in Square's long-running tactical mecha franchise, Front Mission is set in 2090 on the contested island …
Read more →PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16
Sapphire: Ginga Fukei Densetsu
銀河婦警伝説サファイア
Released in November 1995 as the PC Engine's lifespan neared its end, Sapphire is simultaneously one of the most technic…
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Uncommon Game Boy
Pokémon Red and Green
ポケットモンスター 赤・緑
Pokémon Red and Green launched in Japan on February 27, 1996, after six years of development by Game Freak and creator S…
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Uncommon Sega Saturn
Sakura Wars
サクラ大戦
Sakura Wars is a 1996 Sega Saturn exclusive that blended tactical RPG combat with visual novel-style relationship mechan…
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Uncommon Super Famicom / SNES
Bahamut Lagoon
バハムートラグーン
Bahamut Lagoon (1996) is one of Square's most overlooked gems — a tactical RPG set in a world of floating islands where …
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Uncommon Sega Saturn
Grandia
グランディア
Grandia is a 1997 role-playing game developed by Game Arts for the Sega Saturn — the studio's follow-up to the Lunar ser…
Read more →Sega Saturn
Shining Force III
シャイニングフォースIII
Released in 1997, Shining Force III was Camelot Software Planning's final Shining game — and their most ambitious. Conce…
Read more →Sega Saturn
Thunder Force V
サンダーフォースV
Thunder Force V is the 1997 Sega Saturn shoot 'em up developed and published by Technosoft, the fifth and final mainline…
Read more →Sega Saturn
Princess Crown
プリンセスクラウン
Princess Crown (1997) is the Sega Saturn action RPG that served as the creative origin of Vanillaware — the studio that …
Read more →Sega Saturn
Silhouette Mirage
シルエットミラージュ
Treasure's 1997 Sega Saturn action game introduced a polarity mechanic that would later become the foundation for Ikarug…
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Uncommon Sega Saturn
DoDonPachi
怒首領蜂
DoDonPachi — literally 'Angry Boss Bee' — is Cave's 1997 masterpiece and the game that crystallised the bullet hell sub-…
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Uncommon Sega Saturn
X-Men vs. Street Fighter
エックスメン VS. ストリートファイター
X-Men vs. Street Fighter is Capcom's 1996 landmark crossover fighting game that brought Marvel's X-Men characters — Wolv…
Read more →Game Boy Color
Pokémon Trading Card Game
ポケモンカードGB
Pokémon Trading Card Game (1998) for Game Boy Color is a digital adaptation of the Pokémon TCG developed by Hudson Soft …
Read more →Sega Saturn
Baroque
バロック
Baroque is one of the Saturn library's most singular achievements: a roguelike first-person dungeon crawler set in a pos…
Read more →Sega Saturn
Dragon Force II: Kamisarishi Daichi ni
ドラゴンフォースⅡ 神去りし大地に
Released in April 1998, Dragon Force II: Kamisarishi Daichi ni is the sequel to one of the Saturn's defining strategy RP…
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Rare Dreamcast
Tokyo Bus Guide
東京バス案内
Tokyo Bus Guide (1999) is one of the most quietly subversive games ever released in Japan: a bus driving simulator devel…
Read more →Nintendo 64
Sin and Punishment: Successor of the Earth
罪と罰〜地球の継承者〜
Sin and Punishment: Successor of the Earth is the 2000 Nintendo 64 rail shooter developed by Treasure and published by N…
Read more →Dreamcast
Rez
レズ
Rez is the 2001 rail shooter directed by Tetsuya Mizuguchi and developed by United Game Artists, built around a single c…
Read more →Dreamcast
Cosmic Smash
コズミックスマッシュ
Cosmic Smash (2001) is one of the rarest and most visually distinctive Dreamcast exclusives — a futuristic sports game c…
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Rare Game Boy Color
Star Ocean: Blue Sphere
スターオーシャン ブルースフィア
Star Ocean: Blue Sphere is a 2001 action RPG developed by tri-Ace and published by Enix exclusively for the Game Boy Col…
Read more →Dreamcast
Ikaruga
斑鳩
Ikaruga (2002) is a vertical scrolling shoot 'em up developed and self-published by Treasure, released for Dreamcast in …
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Uncommon ▶ Nintendo GameCube
Animal Crossing: Doubutsu no Mori e+
どうぶつの森e+
Doubutsu no Mori e+ is the final and most complete GameCube entry in the Animal Crossing series, released exclusively in…
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