A lightning bolt drops a scientist onto an alien world with no words to guide him — and the first creature he can trust is a prisoner, like him.
Lester Knight Chaykin runs a particle accelerator, lightning strikes, and he wakes up underwater on a hostile alien planet. From there Another World never explains anything — no dialogue, no text, no health bar. You learn the world the way Lester does: by dying, watching, and trying again. The quiet miracle is the alien you meet in a prison cell. You never speak the same tongue, you never learn his name, yet across the whole journey he hauls you up ledges and you blast the bars off his cage, two strangers keeping each other alive. Éric Chahi built this almost entirely alone — engine, polygons, animation rotoscoped from his own brother — and proved a game could move you like a film without borrowing a single line of one.
About this game
Another World is a 1991 action-adventure game for the super famicom, developed by Delphine Software International.
Gallery
Tricks & Tales
Éric Chahi built Another World almost single-handedly over roughly two years, writing his own engine and drawing every polygon; only the soundtrack was outsourced. The fluid character animation came from rotoscoping — Chahi filmed real motion, including video of his own brother, to plan how figures should move. The game uses no spoken or written dialogue at all; the entire story is told through cinematic cutscenes and the player's own play.
Collector's Guide
Region & Compatibility
Super Famicom and SNES region differences operate on two separate levels. First, there is a physical incompatibility: a Japanese Super Famicom cartridge and a North American SNES cartridge have different shell shapes. NTSC-J (Super Famicom) carts are narrower and will not seat in a North American SNES slot without the slot's internal tabs removed or bypassed; conversely, the wider NTSC-U carts cannot even be inserted into a Super Famicom. Second, even where cartridges physically fit — PAL carts share a shell shape closer to Super Famicom and will insert — a lockout chip on the motherboard (F411 for NTSC, F413 for PAL) will prevent the game from booting on a mismatched console. Running a Super Famicom cartridge on a Super Famicom purchased in Japan is of course straightforward; playing it on a foreign console requires either a mod or an adapter that addresses both the physical and the chip-level lock.
Maintenance Tips
The 72-pin cartridge connector is the most common maintenance point. Clean the gold-plated pins on cartridges with a cotton swab and 90%+ isopropyl alcohol; never use abrasive erasers on cartridge contacts. The connector slot on the console itself can be cleaned by inserting and removing a cartridge several times, or with a dedicated pin cleaner. For video output, S-Video provides significantly cleaner image quality than composite and uses the same multi-out port -- a passive adapter cable is all that is required. On early SHVC board revisions, a capacitor near the power LED can leak; inspect the board if the console shows instability. Use the original AC adapter or a verified equivalent: the SFC runs on 10V DC and is not compatible with Famicom or NES power supplies.
Going deeper
Explore the machine this game ran on, and what to check before you buy or care for one:
What to Watch Out For
Before buying, these are the points worth knowing — from someone who handles original Japanese Another World copies regularly.
Is the Japanese Super Famicom cartridge titled 'Another World'?
No. In Japan the SFC version was released as 'Outer World' (アウターワールド). 'Another World' is the European name and 'Out of This World' the North American one — same game, three different titles, so check the spine carefully when buying.
Does the SNES/Super Famicom version differ from the original Amiga game?
It's the same game and story, but the port was rebuilt with workarounds for the SNES hardware, and console editions of this era saw some content and difficulty adjustments. The core wordless cinematic experience is intact.
Before You Buy
Things worth knowing before you buy Another World
A short checklist for buying a used Super Famicom cartridge wisely — useful with any seller, anywhere.
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Choose a seller who tests it before shipping
A copy that has actually been powered on and checked is a known quantity. An untested one is a gamble you only settle after it arrives.
Look for a seller who states it was function-tested and says what they confirmed. A serious seller can tell you exactly what was checked.
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Make sure it fits your console
This is a Japanese Super Famicom cartridge; its shell is shaped differently from the North American SNES and will not fit without modification.
Play it on a matching Japanese console or a region-free system, and confirm the listing states the region.
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If this title saves your progress, check the battery
Cartridges that save use a small coin-cell battery that fades over decades — a dead one wipes your save without warning.
Ask the seller whether the save function was tested. Replacing the battery is possible, but doing so erases any existing save.
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Check that the contacts are clean
Dirty edge contacts are the most common cause of startup and sound trouble in cartridges of this age.
Choose a seller who cleans the contacts before shipping. A note that it was tested and cleaned means the basics were handled.
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Confirm it is genuine, not a reproduction
Sought-after titles are targets for reproduction boards with replacement labels.
Ask for a photo of the circuit board and look for factory markings. Favour a shop with a licensed second-hand dealer permit (古物商) — by law its stock has a traceable origin, your simplest guard against fakes.
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Read the seller's reviews and return policy
A 100% positive record across thousands of sales is close to a guarantee — packing, communication and problem-solving all work for everyone. A return policy protects you if something is off.
Read the feedback and confirm a clear return window before you buy.
The last step before buying anywhere is knowing what it's worth.
See what it's selling for on eBay →Unexpected Discoveries
Games you weren't looking for — but might be glad you found.
Rooms this game lives in
Wander deeper — explore the themed rooms where Another World sits alongside its kin.
Memories from around the world
This is a young museum, and this page is still waiting for its first voices. The memories people send reach Taisei personally, and the ones that move him find a home here over time — always with the writer's blessing. Yours could be the very first for this game.
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