Ever since its launch in 1999, the Super Smash Bros. series has consistently stood as one
of Nintendo’s best-selling franchises worldwide.
Its unique gameplay, multiple modes, myriad of customizable options, wealth of content
and all-star cast have turned it into a hit with players both casual and hardcore alike.
Super Smash Bros.’ wild popularity shows no signs of waning either, with the recent
announcement of the next game in the series coming later this year to the Nintendo Switch.
So, to celebrate, let’s take a look back at what’s currently the latest game in the
series, Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U, and investigate some of the ways it was
changed in different countries around the world.
Let’s begin with the Robotic Operating Buddy, or R.O.B.
This toy-like accessory was originally bundled with the Nintendo Entertainment System in
a successful ploy to persuade retailers in the United States to stock it in the aftermath
of the Video Game Crash of 1983.
Meanwhile in Japan, R.O.B.
was known as the “Family Computer Robot” and was recolored to match the Famicom’s
cream and red color scheme.
Fittingly then, while both skins are available across all versions of Super Smash Bros. 4,
the Japanese version uses the Famicom R.O.B.
as its default skin whereas the International releases default to the NES R.O.B.
Amusingly enough though, the opposite was true for R.O.B.'s All-Star trophy in the 3DS
version of the game.
As all characters' All-Star trophies feature them in an alternative skin, this caused the
Japanese version of R.O.B.’s All-Star trophy to use the NES skin while the International
trophy used the Famicom skin.
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U sidestepped this entirely by using R.O.B.’s green and gold
skin on its All-Star trophy for all regions.
Finally, due to the character’s different name in Japan, the game’s announcer calls
R.O.B.
“Robot” in the Japanese version.
R.O.B.
was far from the only character whose Japanese name differs from their name in the West though.
Whilst there's far too many to go into here, a few examples include "King Dedede", who
is known just as "Dedede" in Japan.
"Charizard" who is known as "Lizardon".
And "Dark Pit", who is referred to as "Black Pit".
Also, many of the speaking characters had their lines dubbed into the language of their
region.
A big thanks here to the YouTuber Cyberman65 who has a big 60 minute video showing off
most of these language differences.
You can find a link to their full video in the description.
Still, a few characters, such as Marth, Roy, and Cloud, remained undubbed and spoke Japanese
throughout every version of the game.
That is except for Mewtwo, who bizarrely had his Japanese dialogue removed from every Western
release of the game.
As to be expected, the European versions of Super Smash Bros. 4 were localized into many
of the continent’s various languages, including German, French, Italian, and so forth.
However, did you know that there exists a number of differences between the North American
English and the European English versions of the game?
For instance, Duck Hunt was originally called Duck Hunt Duo over in Europe.
This name change also caused Palutena’s Guidance lines for the character to be changed
per region.
First up is the US version…
And then the European version…
An even bigger change was made with both the male and female Wii Fit Trainers, who had
different voice actors casted for the European English version of the game.
Appropriately, these are the same voice actors who voiced the European English version of
Wii Fit.
An especially odd change lies in the trophy descriptions between the two English versions
though.
For whatever reason, instead of simply using the trophy descriptions from the North American
English localization of Super Smash Bros. 4, Nintendo of Europe revised or retranslated
nearly every single description themselves.
For example, the trophy description for Master Hand in the North American version reads,
“The mysterious Master Hand is the source of creation in the Smash Bros. universe.
He appears in Final Destination when all other rivals are defeated.
He fights with a diverse move set and only grows stronger if you make him angry.
If you know when to fight and when to dodge, you'll take him down!”
Meanwhile, the European English version’s description is, “Master Hand personifies
creation in the Smash Bros. universe.
After defeating all your rivals, you face him in Final Destination.
He forms various shapes to unleash a wide range of attacks, and on high intensities
he'll become speedier, deal more damage and launch you further.
To beat him, you'll need to know when to attack and when to hold back.”
Speaking of trophies, a couple of them fell victim to censorship in Japan.
The Japanese trophy model of Wonder Pink from The Wonderful 101 changed her pose entirely
and lengthened her skirt to be a bit less revealing.
In fact, comparing each of the models’ textures will reveal that the Japanese version is noticeably
darker in a very particular area.
The Japanese trophy for Lynn from the Fire Emblem series also lightly lengthened her
skirt, closed it up at the hip, and darkened the area around her posterior as well.
Interestingly though, this change was made exclusively to her trophy, leaving her in-game
model unchanged from the International releases.
Palutena wasn’t as lucky however.
As of update 1.0.6 of the Japanese version of the game, Palutena’s skirt was closed
up at the hip similar to Lynn.
Furthermore, her underwear was also closed up at the hip, lengthened and darkened.
Contrary to Lynn though, these changes were made for Palutena’s in-game model as well
as her trophies.
On reporting these cases of censorship, Source Gaming published a translated excerpt of an
interview with series director Masahiro Sakurai reflecting on the story behind these changes.
To quote, “One of the first things they say in overseas ratings reviews is ‘no guns’
— that I can understand.
But in Japan, they immediately ask ‘could you show us all the female characters upside-down?’”
“…Super Smash Bros. for Wii U almost didn’t make its scheduled release date because of
ratings issues.
We had to revise Palutena and Wonder Pink’s models over and over again.”
“We had Palutena wearing shorts and made the inside of Wonder Pink’s skirt too dark
to see anything.
Nevertheless, CERO told us the designs were ‘sexually provocative.’
They were being ridiculous and frankly quite juvenile.”
“Underwear is just a piece of fabric.
If you’re more worried about something trivial like whether you can see some cloth than whether
a game includes firearms, you clearly ought to get your priorities in order.”
There are a few other changes between regions but, to finish off for today, let's take another
look at Palutena's Guidance scenes.
Similar to Snake's codec conversations in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Pit's Smash Taunt
can activate a conversation with Palutena about the opponent Pit is facing.
The scenes can offer some great background info about the characters involved, as well
as a healthy dose of humor.
Due to the large amount of translation needed for these scenes, looking into each region's
version can also reveal some interesting differences.
For instance, in the English version of Palutena's Guidance about Link, Viridi ogles over Link,
praising his chiseled features and comments how his "cheekbones could seriously cut glass".
In the original Japanese version, however, she praises his masculine physique and then
cries out his name with a love heart added to
the subtitles.
Further changes to this scene can be found when Palutena asks Viridi if she would like
to be introduced to him.
In the English version, she doesn't seem too bothered and simply says "if you insist".
Over in Japan though, she screams out "Mind your own business!!"
With two exclamation points added at the end and a much more emotional portrait.
To finish though, let's take a look at Palutena's Guidance about Mega Man, as even if you don't
understand Japanese, the majority of the dialogue is in English even in the Japanese version,
but with Japanese voice actors.
First up is the English version and, until next time, thank you for watching.