Localizations, Please! Pre-E3DS 2015 Edition

With E3 2015 coming down the pipeline in about a month's time, I wanted to bring back a favorite segment of mine, "Localizations, Please!" to talk about five yet-to-be-announced-for-localization titles that I'd love to see reach our sunny side of the earth. Hopefully these actually come out unlike the games in this article from Friday.

For no special reason whatsoever besides by (mis)fortune, all five of this edition's games come from the Nintendo 3DS library (well, that and this month is a special Nintendo 3DS game review month). I've been getting pretty lucky with posting games I want to see localized and getting announcements later on down the road. Let's see if that continues with this set of five games.

Monster Hunter Stories (3DS)

We don't know too much about this first game, besides it being an RPG spin-off, having an adorable art style, and it being in development for a good while now. Okay, well, maybe that is plenty that we know about Monster Hunter Stories, but like a spoiled brat, I must have even more to know about! The Monster Hunter series has seen much improved sales success over the past few years, so it seems natural for this spin-off to hit the West for something more than the Japanese audience to enjoy. I guess us Westerners will just have to cross our fingers (or if you want some forced Monster Hunter reference by me) and our Jaggi claws.

Bravely Second (3DS)

The first Bravely Default was localized as part of a marketing deal by Nintendo and Square Enix. "Apparently, Square Enix can't release most of its Nintendo 3DS games without Nintendo's help," Phil said in a sarcastic and very bitter tone. Regardless, despite the game's notorious near-end design issues, it was met with overly nice critical and fair commercial success. Could a possible localization announcement come from either Nintendo's Digital Event showing or Square Enix's E3 press conference this year?

Dragon Quest VIII (3DS)

Just announced last week, Dragon Quest VIII is a port of the PlayStation 2 classic with all-new Nintendo 3DS-exclusive features. The game has seen a version on smart devices, but here's hoping that the Nintendo 3DS game handles and plays a lot better than that one. I haven't given up hope that Dragon Quest VII's remake will finally come stateside and in other parts of the world, so I have hope that some kind of localization announcement will be made for this next Dragon Quest game to hit Nintendo's auto-stereoscopic wonder.

Theatrhythm Dragon Quest (3DS)

As a big fan of the Theatrhythm Final Fantasy games, I'm up for the Dragon Quest version to get localized. Not only will it allow me a nice entry point into the mainline games, but I get to enjoy the series' stellar music while I play along, finding new classics to put on my iPod in the process. It helps that the base game of Theatrhythm is mighty addictive. Sure, it helps to know the music so you can tap, slide, and hold the touch screen in time with the notes, but I'll survive. Well, that's IF the darned game actually winds up on this side of the world, that is.

Dragon Ball Z: Extreme Butoden (3DS)

Dragon Ball Z has once again seen a resurgence in popularity over the past few years, what, with the release of two new movies and an all-new sequel series announced. In fact, Dragon Ball Xenoverse is making quite a lot of video game players happy across the world. It would be the perfect time for Namco Bandai to cash in with its Nintendo 3DS Dragon Ball Z fighting game, Extreme Butoden, and give its overseas fans even more entertainment with cast members like Goku, Vegeta, Trunks, Gohan, Krillin, and more.

SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs - "What Is This Doing On A Tuesday?" Edition

As any SuperPhillip Central regular will tell you, SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs usually appear on a Monday to jump start the week with great video game music. However, any SuperPhillip Central regular will also tell you that I occasionally am late or a bit lazy with posting these on time. It happens rarely, but when it does, it makes a reader's Tuesday all the more special. That's exactly what has transpired with this edition of SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs.

No worries, though, as I have come up with awesome video game tracks for us all to enjoy on this fine Tuesday afternoon. We start things off with Kumi Tanioka's Fort Farthest from Ragnarok Odyssey. Then we get rocking with some music from Mega Man X7 and Paper Mario: Sticker Star. Lastly, we wind this edition up with music from Skies of Arcadia and a jazzy little number from SimCity 3000. Let's get to the music!

v876. Ragnarok Odyssey (Vita) - Fort Farthest

Kumi Tanioka delivers to us a military march styled theme that plays at the hub area Fort Farthest of Ragnarok Odyssey and its expansion, Ragnarok Odyssey ACE. I played the latter, enjoying it as a much more beginner friendly Monster Hunter-esque game. Ragnarok Odyssey features Norse mythology and creatures, bringing with it intense battles with up to four players online or off.

v877. Mega Man X7 (PS2) - Bomb Recovery ~ Central Circuit Stage

Despite the game being the main bomb in a critical sense, Mega Man X7 should be admired for at least trying something new, fully 3D levels. However, I think most of us can be happy that Capcom went to a strictly 2D and 2.5D design sense with Mega Man X8. Still, while the quality of the Mega Man X series has been like a roller coaster, one constant is present throughout all of the games-- they have fantastic music, as evidenced by this theme for Hellride Boarski's stage.

v878. Paper Mario: Sticker Star (3DS) - My Things!

Talking about games that aren't viewed with the highest of regards, Paper Mario: Sticker Star was a competent but overall underwhelming title. It's more to do with it being part of the Paper Mario series than anything else. It lacked gaining experience from battles, partners to help Mario in battle, and the lack of a pronounced story hurt more than they helped the game. However, the music of this Paper Mario is by far my favorite yet seen in the series with its abundance of catchy tunes, such as this one for Bowser Jr. encounters.

v879. Skies of Arcadia (DC) - Blue Pirates' Ship

The Blue Rogues is led by Vyse the pirate, who is also the main character of Skies of Arcadia, known as Eternal Arcadia in Japan. The game would see a port on the Nintendo GameCube, lowering the amount of random enemy encounters that the Dreamcast original notoriously had. The game remains one of my favorite JRPGs I've ever played, and it's the charming cast of characters, unique setting, fun battle system, and wonderful music that I thank for that.

v880. SimCity 3000 (PC) - Central Park Sunday

We conclude this late edition of SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs with a jazzy song from SimCity 3000, Central Park Sunday. Sure, Sunday was two days ago, but this song is just as nice for a Tuesday. A mixture of original music is heard while tinkering around with the various tools available for creating magnificent cities with SimCity 3000, and basically all of it is just as wonderful as Central Park Sunday.

Localizations: Denied! When Games Don't Cross Over the Pond

SuperPhillip Central's "Localizations, Please!" series of articles has gotten lucky with how most of the games I've wished for have received localizations or localization announcements. However, there are the occasional moments where a game stays in its native homeland, never to be translated and played by the rest of the world. This article delves into those specific games with the first segment of "Localizations: Denied!"

Dragon Quest X (Wii U, Wii)

The first game to not be released in the West is one that all of the odds against it. It was released near the end of the Wii's life, the system's successor that the game also was on sold like sand to a man in the desert, and it was a massively multiplayer online RPG. That hat trick of negative aspects meant that the tenth mainline installment of a series that already didn't have much selling power compared to, say, Final Fantasy, which has seen two MMORPG entries released on this side of the Pacific, would not find it crossing over the pond.

Dragon Quest VII (3DS)

Silence is golden, but not for localization news. It makes sense that Dragon Quest fans are wanting the eleventh installment of the series to arrive on a Sony platform because then the odds of it being localized are much stronger. After all, Dragon Quest Heroes recently released in the land of the rising sun, and it's already set for localization, though only on the PS4 instead of the PS3 as well. Dragon Quest VII's Nintendo 3DS form is a full fledged 3D remake. As prices for the PS1 original fetch a high price and so many missed out on it, it would have been nice to have received word of localization.

Disaster: Day of Crisis (Wii)

Xenoblade creator Monolith Soft's Disaster: Day of Crisis is the odd gem in this batch of six unlocalized games, as it was the only one that actually reached the West. It released in PAL territories, but unfortunately, it never hit North America. Filled with action, rail-shooting sections utilizing the Wii Remotes, jumping puzzles, mini-games, and quick time events, Disaster: Day of Crisis had players trying to survive a city caught in a nasty mix of natural disasters and terrorism. The biggest disaster, ironically enough, was sales, as the game did horribly in retail, leading to Nintendo of America deciding not to bring it across either the Pacific or the Atlantic.

Zangeki no Reginleiv (Wii)

Returning to the Japan-only lineup of games on this list, Zangeki no Reginleiv (or as it was originally called "Dynamic Slash") featured copious amounts of violence through the form of slicing and chopping off enemy extremities with the Wii MotionPlus peripheral, offering precise sword slashing action with one of over 300 weapons. Up to four players could hop onto the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection to participate in group beast slaying. No doubt both Nintendo of Europe and Nintendo of America felt that the demographics for Zangeki no Reginleiv didn't fit in with the ones they had in their respective regions. It's a shame, as the game looked like a mighty amount of simplistic and savage fun.

Soma Bringer (DS)

Another title that most likely didn't get localized due to demographics was the Nintendo DS' Soma Bringer, also developed by Monolith Soft. The game was deemed a cooperation RPG by the developers, favored by players for its combat system, visuals, and music. In a time where Nintendo was localizing the Dragon Quest series, and third parties were releasing a wide variety of RPGs such as Final Fantasy, Radiant Historia, Etrian Odyssey, Rune Factory, and more, it remains disappointing that Nintendo itself didn't bring over Soma Bringer or allow another studio to do the duties for them like XSeed Games did with the Wii's Pandora's Tower.

Mother 3 (GBA)

A commercial and critical success in Japan, Mother 3, the sequel to EarthBound, released at the end of the Game Boy Advance's life. This was at a time when the GBA was slowly entering the old folks' home and the Nintendo DS was taking its spot on center stage. Due to this, Mother 3 did not get localized in the West to an official capacity. Instead, a fan translation is available for download via emulator, but it would have been a lovely treat to have the game released in some aspect in the West.

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What games that never released where you live do you feel bummed you missed out on? Drop me a note in the comments section below.

Best Boss Battles in Gaming History - Part Fourteen

WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR THE FOLLOWING GAMES:

• The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D (3DS)
• Rayman Legends (Multi)
• Ratchet & Clank (PS2)
• Kirby and the Rainbow Curse (Wii U)
• Mario Party 10 (Wii U)

Welcome to the fourteenth installment of the long-running series of articles, Best Boss Battles in Gaming History. This is where you, me, and anyone else who wants to join in delve into some of the most climactic, enjoyable, entertaining, clever, and downright fun boss battles in the history of gaming. Whether it's a hardcore final boss or a creative take on a normal boss, these boss battles are some of the best gaming has to offer.

If you missed out on a previous entry of Best Boss Battles in Gaming History, look no further than these links:

Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Part Six 
Part Seven
Part Eight
Part Nine
Part Ten
Part Eleven
Part Twelve
Part Thirteen

Catch Part Fourteen after the break due to spoilers and all!

SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs - Get N or Get Out Edition

Time for a special Nintendo-themed edition of SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs, an edition full of bright and bouncy music. This week SuperPhillip Central's Favorite VGMs have music from Pilotwings, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Kirby's Epic Yarn, Tetris Attack, and Super Mario 64. As always, if you'd like to see and listen to the previous VGMs featured in this weekly segment, check them out at the VGM Database.

v871. Pilotwings (SNES) - Light Plane (Vocal Mix)

This version of the Light Plane theme from the original Pilotwings comes from the Super Smash Bros. for Wii U soundtrack. It plays during the Pilotwings stage, featuring battles aboard multiple airplanes as they soar around Wuhu Island from Wii Sports Resort and various other Nintendo titles. The vocal mix version is my preferred version of this happy-go-lucky theme.

v872. Donkey Kong Country Returns (Wii) - Main Theme (Vocal Mix)

Another version which comes from Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Donkey Kong Country Returns itself had a relatively nice soundtrack, though it paled in comparison to the Rareware sound team's efforts from the SNES trilogy. However, this vocal theme based off the menu music is absolutely wonderful, featuring what appears to be the Kong crew singing along.

v873. Kirby's Epic Yarn (Wii) - Mt. Slide

Mt. Slide in Kirby's Epic Yarn is a level where fast-paced snowboarding is the order of the day. It's a very perky and triumphant theme, perfect for slip sliding down slippery slopes in search for beads. Good Feel, the team behind Epic Yarn, is now pretty much wrapping up work on their next project, the hype-inducing and incredibly adorable Yoshi's Woolly World. While Europe gets the game in a month's time or so, us North Americans will have to wait until the fall unfortunately.

v874. Tetris Attack (SNES) - Forest World

We go back in time to the Super Nintendo with Tetris Attack's Forest World, hosted by the Wiggler enemy of Super Mario fame. Known as Panel de Pon in Japan, the game was given a Yoshi coat of paint for its Western release and a new name, Tetris Attack. The soundtrack is a mix of cute, charming and catchy themes.

v875. Super Mario 64 (N64) - Encore (Slider) - Mario & Zelda Big Band Live

This version of Super Mario 64's Slider theme comes from the Mario & Zelda Big Band Live concert from 2003. It featured music from Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and Yoshi, mostly focusing on then-recent games like Super Mario Sunshine and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. This version of Slider was the final theme played during the concert, the encore.