As had been previously promised by Konami, all three of the company's recent Anniversary Collection releases on Switch now include the Japanese versions of their games.
Yep, Castlevania Anniversary Collection, Contra Anniversary Collection, and Arcade Classics Anniversary Collection all now feature the option to play through the Japanese versions of each title as well as the western options already available. You can access them after updating each title; the Japanese versions are listed in a separate menu on the main game selection screen.
It would seem that the good news doesn't stop there, either. Users on Resetera are also reporting that the audio glitch found in the original Castlevania has been patched out.
Not having the option to choose between the Japanese and western versions for each game was rather disappointing when these compilations first launched, so this update is a particularly welcome one which only adds to each game's value.
Have you been waiting for this? Is this a perfect time for you to jump in and try a collection or two? Let us know in the comments below.
[source nintendowire.com]
Comments 54
I wish they did the same with that Street Fighter Collection. The Japanese version had a region select but not the international.
Are they really all that different? Is there a list for people to compare?
This is great news and makes them a much more appealing product. These are great collections. Hopefully we can get more of these off Konami.
@AG_Awesome Why yes my good man:
https://tcrf.net/Castlevania_(NES)#Regional_and_Version_Differences
https://tcrf.net/Castlevania_II:_Simon%27s_Quest#Regional_Differences
https://tcrf.net/Castlevania_III:_Dracula%27s_Curse/Regional_Differences#Censorship + the custom chip soundtrack is completely different in the JP version.
https://tcrf.net/Super_Castlevania_IV#Regional_Differences
For your aural delight:
@Shiryu @AG_Awesome
I was about to mention Castlevania 3 specifically.
The japanese OST is phenomenal. Same tracks, but, if im not mistaken, the extra chip offers one or two extra available voices, enhancing each peace drastically.
That alone makes this absolutely worth it in my book!
@Shiryu Excellent!! Thank you. I’ll navigate that site and see if there’s info on the contra games as well.
@Einherjar love some good Castlevania music!!
@Shiryu Great stuff. One of great Famicom soundtracks. The music on the ghost ship level is unbelievable.
After the post-launch support SUPER BOMBERMAN R got, the announcement of a brand new CONTRA game and now these updates for the Anniversary Collections, looks like Konami are making small steps back into positivity among gamers. Is it confirmed we have TATE mode for these collections as an option too?
Own two and intend buy all three of the Anniversary Collections. Hopefully, we’ll get some more especially of Konami’s 90s arcade output.
doesn't the contra collection already include all the japanese versions?
@Lroy TATE mode is there!
@manu0 no!
@Lroy For the Arcade Classics Collection, TATE mode was patched in after the initial release, specifically for the titles that were originally vertically oriented (IIRC, Scramble, Twin Bee,and one other)
@sfb @Zach Thank you. Hadn’t had a chance to check myself.
I’ll try out that code for Hard Corps. I think it gives you 70 lives I think.
How about the intro to Super Contra arcade which is missing the voice samples....did they fix it?
In other semi Castlevania news, Ritual of the Night is out and impressions are great. Hopefully the Switch port is solid as well.
@Lroy Agreed. Alas, the new Contra looks like a bulldog chewing a wasp
Excellent, I'd been hammering the check for updates button over the weekend hoping to get the easier Japanese version of Hard Corps. I'll definitely be grabbing the Castlevania collection now too. I hope the Japanese version of Castlevania 1 is the cartridge version, it has an easy mode!
@AG_Awesome There is, I just was home for lunch and did not have time to link everything. xP
Yesssssssssssssssssss now people can finally play the real Contra hardcorps.
@BulkSlash japanese version isn't easier it's just normal, the western ones are stupid to the point of being utterly ruined.
@manu0 yeah totally, they wrote this article for a laugh.
@AxeltheCorvikni I wish they did the same with that Street Fighter Collection. The Japanese version had a region select but not the international.
I think Capcom would be upset if Konami patched the Street Fighter Collection.
Now to dip into Hard Corps feeling a little more relaxed without that arcade difficulty!
Cool I have all 3
Now it's in my wishlist. While I wait for a physical release announcement, it is. In the meantime they may put it on sale.
Man, I am so happy Konami is back in the games. Now my hope is a Suikoden Collection!!!
Now's the time for me to pounce on these babies. I love the JP Castlevania 3, so there's no excuse for me now.
Great news! Thunder cross is better with the Japanese version
Just the news I was waiting for to start Castlevania 3. It's really nice to see these collections receiving such good treatment!
Maybe Konami decides to release more of them. Keep them coming!
They nailed the VRC6 emulation, nice
@YANDMAN I think the inclusion of a 3-hit bar vs one-hit death makes it a little easier vs most Contra games
That was nice and fast! Japanese version of Contra Hard Corps is definitely the way to go. Still very hard but SO MUCH easier than the Western version (thanks to a health bar instead of one hit kills, plus infinite continues).
Great!
Goemon Collection when
Finally, a non-borked version of A-Jax.
@sfb @Zach can Tate mode be turned on while the switch is docked? I can rotate my monitor vertically
How do you switch to Japanese versions on Castlevania Collection? Its updated but I don’t see an option anywhere...
Edit: Nevermind, I found it. Its on the bottom below the bonus book...
Other 'Konami' Collections I want to see (some aquired via merger with Hudson Soft):
-Adventure Island
-Bomberman
-Bonk
-Gradius/Lifeforce/parodius/salamander
@gimmi_c I just checked the Arcade Collection, and can confirm that Scramble, Twine Bee and Typhoon can be set to vertical orientation (TATE) while docked
@gimmi_c I also just confirmed that the displays of Contra (Arcade) and Super Contra (Arcade) can be rotated while docked. At least the English versions; I did not check the Japanese versions
On the Castlevania collection, so far I have not found find any titles that support TATE mode - understandable I suppose, as I don’t think there are any arcade titles there, unless I’ve overlooked something
@sfb cheers, I really appreciate that!
I was holding out on buying these until a sale or the information was available.
it's not a typical play style so it doesn't get mentioned in reviews.
Most games I've tried seem to do Tate in docked except the SNK classics collection which bafflingly restricts it.
Thanks for checking tho, I might have to pick these games up sooner rather than later!
FYI to anyone who has a hankering for more vintage Konami action on the Switch: (at least) two of their early arcade games have been released as stand-alone downloadable titles on the eShop, namely Time Pilot and Pooyan.
Both of these play great on the Switch. Pooyan is especially well-suited for vertical orientation & the Flip Grip.
On Facebook, Konami said they added button mapping as well!
Wait, why couldn't we get Japanese Simons Quest? 😥
Yay! Now I can finally use the cheats exclusive to the Japanese Contra titles and have a fighting chance at beating some of them. Still wish we had the ability to switch from Contra to Probotector in the 2 NES games but that's a literal nitpick at this point. Very happy to see a free update like this.
They fixed the audio glitch in the first Castlevania, but they didn't fix the display option that's supposed to fill the screen but doesn't. So still no 4:3 without scanlines option.
There is button mapping in the menu for each game that didn't let you do it within the game, but there's still only one save state per game.
They added the Japanese versions of the games, but not all the games, only seven of them. The Japanese version of Simon's Quest was omitted for some reason.
Glad to have patches. Hoping the next one finishes the job.
Don’t stop at 3! I want more Anniversary Collections Konami!! Cmon!
@Jimgamer8 Like i said this is just normal as this was removed from the western versions. You could of course say it is easier and it is but this is how all the versions started out.
Japanese version of haunted castle has a more fair difficulty.
@AG_Awesome
It’s in the sound department Castlevania 3 on Famicom had enhanced sound thanks to added chip in cart, compared to UK/US versions. Much better:)
Yay! Finally I can play Salamander rather than Lifeforce! Happy days!
Still waiting for a bundle or discount. Must have sucked for the japanese to not have the Japanese versions.
@tendonerd
The Japanese versions only had the Japanese versions (except Castlevania II: Simon' Quest which was the US version for some reason). I wonder if they were patched to get the US/ PAL versions of the other games too?
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