Flashing DQ carts with English versions

[Zycrow]

I've got kind of an odd question - this may belong in the "technical assistance" forum but I'll start here.

I own Dragon Quest I - IV for my FC, and I'd love to experience these games, but my Japanese is rather too limited to do so at the moment. There are some excellent FAQs I've found that show exact translations for each line of dialogue in DQ I - III, but I've found it's kinda troublesome to keep referring to the guide as I'm playing through the games.

I know there are people who will flash translated versions of certain ROMs onto FC carts (like Mother, etc.), and I'm wondering what my options might be for the DQ games. Ideally I'd want to play the original version of DQ with the text simply changed to English, but I'm doubtful such a thing exists...I'm wondering if any of you know what I might be able to do.

(I know I could just hunt down the NES versions, but for my own reasons I'd like to play them on my FC. )

[P]

The only fan-translations of DQ I-III I know are the remakes for Super Famicom. You would have to look into making the translation yourself since you already have the script, just remember to ask the translator first. It's not a small task though even if the first DQ is very short, there's still quite a lot of text.

[L___E___T]

You could re-flash the Fami games with the NES versions? 

Personally, I'd recommend seeking out the GBC versions of 1-3, then playing 4 on the DS, they are absolutely superior (and just as nostalgic) versions of those games.

The GBC games of 1&2 are NES styled but improved versions, while DQ3 is the same but a little more akin to the SFC version of that makes sense.  DQ4,5,6 are well worth playing on the NDS.

[P]

I thought I-II remakes are also pretty much the same for SFC and GBC? I've only played the SFC remake. There are many changes from the original game (for example: an added item deposit but you can carry less items, some NPCs have had their dialogue or behaviour changed and there are new puff-puff girls) but they both have better translations than DW I and II had for NES. DQIII remakes for SFC and GBC also seem to be pretty much the same I think (although I have played none of the two). Both have the added personality system, new classes and the sugoroku mini game.

I don't like the new DQ localizations that newer DQ games uses (kerplunk??). DW III and IV NES versions have ok translations so you can play DW IV if you don't want to play the DS version (it's a good remake though). Just remember that some things are changed in the NES versions, for example the puff puff gag has been censored to fortune telling or similar.

The only way to play the original games with all things intact is to play with the guide like you did. There's really only dialogue in towns so you could at least play the first game without too much hassle.

[Zycrow]

Yeah, I'd really just like to play them as close to their original form as possible. I'm sure the reissues and remakes are quite nice, but I'd like to experience the games as close to original form as I can. Ah well.

I do at least know how to read hiragana/katakana, and I have some grasp of Japanese sentence structure, so maybe I just need to build up my vocabulary. 

[P]

Your Japanese will improve for sure. You can look up words and even grammar patterns (http://jgram.org/ or http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar) that you are not familiar with. It might be hard to look up grammar you are not familiar with depending on how much you already know, if you are early beginner it will be hard because you simply don't know what to look for.

Depending on how much you are used to reading kana it may feel very slow at first, but that's just a matter of getting exposed to lots of kana to improve your reading speed (remember you did the same thing as a kid when learning to read your own language's letters).

Also be prepared that you will have to look up lots and lots of words, and sometimes you wonder if you play for fun or simply are studying. Having a denshi jisho (or laptop with internet http://jisho.org/) will speed things up immensely. Since you have access to the full script I think you will be OK. Don't try to memorize too much at once, pick words that you notice comes often but you can't remember and put them in your vocabulary list you are studying (Anki http://ankisrs.net/index.html or whatever way you do it).

This is what I've been doing (and still do!) to get better at Japanese, and it works!
Also you can even ask me about sentences you don't understand (at this level it should be ok). I'm already coaching some other people in Japanese grammar.

[GohanX]

I've put the English Dragon Warriors on all the DQ carts. It's kinda neat. The thing that's tricky is that the boards are not the same between the us and Japanese games.

On DQ 4 you can use the same board and just swap the rom with an eprom. DQ 3 you actually need to use a DQ 4 board. DQ 1 requires a DQ 3 board. I don't remember what I had to do with part 2.

I've got a pile of all the DQ carts with the intention of translating and putting them up for sale, just haven't got around to it.