Famicom Game Translator

[okame]

I have an old Tetsuwan Atom (AKA Astroboy) Famicom game that I bought last year. I can play it, but I'd like to be able to READ it, too! Is there anyone out there I can send my Famicom games to, and get TRANSLATED versions back, in the same cart, that will work on a Famicom system? I have a converter for the NES slot on my Retron 3, but I was thinking of getting a Famicom Twin, so that I can play disk games, as well as Famicom carts without my converter. I saw a review of the original Famicom Disk version of Zelda, and I'd buy it if I could pay someone to translate it for me!

[ulera]

The first Zelda isn't really text heavy, that shouldn't be an issue. Honestly for what your wanting you'd be better off getting a flash cart. It's just as legitimate for a cart with it's ROM chip replaced.

[okame]

I'm on a budget, and don't want to pay $150 or more for a flash cart. Besides, the flash carts only work on NES systems. I want to buy a Famicom Twin, a system that plays the original Famicom cart and disk games WITHOUT a converter! Also, the ROMs aren't always the best translation. I want to build a Famicom library, as the carts are smaller, take up less space, and in the case of the original Famicom Super Mario Bros. 2 game, are totally, or even slightly different than the US version. It was released on Mario All Stars as 'Lost Levels'. Besides, the US Super Mario Bros. 2 was a reworked version of Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic, a Famicom disk game, with Mario Brothers characters. I want to play a translated version of THAT game, but I don't know if there's a ROM of it out there. Most of the Famicom games I want are English arcade ports or limited amounts of Japanese text, but some of the more obscure ones have never been translated as ROMs, as far as I can see.

[P]

There might be people that are doing repros so you might be able to send them the cart and get the cart back with a translated ROM but only if there IS a translation patch for it. There's no way there are going to be people making translations on request just like that! Unless there is enough demand and profit in it, but it most likely isn't. The ROM have to be hacked you know and translating an RPG or an adventure for example is many many hours of work for the translator.

Besides there is no Japanese text in SMB2j and other older games and not very much in Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic but there is actually a translation patch for it.
For the first Zelda game there is a translation guide here http://www.lltvg.com/wiki/The_Legend_of_Zelda/ja-en so you can understand the small amount of text that game has.

[okame]

My bugdet per cart is about 10-20 bucks, not including shipping. I've been looking for a translated ROM of Doki Doki Panic, but none of them seem to work on my emulators. Maybe if someone could find a way to make it work on an old Famicom board, I could have my own 'pirated' copy. I'm thinking of getting a Famicom Twin, but getting the original disk on eBay is over my budget!

[P]

Here is the patch for doki doki: http://www.romhacking.net/translations/3/ as you can see the only things that needed to be translated is the title screen and the ending.

It's a Disk game so you would have to rewrite a Disk Card with the patched disk image. There are people here like ericj that can do that for you I think.

[okame]

You're telling me that the game itself has no Japanese text? If it's just the beginning and the end, I should be fine. As long as I can figure out how to start the game (start button or a/b button),

[P]

Yes according to the translator. I don't know how much text there are in the ending but I don't think it's very much so should be able to find a way. Having the game rewritten just for a title screen and ending translation is a bit too much trouble. The only games that you might need a translation for are RPGs and Adventure games where a big part of the point is reading the story.

Famicom Disk System games including dokidoki often doesn't use Start or any other button to start the game, but you change the side of the disk instead. Some games says "SET SIDE B" or something similar in English on the title screen while other games say it in Japanese. So if nothing happens when you press start just try flipping the disk card.

[GohanX]

Yeah, Doki has very little English, and the English that is there is minimal. I wrote an English Doki disk for myself, but it seems my disks don't work in other FDS systems!

I can do translate famicom games for you as long as the donor cart uses regular mask roms and the translation is playable on real hardware. Thing is, I'm super backed up right now.

[okame]

No rush. I'm going to a Sci-Fi convention at the end of next month, so I'll be coming back broke but happy. I probably won't be able to get any money together until January or February. I was just sending out feelers. I'll look for a translated ROM for my Famicom Astro Boy game, but I'm not hoping for much. I figured in the case of that game, I have the original cart, so all you'd need to do is a swap out, the translated version for mine. Keep it in the same cart. I don't play it much, so I wouldn't mind not having it for a bit and sending it to you.

[GohanX]

Shoot me a link if you find a translated Astro Boy, I couldn't find one with a quick Google search. I looked up the game's board, and replacing the roms should be doable, although it may take some work due to space issues of fitting two 32 pin eproms into a space made for two 28 pin rom chips. 

[okame]

I found an original Japanese Astro Boy Famicom ROM. Apparently, if you look hard enough, the ROM is easier to find than the patch. On a related note, I'm an Akira fan. I found a boxed Akira Famicom game with instructions on eBay that I'm thinking of getting. I found an English translation patch online, but I can't seem to get it to work with the Akira.nes ROMs I've found. It just gives me a black screen on my emulator. If I bought the game and gave you the URL for the patch, could you put a translated version in the original cart if I sent it your way and paid for the shipping to get it to you? I'd also include a self addressed stamped envelope, so that I could get it back.

[GohanX]

I'll take a look at it next time I'm on my home computer. It looks like there is some funkiness with that patch and a few extra steps need to be taken to get the translation to work. As far as the cart is concerned, there shouldn't be any issues but I'll have to figure out what Taito's rom pinout is. I hesitate to say that I can definately do it until I've actually made one and verify that both the solder work is correct and the translated rom runs on real hardware.

[okame]

I won't be getting the Akira Famicom game any time soon, due to the fact that I'll be broke by the end of the month, due to a Sci-Fi con I'm going to on the weekend of the 26th. I'm hoping to find a Famicom Twin there, or in the city it's in, as there are a few place I could try. If all else fails, there's a cheap version on eBay I've been looking at. I'd have to buy a 3rd party Famicom Twin power adapter from another eBay listing and a step down converter first, but that shouldn't be a problem.

If you can get the patch to work, could you at least send me the translated ROM? I'll PM you my e-mail address. I've got an NES/Famicom emulator on my MacBook, so I'd at least be able to play the game before I got the cart. If you can't get the original cart to work, just tell me if there would be a suitable, black colored cartridge replacement Famicom game that would. I'll buy that one and one of those label/sticker sheets that work with jet ink printers and save a copy of the original Akira Famicom cart label. That way, at least I'll have something that LOOKS like the original game!

[GohanX]

Akira is actually something of a problem. It has 3 rom chips, but the translation converts it to two larger chips. I'm going to see if I can find a cheap Akira cart and experiment with it to see if I can make it work, as I can't find much documentation for the Taito mappers online.

There apparently is a MMC3 hack for the translation, which a few repro sites use, but it is not available to the public at this time.