6 Japanese PSone Imports Coming West

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6 Japanese PSone Imports Coming West

GungHo Online Entertainment America is releasing six more Japanese PSone Classics! These games have never been seen on American shores, but thanks to the magic of the PSN, a whole new audience may now enjoy them.

The games are in Japanese, and depending on their genre, some are definitely more “import-friendly” than others. This post will give you a breakdown of what to expect from each one so we can help you find the import classic that’s right for you!

Sarara’s Little Shop (Danjyon Shoutengai: Densetsu no Ken Hajimemashita)

Sarara’s Little Shop

Take control of a stereotypical RPG item shop and help outfit adventurers to safely traverse treacherous dungeons and snag some fantastic loot.

The experience branches out based on your decisions and there are plenty of big spenders for you to interact with.

As with any RPG/simulation game, it’s pretty text-heavy. Are you prepared for this immersive shop-running classic?

Dragon Beat Legend of Pinball

Dragon Beat Legend of Pinball

The ultimate classic pinball experience has arrived! This classic is easily the most import-friendly game on today’s list. Nearly all of the important text is in English, and old-school pinball fun needs no translation.

The game features two unique game modes. One is the “simple” mode that replicates the standard pinball experience, while the other takes players on a steel ball’s epic journey to defeat a dragon and save the lovely princess.

NEO PLANET

NEO PLANET

If you’ve ever dreamed of flying through space and terraforming a whole new planet to become the second Earth, NEO PLANET is the game for you.

The goal of this intricately detailed simulation game is to carefully balance each planet’s ecosystem while developing it for potential colonization.

It’s incredibly text-heavy, and provides the kind of core challenge that simulation enthusiasts crave. A fair amount of Japanese fluency will be required to enjoy this title.

Heroine Dream 1-2

Heroine Dream 2

One of the earliest idol-simulation games, the Heroine Dream series oozes with nineties style and charm. Players are tasked with carefully managing the latest up and coming “heroine” to help her burst onto the scene with style!

Players can enjoy different paths, and based on the decisions they make along the way they can enjoy completely different endings. Can you balance your heroine’s confidence, athleticism, and stress to make sure they’ve got what it takes to rise to the top? This simulation game features a lot of detailed menus and cutscenes, so a fair amount of Japanese knowledge will be required to enjoy these games.

Tokyo 23-Ku Seifuku Wars

Tokyo 23-Ku Seifuku Wars

In a post-apocalyptic vision of Tokyo, a ban on uniforms has been implemented. With school uniforms banned, naturally a large-scale civil war ensues. Our hero’s goal is to find her friend’s older brother who went missing during the war. Along the way, she is sucked into the conflict and forced to fight to uncover the truth!

This title has players preparing the ultimate squad of student soldiers to send into large scale combat against their rivals. The battles play out like a crazy game of Rock-paper-scissors based on the elemental attributes of their school uniforms. With heavy emphasis on event scenes and simulation elements, players will need to be able to read Japanese well to fully enjoy this game.


We hope you enjoy this eclectic gathering of old-school Japanese fun. Like all our classics, these are priced at $5.99 each.

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69 Comments

63 Author Replies

  • I still wish i could redownload my old Magical Drop purchases. :|

  • Is there actually going to be something to indicate that it’s in Japanese for people that don’t know? Because we all know how well Tomba 2 went with nothing in the description.

    • We use the original Japanese art for the games and screenshots, but a disclaimer is a good suggestion.

      For these particular games, it should be very clear.

  • Guys, I’m really digging that you guys are bringing imports over here. Any way we can get some PS2 love too?

  • I’m maybe the only one, but I really want to play LSD: Dream Simulator. That game looks super expressionistic and creepy. I really really really want it!

    • I’m a pretty big fan of that one as well!

      Our company doesn’t have any specific plans for this one, and we will definitely keep everyone posted about upcoming classics.

  • Really love that you not only allow imports, but actively encourage it and give tips, good job Sony!

  • ehrgeiz, bushido blade 1 and 2, the megaman x games, quake 2 and spiderman should be in the ps1 classics as well as support for more classics on vita like bloody roar.

    • I’m all for more classics!

      We don’t have the publishing rights for those particular titles, but I wholeheartedly agree that the digital archive of retro-awesome needs to increase!

  • Carlos_Redfield

    Not bad, but I like to see some import fighting games like the Garou Densetsu/Fatal Fury series, KOF98 (But better is a PS2 port of KOF98UM), Sailor Moon Super S, etc…

  • Can’t play some of these if they are in Japanese. Please indicate this on the product description.

    • That’s a fair suggestion!

      We also have the original Japanese art and screenshots for the product page, so hopefully no one will mistake these for English-language titles.

  • Pinball get!!

  • Import japanese games is good but import good games is better! There are some Donpachi, Dodonpachi, Cotton 100%, G-Darius, Real Bout Special Dm, Real Bout 1, Samsho IV Sp, Kof 97, Kof 98, Garou Wild Ambition, etc

    Don’t forget Pce Games (Twinbee on Vita)

    Don’t forget compatibility for CTR, Bloody Roar 2, Pocket Fighter for Vita!

  • いくつかの日本の学び

    • Benkyou ni narimasu!!!!

      (The rampant romaji use is for the benefit of those without JP language pack installed.)

  • Good to see more games coming.

    Will they be Vita friendly? Also, will more PSOne games become Vita compatible?

    • These games should work on the PS Vita!

      If you are unable to download them directly, try downloading them on the PS3 and transferring them.

      We have no word about improved Vita compatibility, but we’ve been informed it requires updates on Sony’s end to make that happen.

  • Neither of these is Ore no ryouri

  • Can we get Intelligent Qube …. please?

  • are these games coming out this week when the playstation store updates (which is usually tuesday) because there is nothing on this blog post that says when these games are coming out.

    • Ack! You’re right!

      What a horrific oversight on my part!

      These games are available after the update on the 20th!

      We hope you can stand the wait until then :)

  • Would be nice to see some PS2 Japan Imports like Chain Drive or Siren 2 or Baldr Bullet: Equilibrium sometime in the future.. Or are we forever away from these really, really neat japanese PS2 games?

    • The PS2 was a pretty fabulous system!

      I agree it would be excellent to see its classic library grow. We don’t have anything to announce at the moment, but we will keep everyone up to date when we have more games to announce.

  • Not interested.

    Not that it hurts to add PSone.
    Rather have games like Bionic Commando HD.

    • Thanks for the feedback!

      We understand imported classics aren’t for everyone, and it’s always good to get a feel for what does interest fans.

  • Totally agree with antonio cara, we need more psx-ps2 retro-releases :)

  • HEY SONY, UPDATE THE PS1 EMULATOR.

    After playing the last batch of games from the flash sale I’ve noticed the PS2 emulator is far more advanced than the PS1. You can change between more filter options on-the-fly with the PS2 emulator and not only that it seems to upscale way better in HD than their PS1 counterparts. The anti-aliasing is more aggressive with PS2 games.

    For the love of all that is good, THROW US A BONE. Even the PSP/Vita have better PS1 emulators than the PS3. All you guys did was take the PS1 emulator from the PS2 and ported it directly to the PS3, it hasn’t been updated in ages. And it shows when the more mature PS2 emulator handles more options better and in-real time. Please someone TELL the engineers we want at least parity with the Vita’s PS1 emulator.

  • i would love more modern Japanese titles to make it over to the vita like shinovi vs, i have been waiting to play that game online in america for so long

    • Actually, some good friends of mine just announced that title was coming out courtesy of a certain niche Japanese publisher ;)

  • I would like Valkyria Chronicles 3, or Valkryia Chronicles Trilogy for the ps4.

    • That is a pretty fantastic series!

      We don’t have any publishing control over those games, but we will keep everyone up to date when more GungHo Classics become available.

  • More titles I missed…ha great.

  • It would be really nice to translate at least some of the text into english. Classically, emulators have done one of two things:
    1. Hex edit the data files and get a little creative to make translations fit in the same physical space. Some fan translation I’ve seen even resort to icons instead of text.

    2. Use a post-render filter in the emulator to pixel-match the Japanese characters and replace them in the final render. The nice thing about this approach is that you could then take advantage of image scaling to give more resolution to the replaced characters. (Most scaling for PS1 titles is ~2x, so a post-render filter could use twice as much resolution for its kanji replacement font.) The other nice thing is that a slightly fuzzy pixel match to the Japanese characters could make this somewhat generic across different Japanese PS1 titles — an update of the emulator with a new ‘dictionary’ of Kanji images to match would improve translations retroactively.

    These titles are look pretty text-heavy, and I got kinda screwed with Tomba 2, so I’ll be holding off until some minimal translation is done or the digital manuals have english translations. The open source emulators have done this for over a decade :/

    • It’s definitely something to consider, but I know there is a matter of international rights to consider (as well as access to original source code if this is to be done legitimately), as well as the return on investing resources on older titles versus releasing/servicing new ones.

      Believe it or not, there can be just as much work localizing a PSone dating sim as a AAA current gen RPG.

      For these particular games, it was import or nothing, and we decided to give the hardcore enthusiasts the chance to enjoy these titles — even if it only strikes a key with the most dedicated niche fans.

  • Is Tokyo 23-Ku Seifuku Wars kind of like Advance Wars? I really like those kinds of games and the only really good one I’ve seen on PSN so far has been Mecho Wars, which was a PS mini.

    • It’s not exactly that type of game. It’s got a lot of luck involved since it’s a modified version of Rock-paper-scissors. The focus is definitely more on the crazy story and quirky characters rather than the combat.

  • I’d like to see a .Hack game on the PsVita.. PS2 .Hack:// GU was an amazing, and super underrated saga… I’d love to play those again, vita ported or on PS3

    • I wouldn’t mind playing those again myself! Great… now I’m hungry for an “Oh-No-Melon.”

      We don’t have the rights to those particular games, but we will definitely let you know when we have more titles to announce.

  • Is there any chance we get to se Team Buddies as a PS1 classic? Its one of the best PS1 games and its great fun. Ive already asked for the game and got answered that the game was added to a list of games top port.

    I inderstand that its not that easy to have every game as a PS1 classic, i just want to know if there is still hope.

    Hope you keep bringing great games and doing a good job :)

    • Thanks for the kind words!

      At the moment, we only have Japanese classics, but we will keep everyone posted if that changes.

  • Awww, still no news about Eihander :c?

  • I ‘d love to play Eihander too, AND Valkyrie Profile Lenneth (ps1).

    • As I’ve said before, I’d love to see more classics. We aren’t involved with these particular titles, but we do what we can!

  • Cool, as someone who studies Japanese I love these imports. I spent way too much time playing Sentimental Graffiti.

    One thing in general for these imports that I’d love to know up front is if there are parts of the game where I can’t control the flow of the text. I can read Japanese but it can take a while if I need to look words up, so it’s very important for me to be able to set the text advancement to manual.

    • Aside from cut-scenes, the text-based titles like Heroine Dream and Tokyo 23-Ku Seifuku Wars will let you advance event text at your leisure. If you’d like to be sure, I highly recommend you hop on to Niconico and search for the titles via their original Japanese names:

      だんじょん商店会~伝説の剣はじめました~
      ドラゴンビート レジェンドオブピンボール
      ネオプラネット
      ヒロインドリーム
      ヒロインドリーム2
      東京23区制服Wars

  • Sarara’s Little Shop – A game where you run an item shop and outfit adventurers in an RPG setting?! Interesting concept.

    Loving how Japanese games are gradually being imported over and getting a North American localization. I would like to see some old school anime titles eventually, such as Rurouni Kenshin, Berserk, and Evangelion. I’ve always wanted to play them. Hoping for a really good next-gen anime title soon, with Japanese audio/ English subtitles option, for fans like me.

    • Glad you appreciate Japanese titles.

      Just to clarify, these 6 are NOT localized, so you may need to understand Japanese to get the most out of them.

  • I don’t get why these imports keep coming and yet I still can’t play Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain on my Vita. I would actually play THAT game. US gamers have been asking for the game since the first PS1 games were playable on the Vita and still nothing so I’m definitely not expecting it to come to fruition but I have to say it one more time for the cheap seats: PLEASE RELEASE BLOOD OMEN: LEGACY OF KAIN FOR U.S. VITA OWNERS!! And while I’m on the topic, why not figure out a way to bring the PSP Tenchu games that released in Japan to the U.S. market. THEY WILL SELL! I don’t have to understand Japanese to enjoy THOSE games.

    • As a Japanese publisher, we can’t really speak for western companies and their respective IPs.

      I too would love to see more PSone classics (in general).

      Now as for Tenchu, I’ll make sure to forward that feedback along!

      Please keep in mind, sometimes these titles can’t be re-released very easily because of the complicated rights issues involved with their original publication.

  • Being a big fan of pinball, I’ll definitely go after Dragon Beat.

  • @20 Ive heard that XSEED Games is no longer teasing us with that game and is bringing it to NA next autumn

    @Antonio Cara Is there a chance for more King of Fighters classics to be released? My PS2 died a while ago and i really miss those fighting classics

    Sorry for the messed up English

    • Can’t really say much about KoF other than the fact I enjoy the series myself (and sometimes cosplay it). I’m here on behalf of GungHo and our delightful import PSone Classics. Perhaps the original publisher of that title would have more info.

      That said, never give up hope! Everything is possible if you believe in the magic of retro fighting games ^_^

  • Seriously, Sony. If you can release Ore no Ryouri in the west, I’ll buy it day one. As it was published by Sony to begin with, and is on Japanese PSN, it seems like it should be an easy one to release in North America (feel free to correct me if I’m wrong; I’d be sad to find out Argent is responsible for it not being released here). It feels like such a tease to have given away a demo on a Playstation Underground disc 14 years ago, but never to sell us the game itself.

    • The passion of import-cooking enthusiasts cannot be underestimated. We’ve had a lot of fans request that we bring this one over, but as you’ve mentioned, we were not the original publisher.

      In the meantime, we hope you enjoy our 24 quirky offerings!

  • Any chance of getting the PSOne classics of Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete and it’s sequel, Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete. It was regarded as one of the best JRPG’s of its time. I would really enjoy re-purchasing it and I’m sure it will interest many others.

    • Those are 2 of my favorite games of all time! No one would be more excited about that than I ;)

      At the moment, no info, but I’ll pass your sentiments on to our headquarters!

  • Its amazing how you respond to every comment, I really apreciate the effort and information. Keep the classics coming :)

    • Thanks! I strive to amaze.

      We’ll keep releasing them if y’all keep enjoying them – wink!

  • Sanvein from the SuperLite 1500 Series would be awesome if you could get it. Gunners Heaven would be nice to see as well. I’m not sure I would buy it myself, but Slap Happy Rhythm Busters was interesting in a ’90s raver kind of way. Okay, one more: Panzer Bandit.

  • Glad to see some more PS1 imports coming. I have never heard of any of these titles but I will take a look. Wolf Fang is one of those really addicting imports and I can’t stop playing it despite it being in Japanese.

    @Rezolution77 The only reason you’re not interested is because you never heard of any of these titles. Neither am I but at least I gave Wolf Fang a chance and currently having fun with it.

    • After hearing you talk about it, I suppose I should give that game a go as well :)

      If you decide to give ours a try, starting May 20th, we will have 24 of them ready and waiting for you!!!

  • TrueRadiantFree

    Not really anything for me here, but I would love some more shooters from the PSone back catalog, they are awesome in the Vita, thanks for all the work you people do! Maybe you guys could do the RayStorm series of shooters and I think there is a Gradius title also? I’m not sure if you have the rights for those…

  • Identifying and modifying the on-screen pixel representation as a post-render filter, just like the bilinear filter, shouldn’t bring up any rights issues. If it did, bilinear filtering and other post-process filters in “officially” emulated titles wouldn’t be allowed. Even replacing a small subset of the Japanese characters with pictograms or english equivalents would be better than nothing, IMO. This has been done for over a decade in open source GameBoy, PS1, PS2, and Dreamcast emulators.

    So, there’s no rights issues, and no real technical reason this isn’t feasible. Unfortunately, this is another reason why folks will skip buying legitimate releases and just put an open source PS1 emulator on their jailbroken Vita/PS3 which has better community support than the commercial release.

    I know it’s probably not good to go off-book from approved messaging on this topic, but it’s disappointing nonetheless :/

    • Your feedback is definitely appreciated, but I think the previous reply is as much detail as I can provide regarding rights/etc.

      If English-language classics are a future possibility, we will definitely let everyone know ^_^

  • @Antonio Cara: Thanks for the clarification! Keep up the good work! =)

  • Burned out on imports. Is there any Western love anymore?

    • At the moment, we don’t have any western titles planned, but if that changes, the PS Blog will be among the first to know!

  • More imports is always a good thing. I’m glad to see the imports returning!!!!!!!!

  • some of these games make me wish my Japanese was alot better.
    to bad the odds of a english translation of tokimeki memorial are are slim to none.

    I would like to see more Fighters brought over as classics. Like Melty Blood.

  • I do believe I’m in for the aidoru games and Seifuku Wars. Sarara is a maybe.

  • How bout bringing these games over?

    Silent Bomber
    Jade Cocoon: Story of the Tamamayu

    Bring these over and I will buy them Day 1.

    • Thanks for the feedback!

      We may not have access to those specific games, but it’s good to know what people are interested in.

  • When can we play all the ps1 and ps2 games we bought on the ps4

    • I hope it’s soon!

      I’m a big fan of playing old games on new systems. I realize how odd that sounds, but it’s 100% true! ^_^

  • why has lunar 1 or 2 and grandia2 never been add to the ps1 Classics tiles list but a game like The Little Mermaid II is on the Classics tiles list when was that game ever a Classic?

    • That’s a fair point, and feedback I’ll take straight back to HQ!

      Thanks for the classic RPG love!

  • Nick_Barkley101

    I would LOVE to see Harmful Park, Kururin Pa! and Shingata Kururin Pa! You don’t need to know Japanese to fully enjoy these games. Harmful Park is an absolute gem of a game.

    • Thanks very much for the suggestions!

      We’ll make sure to let everyone know as more import classics become available!

  • Is it possible to translate these games, then release them at some point on PSN? The language barrier is just a lot to overcome for many, and that means many people are missing out one some great games. Not even concerned with the audio, just the text. Thanks.

    • At the moment, it’s not in the cards, but we definitely appreciate your feedback. For these particular games, localization was not an option, but we still wanted to make them available to those who might appreciate them.

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