There’s a handful of retro games on Nintendo Switch Online that are Japanese exclusive. You can still play these games even if you have your subscription tied to a European or a North American account by creating a new Japanese account and then downloading the Japanese versions of the NSO apps. Here’s a list of all of the Japanese games and how much Japanese you need to know to be able to play them.
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# Famicom
### [Adventures of Lolo 2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventures_of_Lolo_2)
* **Japanese required:** None
* **Note:** This game was released in North America and Europe as “Adventures of Lolo 2.” The game titled “Adventures of Lolo” in North America and Europe was not released at all in Japan, so in Japan this is simply titled “Adventures of Lolo.”
### [Atlantis no Nazo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantis_no_Nazo)
* **Japanese required:** None
* **Note:** This is a famous *kusoge*, or “shitty game.” Completely unfair and ruthlessly difficult. Not recommended unless you want an extreme challenge.
### Clu Clu Land: Welcome to New Cluclu Land
* **Japanese required:** None
* **Note:** This is an updated version of Clu Clu Land that was released for the Famicom Disk System.
### Downtown Nekketsu Kōshinkyoku: Soreyuke Daiundōkai
* **Japanese required:** Some, mainly just menus
* **Note:** Title translates to “Downtown Nekketsu March: Super Awesome Field Day”. Part of the Downtown series that includes River City Ransom.
### [Famicom Wars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Famicom_Wars)
* **Japanese required:** Lots of menus
* **Note:** The first game in the “Advance Wars” series.
### [Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_Emblem:_Shadow_Dragon_and_the_Blade_of_Light)
* **Japanese required:** Story based, lots of text
* **Note:** The first in the Fire Emblem series, an official translation was released but is no longer available for sale.
### [Joy Mech Fight](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joy_Mech_Fight)
* **Japanese required:** Some, mainly just menus
* **Note:** Where Sukapon from Smash Bros. originates. A vs. fighting game.
### Route-16 Turbo
* **Japanese required:** None
* **Note:** A remake of a 1981 arcade game. Very simple but fun driving maze chase game.
### [Smash Ping Pong](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konami%27s_Ping_Pong)
* **Japanese required:** None
* **Note:** Released in Europe previously as Konami’s Ping Pong.
### Tsuppari Oozumou
* **Japanese required:** Some, mainly just menus
* **Note:** A sumo game that’s very famous in Japan.
### [Yie Ar Kung-Fu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yie_Ar_Kung-Fu)
* **Japanese required:** None
* **Note:** Never officially released in the west but a staple of pirate cartridges and systems.
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# Super Famicom
### [Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_Emblem:_Genealogy_of_the_Holy_War)
* **Japanese required:** Story based, lots of text
* **Note:** The fourth game in the Fire Emblem series.
### [Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_Emblem:_Mystery_of_the_Emblem)
* **Japanese required:** Story based, lots of text
* **Note:** The third game in the Fire Emblem series.
### [Harvest Moon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvest_Moon_(video_game\))
* **Japanese required:** Story based, lots of text
* **Note:** The first game in the Harvest Moon series now known as Story of Seasons. Natsume owns the Harvest Moon name and Marvelous owns the games so it’s unlikely this will ever be released in English on NSO. More information on the IP [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Story_of_Seasons).
### Kirby no Kirakira Kizzu
* **Japanese required:** Some, mainly just menus
* **Note:** A port of Kirby Star Stacker with a Kirby’s Dream Land 3 theme.
### Kunio-kun no Dodgeball da yo Zen’in Shūgō
* **Japanese required:** Some, mainly just menus
* **Notes:** A sequel to Super Dodgeball for NES.
### [Shin Megami Tensei](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shin_Megami_Tensei_\(video_game\))
* **Japanese required:** Story based, lots of text
* **Note:** The first game in the Shin Megami Tensei series.
### [Shin Megami Tensei II](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shin_Megami_Tensei_II)
* **Japanese required:** Story based, lots of text
* **Note:** The second game in the Shin Megami Tensei series.
### [Shin Megami Tensei if…](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shin_Megami_Tensei_If…)
* **Japanese required:** Story based, lots of text
* **Note:** A spinoff of the Shin Megami Tensei series, often considered to be a precursor to the Persona series.
### [Sugoi Hebereke](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugoi_Hebereke)
* **Japanese required:** Some, mainly just menus
* **Notes:** A top-down vs. fighting game staring the characters from the *Hebereke* game series.
### [Umihara Kawase](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umihara_Kawase#Umihara_Kawase)
* **Japanese required:** None
* **Notes:** The first game in the Umihara Kawase series, a puzzle platformer where you play as a girl with a fishing rod.
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# Nintendo 64
### [Custom Robo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Custom_Robo_\(1999_video_game\))
* **Japanese required:** Story based, lots of text
* **Notes:** The first game in the Custom Robo series. The game released in the West as Custom Robo is Custom Robo 3.
### [Custom Robo V2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Custom_Robo_V2)
* **Japanese required:** Story based, lots of text
* **Notes:** The second game in the Custom Robo series.
### [Harvest Moon 64](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvest_Moon_64)
* **Japanese required:** Story based, lots of text
* **Note:** Natsume owns the Harvest Moon name and Marvelous owns the games so it’s unlikely this will ever be released in English on NSO. More information on the IP [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Story_of_Seasons).
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# Game Boy
### [Yakuman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakuman_\(video_game\))
* **Japanese required:** Game is entirely in Japanese and requires knowledge of Mahjong
* **Notes:** A Game Boy launch title in Japan, play mahjong either against the computer or with other players.
### [Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaeru_no_Tame_ni_Kane_wa_Naru) (Announced, not yet released)
* **Japanese required:** Story based, lots of text
* **Notes:** A precursor to The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. Known as *The Frog For Whom the Bell Tolls*.
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# Game Boy Advance
### [Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_Emblem:_The_Binding_Blade) (Announced, not yet released)
* **Japanese required:** Story based, lots of text
* **Notes:** The sixth game in the Fire Emblem series.
by razorbeamz
39 Comments
As an aside, here’s a straight list of games that are only available in NA/EU
**NES**
* Adventures of Lolo
* Clu Clu Land
* Eliminator Boat Duel
* The Immortal
* Nightshade
* S.C.A.T.: Special Cybernetic Attack Team
* Shadow of the Ninja
* StarTropics
**SNES**
* Claymates
* Congo’s Caper
* Earthworm Jim 2
* Jelly Boy
* Kirby’s Avalanche
* Natsume Championship Wrestling
* Operation Logic Bomb
* The Peace Keepers
* Prehistorik Man
* Spanky’s Quest
* Super Baseball Simulator 1.000
**Nintendo 64**
* Dr. Mario 64
* Pokémon Puzzle League
**Game Boy**
* Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare
Notable is that a good portion of these games were actually released in Japan on their original consoles, so there must be rights issues with some of them.
You simultaneously got me excited at the thought of being able to try out Famicom Wars and exceptionally upset to know that Harvest Moon/64 are on NSO but probably forever inaccessible in English.
I am perhaps the only person who is really upset about Kirby Star Stacker not being brought over, it doesn’t even have much text so they don’t need to translate it. Seriously underrated puzzle game, and the Super Famicom version has more content/things to do than the Gameboy game.
Great list. I was so happy to find Super Star Stacker when that was put on the service. One of the main reasons I have the Super Famicom app downloaded.
> Adventures of Lolo 2
> • Japanese required: None
• Note: This game was released in North America and Europe as “Adventures of Lolo 2.” The game titled “Adventures of Lolo” in North America and Europe was not released at all in Japan, so in Japan this is simply titled “Adventures of Lolo.”
Confused with the wording here. If this is just the US/Europe version of Adventures of Lolo 2 than what is exclusive about it? Just that the name is different?
I wonder why they don’t include the translated versions of games. They don’t make more money by keeping them region exclusive
Surprised we don’t have Umihara Kawase in english, must be a rights issue because that game is cheap enough on steam (and pretty fun).
Cool! I really enjoyed the EU/NA game called The Adventures of Lolo, wish I’d known I could have played another.
For those who don’t know it’s a puzzle game that’s sort of reminiscent of Chips Challenge.
**Easy:** None
**Normal:** Some, mainly just menus
**Hard:** Story based, lots of text
**Nightmare:** Game is entirely in Japanese and requires knowledge of Mahjong
The sad thing is, English versions of SMT1 and 2 exist but they were iPod Touch exclusive and don’t even work on modern ios devices.
They HAVE the roms (based on the GBA ports, mind you) in English but won’t release them. Come on Atlus. We have GBA online now. Please.
Whoa. Harvest Moon? I’ve wanted the original harvest moon on switch. And hm64 is also interesting. Maybe I really should set up that Japanese account.
Do I have two similar looking apps then and can play either, no matter what my so l system language is?
Oh woah, I didn’t realize there were Harvest Moon games out in Japan! I’m not too surprised that they aren’t out here though; Natsume and Marvelous were still working together to rerelease stuff on virtual console even after the split, but that was probably just old contracts and agreements still being in effect…
I wonder if Japan will ever get the other Wars games. Gameboy Wars Turbo-3 might be an issue with Konami, and since Turbo was just a straight better version of Gameboy 1 they may not ever ackniwledge that version again. And Super… well Super has [this.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xiuqvxsnmw)
So weird that we’re paying for this service yet they still “hide” some of the games from us
Jeez, I understand that translating a lot of these games would take a lot of work (and ofc knowing that Nintendo wouldn’t use fan translations), but it’s a shame we didn’t get some of these.
Famicom wars, the Fire Emblem games, Joy mech, and SMT. Still upset about Harvest Moon, but it makes it worse because those games were released in the U.S. too.
It does explain why we have so many random SNES picks over here though
This post reminded me of a childhood memory of how I found a Japanese cart of WarioWare for GBA. Completely playable until the one boss level that was designed as a text RPG, so I couldn’t understand anything at all. I had only beaten it sometime later when we took in a Japanese exchange student for a few months, lol.
I like the shitty game
Custom robo on GC and DS was so badass. Pretty garbage story and whatnot but the combat in that series was so fun when I was a kid. So many cool build options and solid combat mechanics. It’s a shame they didn’t keep iterating on the series.
What I would pay to get those SMT games translated and available in English. If Nintendo could do it for Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, Atlus can do it with these.
Whoa it’s not fair we didn’t get these games…
**Yie Ar Kung-Fu** was indeed a staple of bootleg cartridges and consoles. The game is a port of the arcade version, which was arguably the most important milestone in the development of the modern fighting game genre.
No way we didn’t get the original **Harvest Moon**, that game was fully localized in its time, albeit with some terrible English errors. Maybe that’s the reason why we didn’t get it? The game literally established the whole genre and every single farm simulator to this day shares their gameplay roots with this one.
**Umihara Kawase**… we all know this game now but back then it was just an obscure Japanese title. Its unique gameplay mechanics to this day bring inspiration to other indie games like Rusted Moss.
Nintendo really did us dirty with the temporary release of the first **Fire Emblem**, while the Japanese folks get access to it whenever they want (well, until the NSO service is no longer operational).
**Kaeru no Tame** is an AMAZING game not only for the frog lovers out there but in general. It’s a very unique game with some puzzle elements, some RPG elements, platforming and a Zelda feeling. It happens to be a classic IP of Nintendo and it even got an assist trophy in Smash.
The other two Fire Emblem titles on the Super Famicom, we never got those but I’d recommend playing a fan translation. Along with all the other games I mentioned. Kaeru no Tame in particular got an amazing English patch.
As a fire emblem fan I’ve gotta say that their online selection is so much better than ours
> The Frog For Whom the Bell Tolls
Looking up a playthrough of a [fan translation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMZTCwthAao&list=PLBF99EB2FC5288A02&index=1), I feel like it’s a shame that this game was never released here. It looks like a lot of fun.
Opinion: I’d be happy even if they let us play the original Japanese versions without having to make a separate Japanese account.
I dont see why Nintendo doesnt patch some of these?
It kinda sucks we probably won’t be seeing harvest moon games on nso. I’m a massive sucker for those games
Harvest Moon 64? What’s the difference between this and the OG cart? Or is it that because of the licenses we will never see it in English again..?
Damn SMT and FE, I’m jelly but don’t know any Japanese so I’m going to look for fan translation and probably add them and play them on NSO myself if they’re compatible.
This hurts as a Fire Emblem fan, knowing that the games are right there but i can’t play them properly cause i don’t know the language
The real L for us is not having Harvest Moon games.
The custom robo games are fairly easy to figure out, I played them through on an emulator without knowing a lick of Japanese
I just checked my Japanese NSO N64 app and didn’t see Harvest Moon 64. Has this been announced and just not released yet? I love this game and got so excited when I saw this post.
The sequel to *Downtown Nekketsu Kōshinkyoku: Soreyuke Daiundōkai*, called *Bikkuri Nekketsu Shinkiroku: Harukanaru Kin Medal* did get “localized” as *Crash N’ The Boys: Street Challenge*. It’ll be cool to see the predecessor. I love those Kunio-kun games. My brother and I spent countless hours beating the BARF! out of each other in *River City Ransom*.
Had Clu Clu Land on NES back in the day. Loved playing it.
Wait, Haverst Moon is in the Switch Online catalog?, why the hell didn’t they bring it to the Americas too?, the Playstation Plus classics catalog includes the PS1 Harvest Moon here, so I can’t think of any reason why NSO shouldn’t should include too.
​
Anyway, congratulations on the list, I didn’t know there were so many games that weren’t here.
The Kunio-Kun games are all included on the Double Dragon/Kunio Collection for the Switch, and they’re all translated to English.
While it is a million times easier to play a translated patch for Mystery of the Emblem/Geneolgy of the Holy War, I have the urge the learn Japanese just so I can actually play then on a my TV through a Nintendo console as intended.
I personally really enjoyed the Kirby Star Stacker from Super Famicom. Not sure why that wasn’t included overseas, when we’ve gotten other untranslated puzzle games like Panel de Pon and Puyo Puyo 2. Entirely playable without Japanese knowledge, though I guess you do miss out on the EPIC details of its story mode.
For an interesting curiosity, I also recommend people check out Route-16 Turbo on the Famicom. Another one that’s entirely playable without Japanese knowledge. It’s kind of like a huge game of Pac-Man, but with cars. Not a 10/10 or whatever, but surprisingly fun once you get used to the way your car automatically turns upon reaching a wall.
I really want to get into Umihara Kawase, since it’s a platformer with such a unique way of traversing the levels. But damn is it tough.
You technically forgot Puyo Puyo on the Genesis app.
So, let me get this:
I make a new account (Japanese) and … I can link it to my account so that I don´t have to pay the online fee again?
Thanks!
Edit: Okay, as far as I can see, I can link a new switch account, but not a new nintendo account. So I guess I have to pay, buggers.
Edit 2: Okay, got it. There is a 7 day free online at the time, I downloaded the games and then I can play them with my main account it seems. GREAT STUFF!
Looking forward for Fire Embleme games!