Random video game trivia that shocked you

[Second Duke Revier]

Post any random video game tidbit that shocked you when you first discovered it.

I'll start: discovering that Star Ocean 2's Explosion spell is actually a wide area high damage non elemental spell, ala FF1's Nuke, just floored me. It looks very fiery and all, I totally expected it to be fire elemental.

Edit: Looks like I double shocked myself, it is Fire Elemental, just Indalecio is so stupidly strong he can hit for 5.5+k even with fire resistance on.

 

[ShakeWell]

Rings of Power, the first console game from lauded developer Naughty Dog, had a secret code where you could see a topless woman before the title screen. This was 1992 on the Genesis, so I'm sure if anyone had given a single fuck about Rings of Power, there could have been some pearls being clutched!

 

[LBD_Nytetrayn]

In Japan, Super Mario Bros. 2 was originally a different game called "Doki Doki Panic."

There, it's out of the way. And I was genuinely surprised when I learned it... back in 1991.

Rings of Power, the first console game from lauded developer Naughty Dog, had a secret code where you could see a topless woman before the title screen. This was 1992 on the Genesis, so I'm sure if anyone had given a single fuck about Rings of Power, there could have been some pearls being clutched!

I remember seeing that in Game Players!

 

[lincolnic]

In Japan, Super Mario Bros. 2 was originally a different game called "Doki Doki Panic."

There, it's out of the way. And I was genuinely surprised when I learned it... back in 1991.

Just a couple of weeks ago, I discovered that one of my coworkers (age 39) did not know this. These people are still out there!

 

[Second Duke Revier]

In Japan, Super Mario Bros. 2 was originally a different game called "Doki Doki Panic."

There, it's out of the way. And I was genuinely surprised when I learned it... back in 1991.

Still wondering why Nintendo decided to make it their second Mario game. I vaguely remember reading about it, but don't recall any details.

 

[RT-55J]

Here's something I learned very recently:

Quest 64 (aka Eltale Monsters or Holy Magic Century, depending on your region) had two Game Boy tie-in games.

One was a fairly straightforward adaptation.

The other one was a Mr. Do clone (???)

 

[Ludendorkk]

Just a couple of weeks ago, I discovered that one of my coworkers (age 39) did not know this. These people are still out there!

Man I got super sick of Bob Mackey's recurring snide jab about this on Retronauts, no idea why this became the de facto mockable factoid

 

[Pombar]

Still wondering why Nintendo decided to make it their second Mario game. I vaguely remember reading about it, but don't recall any details.

I thought it was because the Mario 2 they did make (released as The Lost Levels in the West as part of the All-Stars Collection) was considered to difficult for Western gamers? Or that was the story going round in the 00s when I heard it.

 

[lincolnic]

Man I got super sick of Bob Mackey's recurring snide jab about this on Retronauts, no idea why this became the de facto mockable factoid

I'm not sure exactly what you mean here, but I wasn't mocking anyone. We work at a video game company and I was genuinely surprised he didn't know.

 

[LBD_Nytetrayn]

I thought it was because the Mario 2 they did make (released as The Lost Levels in the West as part of the All-Stars Collection) was considered to difficult for Western gamers? Or that was the story going round in the 00s when I heard it.

That's pretty much the story, yeah.

What I've been unable to determine is why they went to all that trouble instead of just bumping SMB3 down a number, since they were being made and coming out at the same time, anyway.

I mean, I'm extremely grateful that they did what they did, but it's a curious thing.

 

[Becksworth]

I thought it was because the Mario 2 they did make (released as The Lost Levels in the West as part of the All-Stars Collection) was considered to difficult for Western gamers? Or that was the story going round in the 00s when I heard it.

Less "This is too hard for foreigners." and more "What were we thinking? This is so hard it's unfun!" I believe.

The other half of the equation was they liked Doki Doki Panic's gameplay, but didn't own the IP in question, so they were thinking of how to distribute it internationally.

 

[RT-55J]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the impetus behind the Mario USA reskin plan was because Nintendo of America didn't like the FDS SMB2, rather than it being an edict from Japan.

 

[Voncaster]

I think I was pretty surprised when I got to the end of River City Ransom and you fought Billy and Jimmy Lee.

The art style differences between RCR and DD is pretty great to me. I would not have thought those franchises were related.

 

[WildcatJF]

I'm not sure exactly what you mean here, but I wasn't mocking anyone. We work at a video game company and I was genuinely surprised he didn't know.

I don't think Luden was referring to you specifically, just how Mackey treated the SMB2/DDP fact as "super public knowledge you'd have to be under a rock to not know Har har". I've not heard Bob do it but I imagine it's along those lines.

 

[Becksworth]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the impetus behind the Mario USA reskin plan was because Nintendo of America didn't like the FDS SMB2, rather than it being an edict from Japan.

It being a disk system game is another thing. Add-ons are inherently a more dedicated audience, whereas Super Mario Bros. 2 (USA) had more of the mass market appeal they wanted out of a more costly cartridge production run.

 

[MetManMas]

Yeah, the original Mario 2 was very much a level pack kinda sequel, like if Zelda 1's second quest had been sold as a separate product.

There are differences (Ones I can think of off the top of my head are Luigi having different physics, the new background and item tiles, the backwards warp zones, red piranha plants that pop out even when you're next to the pipe, blowing winds, slightly more friendly bounce physics, stages after 8-4 (though you got to work for 'em on FDS), and the poison mushroom) but it is basically Super Mario Bros. for Super Players and while that may be fine for people who want a challenge it's not the best thing to sell people when you want to make sure that Super Mario and your game console takes off.

Turning Doki Doki Panic! into Mario 2/USA was the right call, both to ensure Mario games keep selling and to ensure DDP can live on in a form not bound by copyrights outside of Nintendo.

 

[Falselogic]

Also it gave the the world of super mario a lot of great new characters that I still love to see today (shout out to the ninjis in Wonder!)

 

[Sarcasmorator]

Masi Oka, who played Hiro in Heroes, founded Mobius Digital, which made Outer Wilds.

 

[Paul le Fou]

I forget the exact details but apparently, behind the scenes, Final Fantasy IV, Secret of Mana, and Chrono Trigger all started out as the same project (a 4th Final Fantasy) that ended up spinning off into their own different games.

 

[Becksworth]

Also Xenogears started out as a rough draft for FF8 before Sakaguchi encourage the devs to splinter off into a new team with an original IP.

 

[Pombar]

I forget the exact details but apparently, behind the scenes, Final Fantasy IV, Secret of Mana, and Chrono Trigger all started out as the same project (a 4th Final Fantasy) that ended up spinning off into their own different games.

Was this also the case for Onimusha, Devil May Cry, and Resident Evil 4, or did I hear a wrong rumour/get my lines crossed somewhere?

 

[WildcatJF]

Devil May Cry spun out of a failed attempt at RE4. Not sure about Onimusha, though.

 

[Torzelbaum]

I'm not sure if this is shocking or not but did you know that the very first Diablo game was originally designed to be turn-based?

 

[Beowulf]

I mean, it shocked young Beowulf to learn that the Final Fantasy Legend games were a different series entirely, rebranded for the American market. Or that our Final Fantasy 2 was actually the fourth game. A lot of the classic trivia shocked me, back in the day.

 

[Pombar]

Finding out in the 2010s that Dark Chronicle, that anime game I'd seen a million times on sale preowned at games stores as a teen, was actually Dark Cloud 2 retitled for Europe and so the immediate followup to one of my favourite PS2 games, both shocked and outraged me.

 

[LBD_Nytetrayn]

Digging way back again, I forget when I first heard that Mega Man was called "Rockman" in Japan. Made no sense to me.

It might have been before Mega Man 3 revealed Roll, thus establishing the pun. Of course, even then, it might have left me confused since at that point, it was "Rockman and Roll," rather than "Rock and Roll" or "Rockman and Rollwoman."

 

[Ludendorkk]

I'm not sure exactly what you mean here, but I wasn't mocking anyone. We work at a video game company and I was genuinely surprised he didn't know.

Oh not you, other people, sorry for the confusion

 

[MetManMas]

Finding out in the 2010s that Dark Chronicle, that anime game I'd seen a million times on sale preowned at games stores as a teen, was actually Dark Cloud 2 retitled for Europe and so the immediate followup to one of my favourite PS2 games, both shocked and outraged me.

Actually it was called Dark Chronicle in Japan as well, the name change was exclusive to the US market. No doubt SCEA did the name change specifically so people would know it's the sequel.

 

[Pombar]

Actually it was called Dark Chronicle in Japan as well, the name change was exclusive to the US market. No doubt SCEA did the name change specifically so people would know it's the sequel.

Oh, interesting. Then SCEA certainly had the right idea in my book!

 

[spines]

dark cloud
dark chronicle
dark souls