I kinda get the feeling that these weird/bad localizations were done as a joke. Like with Gunbird, for example. Some of the characters were literally named after some of the people who worked for the company that localized it. It was either a joke that was condoned by Psikyo or maybe they just didn't care.
If it's something from the early days of gaming (post-video game crash) like Mega Man and Sonic, I understand, because games from Japan were still pretty new for people. But I can't see those same "bad boxart" trends continuing on into the late 90s and even 2000s. You'd think gamers would have adjusted enough by then that they'd be more accepting and curious about the many games in Japan that never got localized, and therefore would want direct access to those games without any "cultural modifications" other than translations.
I just think it's funny how huge phenomenons like Touhou Project have gained a world-wide following that's still growing to this day, and yet way back a game like Kiki Kaikai (which I assume Touhou Project was very loosely based on) barely saw the light of day in the west.
If it's something from the early days of gaming (post-video game crash) like Mega Man and Sonic, I understand, because games from Japan were still pretty new for people. But I can't see those same "bad boxart" trends continuing on into the late 90s and even 2000s. You'd think gamers would have adjusted enough by then that they'd be more accepting and curious about the many games in Japan that never got localized, and therefore would want direct access to those games without any "cultural modifications" other than translations.
I just think it's funny how huge phenomenons like Touhou Project have gained a world-wide following that's still growing to this day, and yet way back a game like Kiki Kaikai (which I assume Touhou Project was very loosely based on) barely saw the light of day in the west.
![[Image: ErbRIBqVkAUtE8F?format=png&name=900x900]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ErbRIBqVkAUtE8F?format=png&name=900x900)