That's actually a really solid review of this game! I actually discovered the sprites for this game before even discovering the manga, but I wanted to check it out after seeing Flute wear multiple costumes.I have to say that it's a bit of a weakness of mine... Not that long ago, I watched a play through of this game. While the game houses plenty of potential, but I am also aware of the flaws. I intend to create a spiritual successor to the game that utilizes the partner system and the costume changes.
Thanks for watching the video, and I'm happy to hear you picked up Violinist of Hameln because of it! I hope you'll like the game, and let me know your impressions of it. :)
Dude! Ive been playing this game a lot back when i was a kid! Too bad, i lend it to my friend and never got it back since then. Been looking for this game for years since its on japanese and im not fammiliar with it. Saw your video on screwattack and decide to check your channel. Totally worth it! Finally found my long lost favourite game of mine :D
Hey man, thanks for checking out the video! I mostly aim to share great games that people may not be familiar with outside of Japan, but it's great to hear it helped you reconnect with an old favorite! :) Violinist of Hameln is really a great game, and I envy that you were able to enjoy it as a kid! ;)
Definitely. The evolution of video game graphics have a lot in common with art and the progression of the various mediums. Modern CG and art techniques look great and all, but a proper oil painting from centuries ago is arguably much more pleasing to the eye.
The music in this game is magnificent indeed! The sound chip on the Sega Genesis wouldn't do this game's music any justice tbh, so it was a wise choice to release this on the SNES.
kiko485 For sure. I think the soundtrack might have been OK on the Genesis, and it would have its own unique sound, but for anything mimicking orchestral tunes, SNES all the way. The Final Fantasy VI opera scene still gives me chills.Funny you mention Enix and the Genesis. I was under the impression that there were never any games the company put out for Sega's 16-bit beast...and after a quick search, it was confirmed. XD
I was just looking for a review of this game and the other videos on YT were either long play videos without speech or just random chatting. Yours was concise and informative. Just what i needed. Subscribed!
Not really a hard game to figure out, but the hardest part to me is each area's strict time limit of 99 seconds. Going through doors in certain levels resets the timer, but some levels have long stretches between doors, making time very, very precious. I do plan on picking this one up cart only, if possible.
art style reminds me of Popful Mail and a bit of Magical Pop'n but I guess the same could be said for a lot of Japanese made side scrollers for the time.
On a side note the biggest worry of mine if I pick this up is that I won't be able to understand conversations. Oh well, guess you can't have your cake and eat it too xD
+ruclips.net/user/veryleafy I'd say that even an intermediate knowledge of the Japanese language would suffice in regards to being able to understand the story in this game. Nothing really too complicated, as far as I remember. :)
So I was checking out metal Jesus rocks latest video on the artwork, and I noticed you recommended a super famicom game under the comments and you said you had a channel...so I subscribed and checked out my first video from you and I have to say I'm impressed. I'm not very knowledgeable with most famicom games, so this is a great channel to get my knowledge on lol. So I will definitely be checking out more videos, and keep up the great work
Thanks so much, I'm happy to hear that and hope you can learn a lot about import gaming! I have mostly done PS1/Saturn games, but I have a lot of SFC games that I plan on talking about soon. If you ever have any questions about the games I mention or about Japanese gaming in general, feel free to let me know. :D
Good to hear! If you have a game genie, you can modify it a bit and use it on the SNES like I showed in this video (though it was probably unclear). If you ever head out to Japan, buy one there rather than online. Sometimes you can find complete in box SFCs for under 2000 yen (~$20 US). ;)
Is it based on the old tale, the pied piper of Hamlin? The story of a rat catcher who rid a town of a rat infestation using only his flute, but when they refused to pay him, he kidnapped all their children using his flute too.
+Larry Bundy Jr Oh yeah, I'm sure that old tale was a big influence on the creation of the original manga series. I couldn't find anything directly linking the two, but I think it's fair to say the connection is there. This is an old video, and had I done it today, I would have made at least a passing reference to the Pied Piper of Hamelin somewhere in setting up the story. :) Anyway, thanks for watching--hope you decide to pick up and play this game for yourself sometime!
Jimmy Hapa (Import Gaming FTW!) Oh yeah, Love the look of it, and i've always had a thing for buying game based on Japanese licenses. I can specifically remember buying Osomatsu-kun: Hachamecha Gekijō not long after buying a Japanese Mega Drive and it blowing my mind how completely weird it was out of context. And of course Magical Hat not long after!
+Larry Bundy Jr I've overlooked a lot of good licensed Japanese games over the years, including the Osomatsu-kun ones. I'll be sure to remedy that the next time I come across a game in the wild. And Magical Hat, ha ha, I just watched one of your old top 10s talking about Japanese games that featured that. I originally wanted to do a video on that, but then discovered that Decap Attack is basically a spriteswap of it, and then forgot about it completely!
+Larry Bundy Jr I probably watched it just a few hours before I saw your comment. Good stuff--I don't really care for top 10s, but the ones you have done with that Wez fellow are really entertaining. Probably because of the dynamic you guys have.
3:17 lol thanks for describing and not lecturing about "misogyny". I think people only get away with it in obscure stuff nowadays, like fingun's fan service, how racist albacete warrior is, or how zoids legacy has the girl kidnapped 3 times in the same game 😂. Thankful for emulation save states as no saving is terrible. Shantae can do it on her own with transformations 😂 though the developers once lightened her skin tone and had to revert due to justified backlash. Never was too into the dialogue in that series but glad she was a guest dlc in blaster master zero.
kenshiroonline Thanks for watching, I remember you from that stream a while back. And Violinist of Hameln is definitely a good addition to a SFC collection. :)
I've seen a chunk of the anime. When I started to watch this video I was thinking, "this doesn't look right..." A quick wiki search suggests that the anime and manga are quite different and since this is based off the manga I'll have to assume that's why. Anyway, after this video I must have this game and am going to put it #2 on my list after Araigumi Rascal after I import my Super Famicom (someday) Anyway, I don't know how I missed this video the first time, I saw your comment on The most recent Game Sack "left in Japan(5)" and noticed I hadn't watched it. Thanks for another great video! p.s. A certain head explosion at 3:23 pleased me greatly ;)
No way, I was *THIS* close to picking up Rascal the Raccoon the other day on ebay! It looks like fun, and I want to do a Japan-only puzzle video soon! Anyway, thanks for checking it out--you're probably the only one who read that post and actually took the time to watch the video. ;) As for the differences, I read that online, and I'm interested in either. The Book-Off down the street from my apartment has a 37 volume set of the manga for a dollar each book...tempting. I'd love to do a ten hour loop of "certain head explosions" someday. And I'm sure that someone saw that and decided to thumbs this video down. #CancelTestYourMIght!
Dude, I LOVE Araiguma Rascal, and haven't seen it on ebay for four months, maybe I should look up "Rascal the raccoon" instead, that never occured to me.... I found it doing research for hard Super Famicom games (it doesn't fit the bill) and fell in love with it, very unique puzzle-plaformer. I honestly can't recommend the Hameln anime, but would probably pick up the manga, I think the story probably benefits from a lighter tone. The design is also so much diffrent from this game, or the manga, It is very much an anime of its time, music is superb in it though. Oh, I'm very positive you got the thumps down because of it, or because the western mind just cannot accept a few cultural differences in video games. #canceltestyourmight!
Joshua Tiberius Just a bit over a month ago I found an auction complete in box for 25 dollars, and I think shipping was only a few bucks. Now that I know there's another guy out there looking for it, I'll have to pick it up as soon as I see another copy! The same store that sells the manga is also selling the OST from the anime for ten bucks. If the music is as good as you say, I think I'll pick it up on my next trip...unless somehow you beat me there!
The music from the Anime is a lot like the music from the game but fully orchestrated. If you like classical, you'll like it. If you like harpsichord, you'll like it. It was the best part of the Anime, but not exactly my taste, your mileage may vary. It would be tremendous if you could point me in the direction of a copy of AR if you run across one. I would be eternally grateful. The last auction I saw was a loose cart that went for $31.00, I had no frame of reference to know whether that was a good price or not. I don't think it is a particularly sought after game, but nor do I think they pressed a whole lot of copies.
What would have happened if Enix decided to have the Violinist of Hameln for the SNES be based on the anime instead of the manga? What would the tone be like?
Jac2Mac From what I understand and can tell, the anime is a much more serious/brooding beast compared to the manga. Even the character design looks a bit more mature. If it was based on the anime rather than the manga, I'd imagine it would be similar in gameplay to something like Sword Maniac for the Super Famicom, which saw a US release as X-kalibur 2097. But who knows, ha ha.
Jimmy Hapa (Import Gaming FTW!) It still angers me that Enix decided to have the Violinist of Hameln SNES game be based on the manga instead of the anime like other game companies were doing so. If only Capcom had gotten the rights to Violinist of Hameln instead of Enix, they would have made it dark and serious like the anime and it would use the same hardware and sound chips as Mega Man X2.
@@Jac2Mac Actually, despite all the gags and humor the manga contains, certain scenes in it are a lot darker than in the anime, especially in later volumes. It would have been interesting to see a game adaptation of the entire story.
+Alkaiser Red I didn't even know there was a translation to this game. That's cool, but I take it the patch is no longer available or the group that made it closed shop?
I'm looking to pick up Japanese imports for my SNES(As far as I know if I remove tabs meant for the larger american carts super famicom games work fine in the SNES) so I'm new to all of this. This video was put surprisingly well considering the unfortunate viewcount because this is really interesting. I'll be looking forward to more even tho I'm late on this video lmao
Yes, if you remove those tabs, you will be fine to play Super Famicom games, since N. America and Japan share the NTSC video format. Thank you for your comment--but none of my videos have impressive viewcounts, ha ha. I have a lot of videos for imports on the PS1 and Saturn, but I have many Super Famicom games, and plan on covering a lot more in the coming months. Violinist of Hameln is not really a text heavy game, so you won't miss out too much on dialogue, but if you pick it up and want to know what's happening, let me know. I have the entire game recorded, so I can always go back and tell you what the characters said to each other, in English. ;)
Gangan comics is quickly uprooting shonen jump as my favorite manga publication, a good number of my favorite series come from them, FMA, soul eater, watamote, highscore girl, sekirei and my current obsessions akame ga kill! My god that last one would make one hell of a 2D fighter.
It's such a fun game! So much so that I want to redo this video to do it justice. The secret moves, as in those ones they teach you at the end of the game? Didn't know about them until I saw the end credits, ha ha.
Yep. The game will be so much easy ;) Looking forward for the big Suikoden Video. I was in the Suikosource team in the first formation in the early 2000. Can't wait!
feedmedonuts :D I'm glad to hear you bought the game, but sorry to hear it's glitching on you. Which part, and what happens? I hope it's just a matter of a dirty cartridge or something less...
Jimmy Hapa (Import Gaming FTW!) i honestly don't know whats wrong with it, the character kinda of just floats in the air when you jump and i have to press up to make him float down to the floor idk lolol i tried cleaning it no luck probally end up getting another copy its just super wierd
feedmedonuts :D Yeah, that sounds really weird...sorry to hear about it, again. Thankfully loose copies can be found for really cheap. Hope it works out if you buy another copy, and let me know what you think about the game when you get a chance to play through it, glitch-free!
The lack of a save feature or passwords is an absolute deal breaker :( ... luckily emulators exist and theres an English fan translation.
One of these days I'll have to download and emulator and check out all the cool mods and translations out there.
That's actually a really solid review of this game! I actually discovered the sprites for this game before even discovering the manga, but I wanted to check it out after seeing Flute wear multiple costumes.I have to say that it's a bit of a weakness of mine...
Not that long ago, I watched a play through of this game. While the game houses plenty of potential, but I am also aware of the flaws. I intend to create a spiritual successor to the game that utilizes the partner system and the costume changes.
Thank you, and I wish you well if you do go on to create such a game. I can't think of any other game using such a mechanic off the top of my head.
@@ImportGamingFTW I actually have a few ideas on how I could achieve it. I just need to find the time to plan it out in a rough state.
Just bought this based on your review. Thanks for the video.
Thanks for watching the video, and I'm happy to hear you picked up Violinist of Hameln because of it! I hope you'll like the game, and let me know your impressions of it. :)
Dude! Ive been playing this game a lot back when i was a kid! Too bad, i lend it to my friend and never got it back since then. Been looking for this game for years since its on japanese and im not fammiliar with it. Saw your video on screwattack and decide to check your channel. Totally worth it! Finally found my long lost favourite game of mine :D
Hey man, thanks for checking out the video! I mostly aim to share great games that people may not be familiar with outside of Japan, but it's great to hear it helped you reconnect with an old favorite! :)
Violinist of Hameln is really a great game, and I envy that you were able to enjoy it as a kid! ;)
This was a great game. Lots of fun, and it looks really nice even by today's standards.
Definitely. The evolution of video game graphics have a lot in common with art and the progression of the various mediums. Modern CG and art techniques look great and all, but a proper oil painting from centuries ago is arguably much more pleasing to the eye.
The music in this game is magnificent indeed! The sound chip on the Sega Genesis wouldn't do this game's music any justice tbh, so it was a wise choice to release this on the SNES.
kiko485 For sure. I think the soundtrack might have been OK on the Genesis, and it would have its own unique sound, but for anything mimicking orchestral tunes, SNES all the way. The Final Fantasy VI opera scene still gives me chills.Funny you mention Enix and the Genesis. I was under the impression that there were never any games the company put out for Sega's 16-bit beast...and after a quick search, it was confirmed. XD
I was just looking for a review of this game and the other videos on YT were either long play videos without speech or just random chatting. Yours was concise and informative. Just what i needed. Subscribed!
+theuglykwan Thank you very much, and I hope you enjoy what else I have to offer!
...how have I not seen this video?!?!
'Cause it's OOOOOOOOLD'D, and NO ONE has watched it. Except you. Thank you for watching, sweetie.
Not really a hard game to figure out, but the hardest part to me is each area's strict time limit of 99 seconds. Going through doors in certain levels resets the timer, but some levels have long stretches between doors, making time very, very precious. I do plan on picking this one up cart only, if possible.
One month later, mission accomplished.
I salute you, sir.
Thank you!
art style reminds me of Popful Mail and a bit of Magical Pop'n but I guess the same could be said for a lot of Japanese made side scrollers for the time.
That's a pretty good observation--I'd say I agree with it. And both of those games, well, that series and that game, are excellent.
On a side note the biggest worry of mine if I pick this up is that I won't be able to understand conversations. Oh well, guess you can't have your cake and eat it too xD
+ruclips.net/user/veryleafy I'd say that even an intermediate knowledge of the Japanese language would suffice in regards to being able to understand the story in this game. Nothing really too complicated, as far as I remember. :)
+Jimmy Hapa (Import Gaming FTW!) Sorry for the reply to your old comment, I never noticed it before. XD
So I was checking out metal Jesus rocks latest video on the artwork, and I noticed you recommended a super famicom game under the comments and you said you had a channel...so I subscribed and checked out my first video from you and I have to say I'm impressed. I'm not very knowledgeable with most famicom games, so this is a great channel to get my knowledge on lol. So I will definitely be checking out more videos, and keep up the great work
Thanks so much, I'm happy to hear that and hope you can learn a lot about import gaming! I have mostly done PS1/Saturn games, but I have a lot of SFC games that I plan on talking about soon. If you ever have any questions about the games I mention or about Japanese gaming in general, feel free to let me know. :D
welp gotta get a super famicom now thanks
Good to hear! If you have a game genie, you can modify it a bit and use it on the SNES like I showed in this video (though it was probably unclear). If you ever head out to Japan, buy one there rather than online. Sometimes you can find complete in box SFCs for under 2000 yen (~$20 US). ;)
This game is like a cross between the Snes version of Animaniacs and Bubble & Squeak.
looks like wanting to invest in a retron will be even more worth it now XD
DO IT.
This one I must keep an I out for
Good luck. I'd recommend checking out auctions on ebay--you can find complete copies that go for around thirty dollars sometimes.
Is it based on the old tale, the pied piper of Hamlin? The story of a rat catcher who rid a town of a rat infestation using only his flute, but when they refused to pay him, he kidnapped all their children using his flute too.
+Larry Bundy Jr Oh yeah, I'm sure that old tale was a big influence on the creation of the original manga series. I couldn't find anything directly linking the two, but I think it's fair to say the connection is there. This is an old video, and had I done it today, I would have made at least a passing reference to the Pied Piper of Hamelin somewhere in setting up the story. :)
Anyway, thanks for watching--hope you decide to pick up and play this game for yourself sometime!
Jimmy Hapa (Import Gaming FTW!)
Oh yeah, Love the look of it, and i've always had a thing for buying game based on Japanese licenses.
I can specifically remember buying Osomatsu-kun: Hachamecha Gekijō not long after buying a Japanese Mega Drive and it blowing my mind how completely weird it was out of context. And of course Magical Hat not long after!
+Larry Bundy Jr I've overlooked a lot of good licensed Japanese games over the years, including the Osomatsu-kun ones. I'll be sure to remedy that the next time I come across a game in the wild. And Magical Hat, ha ha, I just watched one of your old top 10s talking about Japanese games that featured that. I originally wanted to do a video on that, but then discovered that Decap Attack is basically a spriteswap of it, and then forgot about it completely!
Jimmy Hapa (Import Gaming FTW!)
Lol, I wondered if you had seen that episode :D
+Larry Bundy Jr I probably watched it just a few hours before I saw your comment. Good stuff--I don't really care for top 10s, but the ones you have done with that Wez fellow are really entertaining. Probably because of the dynamic you guys have.
3:17 lol thanks for describing and not lecturing about "misogyny". I think people only get away with it in obscure stuff nowadays, like fingun's fan service, how racist albacete warrior is, or how zoids legacy has the girl kidnapped 3 times in the same game 😂. Thankful for emulation save states as no saving is terrible.
Shantae can do it on her own with transformations 😂 though the developers once lightened her skin tone and had to revert due to justified backlash. Never was too into the dialogue in that series but glad she was a guest dlc in blaster master zero.
This game looks nice,one more for the huntinglist;)great review!
kenshiroonline Thanks for watching, I remember you from that stream a while back. And Violinist of Hameln is definitely a good addition to a SFC collection. :)
Yeah that was me,thanks for remembering:)Import Gaming FTW!
I've seen a chunk of the anime. When I started to watch this video I was thinking, "this doesn't look right..." A quick wiki search suggests that the anime and manga are quite different and since this is based off the manga I'll have to assume that's why. Anyway, after this video I must have this game and am going to put it #2 on my list after Araigumi Rascal after I import my Super Famicom (someday)
Anyway, I don't know how I missed this video the first time, I saw your comment on The most recent Game Sack "left in Japan(5)" and noticed I hadn't watched it. Thanks for another great video!
p.s.
A certain head explosion at 3:23 pleased me greatly ;)
No way, I was *THIS* close to picking up Rascal the Raccoon the other day on ebay! It looks like fun, and I want to do a Japan-only puzzle video soon!
Anyway, thanks for checking it out--you're probably the only one who read that post and actually took the time to watch the video. ;)
As for the differences, I read that online, and I'm interested in either. The Book-Off down the street from my apartment has a 37 volume set of the manga for a dollar each book...tempting.
I'd love to do a ten hour loop of "certain head explosions" someday. And I'm sure that someone saw that and decided to thumbs this video down. #CancelTestYourMIght!
Dude, I LOVE Araiguma Rascal, and haven't seen it on ebay for four months, maybe I should look up "Rascal the raccoon" instead, that never occured to me.... I found it doing research for hard Super Famicom games (it doesn't fit the bill) and fell in love with it, very unique puzzle-plaformer.
I honestly can't recommend the Hameln anime, but would probably pick up the manga, I think the story probably benefits from a lighter tone. The design is also so much diffrent from this game, or the manga, It is very much an anime of its time, music is superb in it though.
Oh, I'm very positive you got the thumps down because of it, or because the western mind just cannot accept a few cultural differences in video games. #canceltestyourmight!
Joshua Tiberius
Just a bit over a month ago I found an auction complete in box for 25 dollars, and I think shipping was only a few bucks. Now that I know there's another guy out there looking for it, I'll have to pick it up as soon as I see another copy!
The same store that sells the manga is also selling the OST from the anime for ten bucks. If the music is as good as you say, I think I'll pick it up on my next trip...unless somehow you beat me there!
The music from the Anime is a lot like the music from the game but fully orchestrated. If you like classical, you'll like it. If you like harpsichord, you'll like it. It was the best part of the Anime, but not exactly my taste, your mileage may vary.
It would be tremendous if you could point me in the direction of a copy of AR if you run across one. I would be eternally grateful. The last auction I saw was a loose cart that went for $31.00, I had no frame of reference to know whether that was a good price or not. I don't think it is a particularly sought after game, but nor do I think they pressed a whole lot of copies.
Joshua Tiberius
I'll let you know if I see it for a decent price--hopefully that will spur you on to buy a Super Famicom sooner as well.
What would have happened if Enix decided to have the Violinist of Hameln for the SNES be based on the anime instead of the manga? What would the tone be like?
Jac2Mac From what I hear, it would be a heck of a lot darker than this bubbly bubble gum game! XD
Jimmy Hapa (Import Gaming FTW!) How would it have been much darker and what would the gameplay have been like?
Jac2Mac From what I understand and can tell, the anime is a much more serious/brooding beast compared to the manga. Even the character design looks a bit more mature. If it was based on the anime rather than the manga, I'd imagine it would be similar in gameplay to something like Sword Maniac for the Super Famicom, which saw a US release as X-kalibur 2097. But who knows, ha ha.
Jimmy Hapa (Import Gaming FTW!) It still angers me that Enix decided to have the Violinist of Hameln SNES game be based on the manga instead of the anime like other game companies were doing so. If only Capcom had gotten the rights to Violinist of Hameln instead of Enix, they would have made it dark and serious like the anime and it would use the same hardware and sound chips as Mega Man X2.
@@Jac2Mac Actually, despite all the gags and humor the manga contains, certain scenes in it are a lot darker than in the anime, especially in later volumes. It would have been interesting to see a game adaptation of the entire story.
RIP J2e Translations.
+Alkaiser Red I didn't even know there was a translation to this game. That's cool, but I take it the patch is no longer available or the group that made it closed shop?
I'm looking to pick up Japanese imports for my SNES(As far as I know if I remove tabs meant for the larger american carts super famicom games work fine in the SNES) so I'm new to all of this. This video was put surprisingly well considering the unfortunate viewcount because this is really interesting. I'll be looking forward to more even tho I'm late on this video lmao
Yes, if you remove those tabs, you will be fine to play Super Famicom games, since N. America and Japan share the NTSC video format. Thank you for your comment--but none of my videos have impressive viewcounts, ha ha. I have a lot of videos for imports on the PS1 and Saturn, but I have many Super Famicom games, and plan on covering a lot more in the coming months.
Violinist of Hameln is not really a text heavy game, so you won't miss out too much on dialogue, but if you pick it up and want to know what's happening, let me know. I have the entire game recorded, so I can always go back and tell you what the characters said to each other, in English. ;)
Gangan comics is quickly uprooting shonen jump as my favorite manga publication, a good number of my favorite series come from them, FMA, soul eater, watamote, highscore girl, sekirei and my current obsessions akame ga kill! My god that last one would make one hell of a 2D fighter.
***** Gangan's got style. XDI've heard of most of those series that you mentioned, but never Akame Ga Kill. I'll check that one out now. ;)
Go, go now and watch akame ga kill, and tell me it would make an awesome 2D fighter…preferably made by arc system works!
The jokes here aged like acid
This game is so much fun! Jimmy have you tried the hidden moves?
It's such a fun game! So much so that I want to redo this video to do it justice. The secret moves, as in those ones they teach you at the end of the game? Didn't know about them until I saw the end credits, ha ha.
Yep. The game will be so much easy ;) Looking forward for the big Suikoden Video. I was in the Suikosource team in the first formation in the early 2000. Can't wait!
sad i bought this game and mine keeps glitching:(
feedmedonuts :D I'm glad to hear you bought the game, but sorry to hear it's glitching on you. Which part, and what happens? I hope it's just a matter of a dirty cartridge or something less...
Jimmy Hapa (Import Gaming FTW!)
i honestly don't know whats wrong with it, the character kinda of just floats in the air when you jump and i have to press up to make him float down to the floor idk lolol i tried cleaning it no luck probally end up getting another copy its just super wierd
feedmedonuts :D Yeah, that sounds really weird...sorry to hear about it, again. Thankfully loose copies can be found for really cheap. Hope it works out if you buy another copy, and let me know what you think about the game when you get a chance to play through it, glitch-free!