I don't know about this one, man.
Don't get me wrong. I think it's great that the Virtual Console is showing interest in bringing retro Japanese games to American audiences. Though pretty much any modern (and playable) Japanese game will eventually be translated for Western release, there are plenty of NES and SNES-era gems that never made it overseas, and would likely be lost on worldwide audiences forever were it not for the Virtual Console.
The good news: DoReMi Fantasy: Milon's DokiDoki Adventure is a great game, and this week marks its North American debut. The bad news: no localization work went into its release, and the experience suffers as a result.
As a sequel to the almost universally panned Milon's Secret Castle for the NES (I kind of liked it, but don't tell anyone), you'd be forgiven for not having the highest of expectations for DoReMi Fantasy. Thankfully, it's a totally different kind of game. Don't expect to see any of Milon's Secret Castle's confusing free-roaming gameplay here. What you'll find instead is straightforward yet more satisfying level-based platform-hopping. The primitive and vaguely creepy graphics of NES Milon are replaced with vibrant backgrounds and more appealing character designs, and the music is pleasant, instead of depressing.
It's more than aesthetics, though. Whereas Milon's Secret Castle was infamous for its bizarre puzzle solutions (just shoot the two blocks around that one tile that looks like every other tile in the level and then push against that tile for ten seconds until it moves and then shoot a bubble where it used to be to get a crucial item you need to get past the first floor, DUH), DoReMi Fantasy's simple premise (run to the right) and breezy gameplay (don't get hit) make for a game that's less challenging, but also much less spiteful and caustic.
There's just one problem. It's still in Japanese.
For whatever reason, Hudson has decided to ignore Nintendo's Virtual Console precedent of only releasing imported games that were either already in English (Battle Lode Runner) or required mild translation work for playability's sake (Sin & Punishment). This normally wouldn't present a problem in your average platformer, but DoReMi Fantasy contains a non-trivial amount of untranslated text. There are a number of story sequences in between levels, and unless you have a pretty solid understanding of the Japanese language, you'll never know what they say. Worse, crucial instructions and tutorial sequences are also left untranslated. Early on, you might become stuck at a certain section that requires you to use a less-than-obvious button combination to proceed. It's only after a search through the manual that you'll find the solution. Hint: you can do a charge move by holding down the attack button for a few seconds.
As much as I like DoReMi Fantasy, it also represents a dangerous potential direction for Virtual Console imports. Earlier releases demonstrated that translation work was both possible and allowable under Nintendo's guidelines, so why didn't Hudson make the same effort for DoReMi Fantasy? More importantly, why are they charging an extra 100 Wii Points for a game that is actually less playable without knowledge of Japanese?
DoReMi Fantasy is a good game, but I wouldn't buy it. Buying imports to send the message that we want more games from overseas is good; sending a message that we are willing to pay extra for a game that is missing crucial components is not good. Messages aside, though, your 900 Points would otherwise be spent on what would ultimately amount to frustration over Milon's translation-related shortcomings.
