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[BuddyC]

Anyone else notice a bunch of differences between the JP and US version of Astro Boy on GBA? First off, there's the addition of a third difficulty level. I can't read Japanese to verify which one is new, but there were only two options on the JP cart.

The enemy layout is quite different in the US version too. Different enemies come from different sides at different times. I breezed through the first level in the JP version, but I had problems playing through the English version on Hard - the damage you take is insane.

Overall it seems they bumped up the difficulty level a few notches here and there, but nothing too bad...yet

Edit: Upon further inspection, I also believe they added boss life meters for the English version.

 

[mosaic]

There's a thread over at gamefaqs that goes into most of this stuff. I'd go hunt it down, but I'm on dialup the next couple days (bleah).

One difference you may have noticed is that the bosses attack patterns are more diverse... in the JP version, for instance, Atlas would use his cannon a few times, and then his dash move. In the US game, he alternates them. Some bosses have additional attacks too.

Yep, it is tougher in many spots (harder overall)... but also easier in some key areas. The bosses at "the end" of the game used to be killers... heck, Epsilon's urchins used to be nearly impossible to destroy... and her plasma beams used to be much larger...

(I prefer level 1 in the JP version, since it uses a ton of "giant" enemies, but the rest of the stages in the US game have a good mix of normal and large enemies. Portions of some stages in the JP version were completely empty; not so in the US game)

 

[NotMSRP]

I love information like this. Got any more stuff like this?

 

[Mejilan]

I do believe they recolored some enemies, added some more animation, and cleaned up some of the slowdown as well as everything previously mentioned in this thread.

 

[BuddyC]

The thread on GameFAQs has a lot more details. The theory is that the JP version was rushed for the New Years sales rush, and that Hitmaker/Treasure went back and reworked the game for the international release.

Hard is definately hard this go round, I think I'm gonna restart it on Normal.

 

[Mejilan]

Gamespot's review mentions some of the changes specifically. They liked most, if not all of the changes.

 

[BuddyC]

Like mosaic, I perfer the original first level. The mini robots were really cool, but everything else seems better. Definately harder.

 

[Kobun Heat]

That's usually what happens in general. The second release of a game (usually US) is the more balanced one. Japanese are more willing to put up with a less-finished product.