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D4 Enterprise has announced that the Nihon Falcom action RPG Popful Mail Switch eShop is now available on the in the West for $6.49.

This emulated PC-8801 version of the title was initially released in 1991 before seeing several ports over the years. Its sole English release was for the Sega CD in 1995.

Interestingly, there’s quite a bit of history surrounding this Western release, as it was initially conceived to be a remake that would make it a Sonic the Hedgehog spinoff, Sister Sonic.

However, fans’ negative reception to this decision, as they instead wanted a faithful Popful Mail release, succeeded, resulting in Sister Sonic’s eventual cancellation. Another notable tidbit is that localizer Working Designs made the North American release more difficult.

Popful Mail has players control the titular bounty hunter, using many typical RPG conventions. Still, other playable characters join the fray, providing different gameplay experiences. Plus, various types of items and five sorts of weapons can be acquired.

The version supports English. However, like the recent ports of Ys I, Ys II, Ys III: Wanderers from Ys, Xanadu, Dragon Slayer IV: Drasle Family, and Sorcerian, this only means that certain menus are affected—consequently, the main game and the gallery are in Japanese.

Falcom Action RPG ‘Popful Mail’ Launches On Western Switch EShop; PC-88 Version, Main Game In Japanese - Noisy Pixel

D4 Enterprise has announced that the Nihon Falcom action RPG Popful Mail Switch eShopis now available on the in the West for $6.49.

noisypixel.net

 

[Pejo]

Damn that is not an IP I thought I'd see news for ever again...

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

Damn that is not an IP I thought I'd see news for ever again...

Makes me feel old hearing Popful Mail again..

 

[IAmRei]

dang, i play this in japanese long way before, the game presentation is very interesting to me back then.

 

[Quasicat]

I’m going to give it a shot, but I’m not nostalgic for the PC-8801 version and instead was a huge fan of the SEGA CD release. I’ll still give it a shot at $6, but I’m not sure about the differences between the two versions.

 

[existensmaximum]

The Sega CD version is really, really good. Definitely one of the gems for that console. The original version looks really rough in comparison, at least on YouTube.

 

[Krathoon]

No PC version? I may get this. Sega CD version is a classic. Top notch game.

Edit: Wait a minute. This is in Japanese?

 

[Northeastmonk]

For that price. What’s not to love? I picked it up. I have always wanted to play more PC Engine games and now more PC-8801.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

I enjoyed it on Sega CD, I had no idea that wasn’t the original version. I wonder if it still holds up today.

It was cool having 3 different protagonists to play as. I remember liking the lizard guy the best with his fire breath and high jump. Also thought Sven T Uncommon with his fake Arnold Schwarzenegger voice was funny.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Wow I’ve got the Sega CD version. The CD has dialog audio that syncs with the mouth movement.
Thats the only thing I remember.

 

[ManaByte]

At least it's only $6.

The Valis ports are INSANE at $15...EACH.

 

[DGrayson]

I never played this game but just hearing the name brings a smile to my face. One of those difficult to get games from back in the day you only read about in EGM or something.

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

.

 

[thismeinteil]

Love playing this on a Sega CD emulator every now and then. Hopefully, they port that version over to all consoles eventually.

 

[Chuck Berry]

Sega CD version is what I played. Super dope.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

Is there anything better or different about this version that makes it worth playing over the Sega CD version?

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

I'd pay big bucks for a properly translated version of the Sega CD and PC Engine CD versions. This is a step in the right direction (EGG Switch ports have been pretty decent so far, right?), but yeah. There's better stuff to be had with this game.

 

[Stamps1646]

This and the Lunar series were my favorite games on the SEGA CD.
If they ever plan to re-release the SegaCD or PC Engine version, I would pick this up instantly.

 

[RoboFu]

That's cool ,but Sega cd was the best version.

 

[kingpotato]

I'm kinda surprised to see how many other people played this game on Sega CD. It's one of the few games I really put a lot of time into before the damn thing broke lol.

 

[butane bob]

Is there anything better or different about this version that makes it worth playing over the Sega CD version?

Yeah all 3 versions (NEC/Sega CD/SNES) of popful mail are different. Different level layouts, events, enemies/bosses etc.