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[EviLore]

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In this long lost Nintendo adventure game made by Pax Softnica under Nintendo R&D4 (EAD) in 1991, The Devil steals a time machine and uses it to mess with history and you chase after him while your soul inhabits locals of each era. You can assassinate Hitler, see Joan of Arc crucified, get lynched by the KKK, and face off against evil baby Jesus who's been possessed by The Devil.

It's never been translated to English and Nintendo seems to have kept it far out of the spotlight due to its controversial themes. And, well, it's hard to blame them!

Article:

Time Twist was the last packaged release on the Disk System, released eight months after the release of the Super Famicom in Japan. Nintendo did not promote the game on television, as they had with their previous adventure games. The game was never given a North American release, due to its mature and religious themes conflicting with Nintendo of America's strict censorship policies at the time. It also portrays disturbing moments in history, such as Nazi German concentration camps, Ku Klux Klan violence, and gives the player an opportunity to assassinate Adolf Hitler and exorcise a demon out of Baby Jesus.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Twist:_Rekishi_no_Katasumi_de...

I came across this recently released long format retrospective on it tonight. It's really fascinating and worth a watch:




It's highly unlikely that Nintendo will ever make the game available. Apparently the Japanese text is compressed with an unknown method, so people haven't had any luck so far creating an English patch for the game. Probably possible to figure out the algo though, can't be all that complicated. Even barring that, there's always Google Lens…

 

[The Lunch Legend]

This game needs a remake

 

[KalimPlays]

I actually just watched this the other night. Very good video by an awesome creator!

 

[Baemono]

I can't find what "idô" means

 

[Hudo]

You can assassinate Hitler, see Joan of Arc crucified, get lynched by the KKK, and face off against evil baby Jesus who's been possessed by The Devil.

That's literally my bucket list.

 

[EviLore]

I can't find what "idô" means

ChatGPT helps:

Menu Options (Top to Bottom, Left to Right)
First Row:

• みる (miru) – "Look" or "Examine"
  → Lets the player observe something in the environment (e.g., characters, objects).
• いどう (idō) – "Move" or "Go"
  → Allows you to move to another area or screen. This is currently selected (red triangle).

Second Row:

• はなす (hanasu) – "Talk"
  → Initiates dialogue with nearby NPCs (non-playable characters).
• つかう (tsukau) – "Use"
  → Lets you use an item from your inventory or a key object.

Third Row:

• ぎんか (ginka) – "Silver coin" or just "Coin"
  → Refers to an item (likely currency) you can use or give.

 

[Baemono]

ChatGPT helps:

Menu Options (Top to Bottom, Left to Right)
First Row:

• みる (miru) – "Look" or "Examine"
  → Lets the player observe something in the environment (e.g., characters, objects).
• いどう (idō) – "Move" or "Go"
  → Allows you to move to another area or screen. This is currently selected (red triangle).

Second Row:

• はなす (hanasu) – "Talk"
  → Initiates dialogue with nearby NPCs (non-playable characters).
• つかう (tsukau) – "Use"
  → Lets you use an item from your inventory or a key object.

Third Row:

• ぎんか (ginka) – "Silver coin" or just "Coin"
  → Refers to an item (likely currency) you can use or give.

Thanks, I got the other ones, but never saw "idô" like this, without the kanji (like in this case 動 for the movement) it is a bit more difficult for me.

 

[its_Ditz]

face off against evil baby Jesus who's been possessed by the Devil

What in the actual fucking FUCK did I just read. I am a lurker but this single handedly made me post a reaction. I'm ded

 

[jshackles]

How has this game never even gotten a fan translation?

 

[Miyazaki’s Slave]

This looks like an amazing full team dance attack against a clearly injured (blinking red) Adolf Hitler.

This game strikes me as pure quality...just in ONE screenshot.

 

[EviLore]

How has this game never even gotten a fan translation?

When it comes up online people blame the text compression for making it difficult to create a translation patch, but I think it's mostly just because it's a game lost to the world that Nintendo has suppressed. Few people know it exists, at least until the video in the OP dropped two weeks ago. I'm curious to see how hard it is to isolate the text in the game data.

 

[Chuck Berry]

This is so fucking cool and I'm shocked that there's no translated version out there.

 

[diffusionx]

A FDS game in 1991 is wild. I figured the entire thing was put on ice once Nintendo killed it for the US and moved to better mapper chips instead.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

I read about this on Hardcore Gaming 101 a few years ago. Saw the video in my suggestions on YT, but don't want to spoil myself too much in the hope that one day an English patch is finally made.

This game is always at the back of my mind when I read people saying that today we have the best variety and the best stories we've ever had in gaming, and that when a game gets censored or blocked, it's probably for the best. I'm sure it's an outdated, clunky mess to play nowadays, but you quite literally can't make that shit up in the current world, and I'd be terribly curious to play it in English - and with a few QoL features it probably needs. I guess it's the usual Japanese pastiche of western history and religion that's very silly and very shocking and takes itself a little too seriously. But hey, Xenogears is awesome, so…

 

[EviLore]

The premise reminds me of The Master and Margarita a tiny bit, if anyone has read that quirky Soviet novel. Also involves The Devil as a central character and peering back in time to the life of Jesus. Wonder if the devs had read it.

 

[Miyazaki’s Slave]

OR...its the long forgotten Quantum Leap tie in video game.

It's probably the book thing EviLore mentioned, but I gotta' have references that dummies like me can relate to!

(that file size increase still feels SOOOOOO good)

 

[Hudo]

Now that I have seen the video (well made, btw), I gotta say that this all kinds of neat. It seems the Famicom Disk System is a treasure trove of video game obscura.

 

[ReBurn]

That was a good watch.

 

[bender]

This reminds me of the time that devil Mod of War erased the time code from my tag line because he's the candy corn loving mod equivalent of Fry.

 

[TintoConCasera]

That was a good watch.

Yeah it's a very nice channel covering some very obscure stuff, like that Cosmology of Tokyo game. Would have never heard of that game if it wasn't for this dude's channel.

 

[Chuck Berry]

Famicom Hitler needs to be in the next Smash Bros

 

[BlackTron]

Where's my remake Nintendo?

 

[Hudo]

Famicom Hitler needs to be in the next Smash Bros

Famicom Hitler, burnt Joan of Arc and Evil Baby Jesus might be the greatest fighter lineup ever.

 

[nowhat]

The premise reminds me of The Master and Margarita a tiny bit, if anyone has read that quirky Soviet novel.

Such a wonderful novel. The version I read had the added fascination that it had the parts that were originally censored in the USSR in italics - there were a ton, entire chapters/paragraphs at times, but at other times it was something really seemingly innocent, like "she felt $SOMETHING and free" (can't recall what $SOMETHING was, it's been years). The "and free" was too much for the USSR.

 

[AREYOUOKAY?]

Famicom Hitler needs to be in the next Smash Bros

Move over Fire Emblem. It's time for the Famicom Wars series to get reps.