When something is good, it never dies. And this is the case for the SEGA Saturn.
From Wikipedia
"Bulk Slash is a third-person action mecha simulation video game developed by CAProduction and published by Hudson Soft for the Sega Saturn in Japan on July 11, 1997. Taking place on a futuristic science fiction setting, where military chief Alois Gardona and discriminated inhabitants of the fictional planet Blau plots a coup d'état against their oppressors, players assume the role of SDF fighter pilot Cress Dawley in order to win the war against Gardona and his army. The game has been met with mostly positive reception from video game magazines and online publications alike since its release; critics praised various aspects of the title such as presentation, soundtrack, gameplay, replay value and graphics."
I had known about this game for a good while since I'm a sucker for anything Saturn and this looked simply phenomenal and a great showcase for the Saturn's 3D capabilities, however the game is really story heavy and it was never released in English. I may speak some Japanese, but it most certainly isn't enough to play something like this.
But recently I was binge watching some digital foundry videos and decided to check this out.
I'm honestly amazed.
The amount of work that went into this feels nothing short of professional.
A quick glance at the trailer and you'll understand what I'm talking about, all voices have been dubbed and all the text in the game has been translated.
- This is the changelog:
- Translate all menu and dialogue text into English.
- Add English dubbed voices for all the Navigators.
- Change all endings into English dubbed voice acting.
- Change the credits to display in English, and add additional credits for the translation team/voice actors.
There is one thing I didn't write (copy and paste) though.
- Add support for the Sega Saturn Twin Sticks peripheral.
Not only was this entirely dubbed, they also hacked the code so much that they managed to add support for a Saturn accessory that wasn't even used all that much, and that makes the game way more playable, even on regular controllers on emulators such as Retroarch (that support the Twin Sticks).
This is the amount of dedication that only comes from SEGA fans, it's simply astounding. All the projects that come from them, all the love letters to these incredible retro games from 20+ years ago, it makes me proud to be part of this community.
Not that the hacks and fan translations for Nintendo games aren't good, it's just that I don't see the same level of enthusiasm coming from there, what I mostly see nowadays are DMCA strikes and CND letters. Meanwhile SEGA hires those who outright take their copyright and remake an entire game in their own engine (Christian Whitehead) to work on one of the best games they've made in recent years.
This Bulk Slash patch was made from nothing but dedication and love to everything SEGA, to a great game, to let more people play it and play it in a more comfortable way.
The game also has a sort of "dating sim" aspect to it where you develop relationships with the female characters, who have all been dubbed obviously, and it's honestly not a bad touch. The focus of the game is on the action and this only serves to build relationships with people who'll help you during battle.
Here are such characters with their new English voice actors.
I know some may not like the dub, but honestly, I think it's really good. I don't mind English dubs as long as they're not bad and this one was really nice.
Specially since this is an action game, you can't stop to read text whilst you're in the middle of a mech firefight.
You can download the patch from here.
Luckily, the patch comes with a readme file telling you how to patch the game.
I won't say how to actually find the game as that's illegal, but I'm sure you can figure it out.
Here are the credits for this project, a huge shoutout to these absolute legends that make projects like this possible.
Project Lead, Translator, Voice Director – Greg Moore
Script Editors – Dan “Danthrax” Myers, Chanh “Burntends” Nguyen, Chris “Ghaleon Unlimited” Hatala
Code Insertion, Video Editor – Mamdouh “Mampfus” Maduar
Graphics and Font Editor, Tile Setter, Manual Layout – Dan “Danthrax” Myers
Talent Scout, Community Manager – Chanh “Burntends” Nguyen
Reverse Engineer, Developer – Anthony “Knight0fDragon” Randazzo
Recreated Musical Score – Jiggle85, Jiggle85’s brother, and Shadowmask
Recreated Sound Effects – Shadowmask
Audio Engineers – Mamdouh “Mampfus” Maduar, Greg Moore, Shadowmask
Edited Bulk Slash Logo in the Manual – SaturnDave
Original Japanese Manual Scan – Chris “Ghaleon Unlimited” Hatala
ENGLISH CAST
Chris Dooley – Jonathan Boncher
Riesen Lavia – Luuzine
Leone Rhodes – Edobean
Lira Hart – Erin Lefe
Metical Flair – Dark Mysty
Naira Savage – Raycher
Rupia Rude – Diana Allocco
Colón Steiner – Saskia Amira
Kina Dibiase – CrouchingMouse
Narrator – Nick “PandaMonium” Broadway
Protecting Boy, Mana – CrouchingMouse
Bully #1 – Eugene
Bully #2 – Edobean
Adult Kina, Computer – Cargodin
Reporter – Sara Biebuyck
King Flair – Ucial
Lira Fans – Danthrax, Mampfus, Burntends, Greg Moore
Motor Show Men – SaturnDave, Patrick “TraynoCo” Traynor
SPECIAL THANKS
TrekkiesUnite118
Malenko
Kris Taquka’angcuk Knigge
Thorsten Roth
Connor
The localization team’s families
Shiro Media Group
SegaXtreme forum
Sources:
Digital Foundry
SHIRO!
SegaXtreme
RetroRGB