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A way to play Snatcher with Japanese dub and English text?

Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 9:07 am
by lobski
Hello, I just beat Snatcher for the first time, Sega CD version, and loved it. But I am wondering, is there a way to play the game with the original Japanese dub with English text? I tried searching for this in the forum and couldn't find any answer.


edit: What is the music that plays at the VERY first part of the game? The music that plays when you first step into Junkers HQ. I couldn't find it in the OST albums... The game version is Sega CD by the way. Did they even release a soundtrack for this version?

Re: A way to play Snatcher with Japanese dub and English tex

Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 10:29 am
by epitaph
Hey, and welcome to the forums.

At the moment there's no way to play Snatcher with Japanese voice acting and English text -- the closest thing might be a proposed English translation patch for the PC Engine version (however, work on it has not been started). It would only translate the subtitled segments of the game though.

The music in the Junker HQ lobby is a loop generated using the Mega Drive/MCD's sound chip -- it's not available in sampled form on any official soundtrack. However, if I remember correctly you should be able to find a clip of it at The Kremlin.

Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 11:39 am
by Henry Spencer
Yeah, I look forward to playing Snatcher with Japanese voices and english text, that would be SWEET! Really. Since I love the VA in the Japanese version, it kicks the english version's VA in so many ways. For a start, Randam is spelt properly. Heh. Secondly Gillian is voiced by the future Solid Snake and Big Boss (Naked Snake); Akio Otsuka, whilst Randam/Elijah is voiced by the future Tony Redwood and Gray Fox; Kaneto Shiozawa. Both put grand work into it, as they normally do with their VA roles, in whatever they have done. (Plus Benson sounds a lot better as well). There's some animation I like better in the PC Engine version more as well, like Gillian running after the bike, instead of hanging on. Such subtle changes, made such a difference to me. Bleugh, I could go on all day why I love the PC Engine version a little more than the Sega CD version, but I shall not bore you again, I have said it before, I will not again. :lol:

Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 11:43 am
by epitaph
I agree with you, to some extent. I would say I prefer Jeff Lupetin to Gillian's Japanese voice actor though -- whereas Jeff seems more up-beat and into it, the Japanese VA sounds tired. As for the others... for most part their Japanese counterparts are superior.

Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 1:40 pm
by Marc
Henry Spencer wrote:Secondly Gillian is voiced by the future Solid Snake and Big Boss (Naked Snake); Akio Otsuka
It's actually Yusaku Yara who plays Gillian. :wink:

I prefer the Japanese VA as well. Before I knew Japanese, I liked the English one better, but ever since it's the other way around. I also like how Kojima is able to direct the actors himself in the Japanese recording sessions. I like the music in the PCE version as well, both the CD and chip audio. Then there's the little tune that plays whenever Gillian does something stupid; I prefer the JP version of it too. Then of course there are all the deleted scenes and graphics.

As mentioned, we plan on doing an English PCE patch at some point.

Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 3:14 pm
by Henry Spencer
Yeah, that would be something I shall welcome with open arms. :grin:

And don't get me wrong epitaph, I do like the english VA as well, Jeff's especially, but the VA in the Japanese version seemed more fitting to the mood of the storyline to me, they nailed practically every scene in that one. And thanks for the correction Osiris, that fella sounds so much like Akio, I could have sworn the last time i checked it was as well, but since you're the man who is proposing to translate the game, I most certainly am wrong. :razz:

And Kojima directed the VA as well? It was all very well done by all anyhow, so he should be proud of that. I too prefer the music on the PC Engine myself, and the uncut material (it's the most uncut version of the game with the most material, along with some differences with the scenes in the Mega CD version, such as the shorter ending and extra scenes such as the Plato's Cavern 'scene', if you get my meaning). Hell, I don't even understand most Japanese, but I enjoyed it the msot really just because I wanted more, and it honestly delivered a lot of differences, both in big ways; like with the mood being changed thanks to the excellent VA and music as well as the different scenes and in subtle ways; such as the differences between the scenes, the different artwork etc.

Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 5:45 pm
by Marc
One of the other things I like about it is it doesn't contain certain additions that weren't in Kojima's script, particularly at the airport when Mika, Katrina, and Napoleon show up. It therefore doesn't have the line about expanding JUNKER's powers, etc., which I think a lot of people took to mean a sequel. Gillian just says he's going to destroy the Snatcher factory in Moscow, and then tells Jamie he wants to try things with her again when he gets back. Then MG shows up and they leave.

Don't get me wrong, the additions in the Sega CD are nice, but they should be footnoted as not being part of the original story.

Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 6:12 pm
by Henry Spencer
Yeah, exactly. Especially when Project S is going on and everything... :???:

Thing is, I could only see a continuation (in whatever form the media will be) in Moscow, before heading back to Neo Kobe.

Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 9:07 pm
by ratperson665
Please don't get mad but, I prefer the US VAs. I know Kojima supervised the original recording sessions but I just don't think the Japanese VAs are that good. (Except Kaneto Shiozawa. He was always great.) This came as a BIG shock to me because Kojima is usually SO GOOD at choosing VAs for his games that, when I first played the PCE version I expected the VAs in that version to be better than the ones in the SCD version. I was surprised and disappointed! The VAs in Policenauts are AMAZING and so are the Japanese VAs in the MGS games!! (Except for Akio Otsuka as Snake, but the rest are absolutely SPOT ON!!) That's why I was so surprised at the mediocrity of Snatcher's Japanese VAs! But this is all just my opinion and I respect yours.

Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 9:41 pm
by JunkerMike
I heard Kojima preferred the english voices in MGS.

Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 9:58 pm
by Marc
JunkerMike wrote:I heard Kojima preferred the english voices in MGS.
This is a common misinterpretation I've seen. What he said was when they were finishing up MGS1 and he first heard the English voices, he thought it was nice to hear the characters in English, since the characters are meant to be speaking English in the game world, but he still prefers the Japanese voices.

He actually said he was disappointed with the English MGS2 voices, particularly Raiden. Raiden was supposed to sound similar to Snake, and this is true in the Japanese version. When Raiden says "Of course" at the beginning of the Plant Chapter, it sounds almost identical to Snake. But Quinton Flynn had to put on a fake gravely tone to try and imitate David Hayter's voice, and then he even stops trying to imitate him after that line. MGS4 is going to be interesting in this respect...

I'd hazard a guess that part of the reason Kojima kept the Japanese voice track in Subsistence is because of his dissatisfaction with 2.

Posted: Wed May 02, 2007 2:36 am
by Henry Spencer
Yeah, but some of the voice work in MGS3 was very impressive, I agree with Kojima about the VA in MGS2, it wasn't that impressive, in MGS3 though I thought Boss' and Volgin's voice actors especially put in great acting.

As for MGS1; I'm attached to the english voices for that game, and they all nailed their roles spot on if you ask me, especially Snake's, Campbell's and Liquid's respective actors.

Posted: Wed May 02, 2007 5:52 am
by Spike
Henry Spencer wrote:Yeah, I look forward to playing Snatcher with Japanese voices and english text, that would be SWEET!
Yeah, same to me ! :smile:
Henry Spencer wrote:For a start, Randam is spelt properly.
Well, I believed there was a problem with his name : of course, it's Elijah Madnar read backwards. But Kojima also wanted it to be a pun on the English word "random" (he apparently thought it was spelt "randam").

So, for the English version, Blaustein decided to keep the "pun part" and, therefore, changed Madnar into Modnar.

Am I wrong :?
Osiris wrote:Raiden was supposed to sound similar to Snake, and this is true in the Japanese version. When Raiden says "Of course" at the beginning of the Plant Chapter, it sounds almost identical to Snake. But Quinton Flynn had to put on a fake gravely tone to try and imitate David Hayter's voice, and then he even stops trying to imitate him after that line. MGS4 is going to be interesting in this respect...
I guess the first time Kris Zimmerman saw Raiden and thought : "He's an effeminate character, so, let's give him an effeminate voice." :???:

I suppose Raiden will get a slightly more gravely tone in the American dubbing of MGS4 because of the digitized effect applied to it.
Henry Spencer wrote:Yeah, but some of the voice work in MGS3 was very impressive (...) I thought Boss' and Volgin's voice actors especially put in great acting
Hum... IMO, MGS3 has got the worst voice acting in the series.
Yeah, Lori Alan is quite good, but Kikuko Inoue's performance (from what I heard in the trailers) sounds 1,000,000 times better. I felt it was... perfect !

Posted: Wed May 02, 2007 10:24 am
by Marc
Henry Spencer wrote:Yeah, but some of the voice work in MGS3 was very impressive, I agree with Kojima about the VA in MGS2, it wasn't that impressive, in MGS3 though I thought Boss' and Volgin's voice actors especially put in great acting.

As for MGS1; I'm attached to the english voices for that game, and they all nailed their roles spot on if you ask me, especially Snake's, Campbell's and Liquid's respective actors.
I actually thought the English The Boss was one of the worst performances. Even before I played the Japanese version, I thought she sounded like she was really bored. Then I played the Japanese version and you know the rest. Inoue plays Jamie Seed and Karen Hojo too, for Christ's sake. Japanese VAs can have amazing talent for disguising their voices. She said in an interview in the MGS3 Premium Package that whenever she stopped concentrating even slightly she'd slip back into her normal voice, so it sounds like it involved a lot of hard work. But I thought she was spot-on.

Another impressive voice disguise is Naoki Tatsuta playing both Ishida in Policenauts and Sokolov in MGS3.

The acting in the first game is great, but something happened since then. I'm beginning to think the common thread is Jeremy Blaustein, as he was involved in both Snatcher and MGS1's recording sessions, and they both turned out great. You should always have the original translator, or at least someone who knows both languages and has gone over the script, in on the sessions with you, as they know how the characters are supposed to sound while they translated each line. But they didn't do that with 2 or 3. That's just common knowledge in that field; I remember listening to a Gamasutra podcast on localization a few months ago, and not surprising, all the participants agreed.
Spike wrote:Well, I believed there was a problem with his name : of course, it's Elijah Madnar read backwards. But Kojima also wanted it to be a pun on the English word "random" (he apparently thought it was spelt "randam").

So, for the English version, Blaustein decided to keep the "pun part" and, therefore, changed Madnar into Modnar.

Am I wrong :?
I'm not sure about the "random" pun, but in the earlier versions, Elijah Madnar's name is footnoted with the Japanese word for "madman".
I guess the first time Kris Zimmerman saw Raiden and thought : "He's an effeminate character, so, let's give him an effeminate voice." :???:
Yeah, maybe. They should've specified in the character sheets that he's supposed to sound older than he looks, if they didn't do so.

Posted: Wed May 02, 2007 3:43 pm
by Henry Spencer
See, I've not played MGS3 with the Japanese voice overs, I guess I am missing out. :smile:

Yes, Kikuko is a wonderful voice actress and I look forward to hearing a dramatic change of roles, such as that. As for Naoki Tatsuta, I can't rate the guy high enough, his performance in Policenauts was, oh so subtle, but DAMN, was he good in the role. He pretty much made Ishida my favourite smaller character in the game, he perfected that role. Again, I look forward to playing MGS3; to hear his work in MGS3 as Sokolov.

Also, about Madnar; one thing to note is, when the characters Chin Shu Oh (spelling?), Gillian and Randam (my preferred spelling, heh) are all talking about Prof Modnar, they say it as 'Madnar' in the Sega CD version, which leads to confusion. It is not until right at the end of the game, when we meet Elijah, do we hear him being referred to as 'Modnar' instead. Strange, eh?

Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 4:07 am
by Charlie Johnson
I always prefer the original voice acting, so for Kojima games it's naturally japanese.

Especially when I compare the lip sync of the japanese and english MGS3 versions.:-/

It's nearly perfect in the japanese version while in the english version it almost never fits.

As for Snatcher, imo the japanese VA is definitly better than the english one but I think it's far from perfect.
It's good but it doesn't even come close to the japanese dubs of later Kojima games.

Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 8:50 am
by Henry Spencer
^ For its time though, it was so far ahead of the rest of the competition. I still find Randam/Elijah's VA and Benson's VA both to be especially effective in the Japanese version.