The '80s were a rough period for translations in games. They frequently resulted in less than ideal localizations, producing a number of accidentally hilarious quotes in the process. Things got better in the '90s when companies could communicate better with each other; for example, Japanese companies like Nintendo set up side branches to help with Western releases.
That doesn’t mean the '90s were devoid of bad translations though. There was still plenty to find from awkward text to poorly voiced dialogue. This is true across all platforms. Most of these examples are hilarious while others may make someone think. Whatever the case may be, they are still golden lines that '90s kids still remember.
8 “A Miserable Little Pile Of Secrets”
- Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
“What is Man?” That’s the question Dracula asks Richter which he responds with this classic line. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night not only has bad text like that but most of it is poorly voiced as well. That was a big problem in the '90s.
There were efforts to fix these issues in later ports of this classic game, but doing so removed the cheesiness of the original. It may sound off, but it doesn’t diminish what is often considered to be a top-tier Metroidvania.
7 “You Spoony Bard”
- Final Fantasy 4
Square's Final Fantasy series is filled with a lot of bad translations. It was the curse of the '90s. Final Fantasy 4, or Final Fantasy 2 as it was known at the time, has some great mistranslations. However, this line is so classic that it has made it into other games in the JRPG series.
Who would have guessed that Tellah telling off Edward in a battle scene would have had this much of a huge impact? Maybe the lesson here is to mistype on purpose to try and create another viral hit. Just don’t be too obvious.
6 “Go Home And Be A Family Man”
- Street Fighter 2
Street Fighter 2 can be thanked for cultivating the fighting genre that everyone knows and loves today. This classic game wasn’t the first fighter, but it seemingly perfected an otherwise rigid formula. One thing that the game didn’t get right was its text.
This is not an example of a bad translation. It’s a coding error. Whenever Guile defeats an opponent he says this line. This should apply only to males, but it works for females like Chun-Li too. It creates an awkward situation that is easy to laugh that now.
5 “It’s-a Me, Mario!”
- Super Mario 64
Super Mario 64 did for 3D platformers what Street Fighter 2 did for 2D fighting games. The Nintendo 64 release served as the template for other companies to put their platforming franchises into 3D. Another groundbreaking thing about Super Mario 64 was the fact Mario was voiced.
From “It’s-a me, Mario” to “Let’s-a go,” these lines will forever be ingrained in the minds of Mario fans. Mario does not say much in his games, but that is okay. Mario, perhaps, is better with small one-liners like this.
4 “You Were Almost A Jill Sandwich!”
- Resident Evil
Resident Evil was an earth-shattering release that redefined the horror genre. As great as the gameplay was, one of the odder things about the '90s game was the script. Like Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, the dialogue was simple and badly delivered in turn.
That was sort of the point, though, as Resident Evil was an homage to cheesy '50s B-movies. Quotes like Barry calling Jill a sandwich have had a long reach in the series. It’s such an iconic moment that fans even modded Jill to look like a sandwich in the remake.
3 “Get Over Here” & “Finish Him”
- Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat, and its sequels, may not be the most fluid fighting games. Street Fighter is arguably the more robust franchise in terms of mechanics. However, what this series lacks in finesse it more than makes up for with gore. The original Mortal Kombat games were shocking at the time but they are laughably tame now.
Besides the blood and violence, two lines stuck out. Scorpion screaming “Get over here” whenever he launched his hook and “Finish him” which was announced at the end of matches. Both of those lines are deeply integrated into pop culture.
2 “Gotta Catch’em All”
- Pokemon
This quote is not specifically from an entry in the Pokemon series, as it is more like the tagline for the franchise. It still deserves to be mentioned as it’s another phrase that has withstood the test of time.
Whether people say the exact line or reword it to go something like “Gotta eat’em all” when chowing down on too many McNuggets, this Pokemon tagline is here to say. Pokemon, as a property, will seemingly never disappear, so it’s best to just embrace it.
1 “That’s A Good Question”
- Mega Man 8
Resident Evil and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night both have some poor deliveries. However, those two games combined do not come close to Mega Man 8. Dr. Light is the MVP of bad acting, and it’s not necessarily because the dialogue is bad either. The actor for Dr. Light tries to give him an Elmer Fudd-like accent; therefore, Dr. Wily sounds like it is more like Dr. Wiwy, or Dr. Wowy.
It’s almost like the sound mixer for Mega Man 8 put in the worst recurved takes for his lines. “That’s a good question” sounds fine after the actor stumbles through his words getting to that point. Look up these clips. They are too wild to explain.