Video games were an odd business in the 80s and 90s. Because of the crash involving Atari, the world was still hesitant about the medium. This could be one reason why so many games were trapped in Japan or were retooled as something completely different in the West.
For example, Super Mario Bros. 2 was a re-skinned version of a game called Doki Doki Panic. There are tons of examples like this, but then there are video game series that are released out of order. Re-skinning games and order revisions are two things that probably aren’t going to happen anymore, thankfully. It can be fun to remember though, so here are some big examples worth mentioning.
6 Culdcept
The Culdcept series has a dedicated group of fans, but it is a niche bunch of individuals. It all began in 1991 in Japan on the Sega Saturn. The Culdcept games are tactical RPGs crossed with a monster summoning game via cards crossed with a board game like Monopoly. It is a hodgepodge of ideas which makes it a genre all its own.
The second game, Culdcept Second, was the first one to release outside of Japan. The West missed the initial Dreamcast launch in 2001, but it did get the PS2 port in 2003. The next game, Culdcept Saga, was released without a hitch on the Xbox 360 in 2008. This was two years after Japan which was a big gap admittedly. The next two games on the DS and 3DS were skipped but the sixth and final game as of now, Culdcept Revolt, did get a release on the 3DS in 2017 in North America.
5 EarthBound
EarthBound was the second game in the series which was released in 1995 on the SNES in North America. This was a year after the Japanese launch which referred to it as Mother 2. The first game, Mother, was released on the NES in Japan in 1989. Funnily enough, an English version was completed but it was shelved just before it went into full production for market.
Later this prototype wound up online, which is how a lot of EarthBound fans played it for the first time via emulation. Years later, Mother was renamed EarthBound Beginnings and was released digitally in 2015 on the Wii U’s eShop in North America. There is one other game in the series, Mother 3 on GBA, which fans have been dying to play officially since it was released in 2006.
4 Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy has one of the wildest release stories in all of gaming. The series began in Japan in 1987 on the NES. In 1990, it finally hit the West. Instead of releasing the second or third games next, Square Enix, Squaresoft at the time, decided to rebrand the upcoming fourth game as Final Fantasy 2. That was released on the SNES in 1991 followed by another skipping of sequels as Final Fantasy 6 became Final Fantasy 3.
When Final Fantasy 7 launched on the PS1 in 1997, it kept its original name. From then on all games that were released in the West kept their original names. It took a while but eventually, the previous missing titles from the NES and SNES generations made it here too which is a whole other story.
3 Fire Emblem
It took a very long time for this series to hit the Western market. The series began in 1990 on the NES via Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light. The first game to hit North America was on the GBA in 2003. It was just called Fire Emblem instead of Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade. After that, the West received every mainline game going forward and in order.
Some spinoffs did not come over though like Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem. Also, only two titles before 2003 were released in the West. Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light got a digital port in 2020 via the Switch and Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia was a 3DS remake in 2017. The original game, Fire Emblem Gaiden, was a 1992 NES game. Will the SNES generation of games ever make it over here officially?
2 Growlanser
Growlanser is an obscure tactical RPG series that even hardcore fans may not be aware of. The series began in Japan on the PS1 in 1999. The first game to ever hit the West was in 2004 via Growlanser Generations. This was a PS2 collection of the second and third games. Then, in 2007, Growlanser: Heritage of War was released on the PS2.
This was the fifth game in the series though. Eventually, the fourth title did get a release too but not until 2012 as a PSP port known as Growlanser: Wayfarer of Time. As of right now the first game and the sixth game, which is also the final game, are missing in action.
1 Shin Megami Tensei
The first game the West got in this series was Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne. The main games were released normally after this. Rewinding back a bit, this series started in 1987 with Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei. There were two games under that name until Shin Megami Tensei was released in 1992 on the SNES.
The only version released officially in English was in 2014 for mobile devices. Shin Megami Tensei 2, Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei and a plethora of spinoffs remain trapped in Japan. Mega fans of the franchise can look for English fan translations online though.