Super Bomberman 5 - English Translation

[#]

As you can see, the only one I'm not so sure about is 7: the turn verb is obvious but ゼゴー isn't. An internet search brings up a brand of cycling glasses called Zegho, but something tells me that might not be it. Any thoughts?

It's like level 5 (はしるぜ), まがるぜ　ゴー, not まがる　ゼゴー.

[Psyklax]

It's like level 5 (はしるぜ), まがるぜ　ゴー, not まがる　ゼゴー.

That's a possible interpretation, though I think it would be unusual to put ゴー immediately after　ぜ. I'll look again to see if the ぜ was katakana or hiragana, as that will give me a better idea. Thanks for your suggestion!

EDIT: I checked and you're right, it's hiragana, which supports your suggestion. The two characters do look awfully similar when you're not paying attention. Thanks for spotting it!

[mushguy]

This should help you with the translation: https://bomberman.fandom.com/wiki/Super_Bomberman_5

[Psyklax]

This should help you with the translation: https://bomberman.fandom.com/wiki/Super_Bomberman_5

See kids, this is why you post what you're up to in a Personal Projects thread: people can remind you of useful things.

Of course, there's nothing official about a wiki, so I'm not sure it'd be wise to simply copy what it says. I do take issue with a couple of translations like "Mystery Trolley", which while being a possible translation, feels like strange or incredible would fit better with a warping rail cart. And rail cart seems more fitting than trolley, although that wiki has a dedicated page to it. If I can find evidence that a game was localised with the name 'trolley' then I'll accept it for consistency - I'll always go with official translations - but for now I can't see anything.

I'll do some more research though, and that wiki certainly gives me food for thought. Thanks for the link!

EDIT: okay, given the level names are done with sprites, I think I'll use digraphs (two letters per sprite), which means I won't do it until I'm 100% sure about the names. And I'm all for continuity, but I'm not so sure as of yet... one thing is that two stages (8 and 13) mention トロッコ which I would translate as 'rail car' but the wiki translates as 'trolley'. Thing is, I can't find any reference to 'trolley' connected with the Bomberman series outside of this wiki, which of course is edited by fans. Wiktionary doesn't suggest that 'trolley' is a logical description for such a thing - the best I can see is "A light rail system or a train on such a system", but it notes that as colloquial and otherwise doesn't seem right.

As far as official translations go, Bomberman Party Edition has a stage called "Take the Train", which probably has the same name in Japanese as stage 8 in this game. No other official English release seems to mention trolleys or trains at all, so maybe I'll just use 'train' instead.

To be honest, I'm probably more bothered by this than I should be.

[Bink]

Well guys, I think it's time for an update!

I can't be bothered to give you any screenshots, just take my word for it that it's getting there. Almost all of the menus are done, as far as I can tell. There's a couple of things like the Bowling Bomber screen and the game over screen in Normal Mode, but I'll get to them soon enough. It's been a slow and laborious process, given the fact that each menu is different and I've been trying to deal with the compression. Add to that the lack of time I generally have, and you get the picture. But hey, nearly there.

I come here for a good reason, though. I've turned my attention to the names of the maps, and they're all stored in sprite form, which is weird but whatever. It looks like I have space to put an entire 16x16 alphabet to replace the existing characters, which is nice - I would use 8x16 but I don't think the SNES supports them (although I could just put 16x16 sprites really close together and overlapping... will have to give that a shot). So the question is about the names of the stages. Here are my best guesses thus far. I haven't made screenshots of them so if anyone could boot up the Gold Cartridge (for the 3 extra maps) and check these with me, that'd be great.

1   Normal
2   Big Conveyor
3   Roof Hide-and-Seek
4   Two Lights
5   Run Fast
6   Snow and Ice!
7   Turn Zegou?
8   Get on the Rail Car
9   Road Closed
10   Fire Dance
11   Strange Loop
12   Mechanical Conveyor
13   Incredible Rail Car

As you can see, the only one I'm not so sure about is 7: the turn verb is obvious but ゼゴー isn't. An internet search brings up a brand of cycling glasses called Zegho, but something tells me that might not be it. Any thoughts?

Those names will probably be tweaked in the final version, and I still haven't tried replacing the sprites yet. I still have to change the blue titles at the top of each menu, and I'm intentionally leaving them until last, since they're virtually pointless anyway. Still, once these little things are done, and those titles, then I suppose that's it. Oh, and then I need to try and apply everything I've done to the Gold Cartridge, since I've been working exclusively with the original retail version.

Feedback on level names appreciated! More updates still to come!

First off thank you for all your work on this project. I neither have the time or talent to take on something like this. I can't wait for this to be complete as we are big multiplayer Bomberman fans in out house.

Could level 7 be Turn Block?

There are similar levels to this in other Bomberman games. I noticed my son playing one and the blocks that made up the level looked like Legos. Could this be a case of bad translation in the mid 90's? I put ゼゴー into google translate and it gives me Zego. Which looks close to Lego and that's what the level looks like in other  Bomberman games. Could the Level in question been named in English and poorly translated into Japanese when the game when first developed? Anyways just a thought. Besides Turn BLOCK you could use SWITCH, BUTTON, SQUARE or SPACE.

Keep up the good work.
Can't wait to see the finished patch.

Hey how about Around The Block?

[Psyklax]

Could level 7 be Turn Block?

No, as we established, it's Turn and Go, or words to that effect. If you know Japanese, you'll know it has nothing at all to do with blocks.

Anyway, I thought I'd give you guys an update, mainly because I want some feedback on something. When you get a game over, you get a certificate with your 'clear rate' and a title. It looks like this:



I want some feedback on the best way to go about this. Here's my somewhat idiomatic translation:

CERTIFICATE OF ACHIEVEMENT
This certifies that your clear rate is
000%
and you are therefore recognised as
[Baby Bomber]
Bomberman Union [signature/stamp]

I thought of making a nice new graphic for the top part, and I'm not sure about the last bit. I know literally it means "all of the Bombermen", but that doesn't sound good in English. I figured Council or Union or something would work better. Thoughts? Also, the red stamp says "all of the Bombermen" inside, so I thought a more Western-style round stamp or a signature would work better. How about you guys?

Regarding the rest of the game, it's getting very close. The only stuff I'm aware of is the menu titles, the level names, and this certificate. Of course, I haven't played through the game so maybe there's Japanese later in the game, or the credits. I'm gonna watch a longplay to find out. Don't worry, the end is in sight!

[Pennywise]

Make a red bomberman silhouette stamp.

[svenge]

I'm not sure about the last bit. I know literally it means "all of the Bombermen", but that doesn't sound good in English. I figured Council or Union or something would work better. Thoughts?

I was thinking either "Bomberman Association" or "Bomberman Federation".

[Psyklax]

I was thinking either "Bomberman Association" or "Bomberman Federation".

They're good too. Really anything will do here. I'll make a decision at some point.

Make a red bomberman silhouette stamp.

Uh... why red? Unless it's just because the stamp is already red...

[goldenband]

Also, the red stamp says "all of the Bombermen" inside, so I thought a more Western-style round stamp or a signature would work better.

I kind of like (and immediately flashed on) the idea of a round stamp in the shape of a bomb with the letters "B.U." inside, but that's just me.

[Psyklax]

I kind of like (and immediately flashed on) the idea of a round stamp in the shape of a bomb with the letters "B.U." inside, but that's just me.

Well, that would certainly be more unique... but the original is more like a signature stamp that is common in Japan but not elsewhere. Still, I'm open to more suggestions on what to do.

Fancy an update? Go on then, here's a screenshot: I've just finished putting in the titles for the Normal Mode menus.



There's a whole bunch in the Config Mode section, so I've still got quite a few to add there, but once they're done, I'll be inching closer to the end. Just got to sort out the artistic details of the certificate, and of course, those level names.

[reyvgm]

Well, that would certainly be more unique... but the original is more like a signature stamp that is common in Japan but not elsewhere. Still, I'm open to more suggestions on what to do.

Fancy an update? Go on then, here's a screenshot: I've just finished putting in the titles for the Normal Mode menus.



There's a whole bunch in the Config Mode section, so I've still got quite a few to add there, but once they're done, I'll be inching closer to the end. Just got to sort out the artistic details of the certificate, and of course, those level names.

Please stay true to the original. Either keep the stamp as the original, or if you're going to localize it, then use the most common stamp used in english, which is either a round stamp with the letter "approved" or a round stamp with a checkmark.

[OrangeFrog]

I personally like the original stamp, if possible!

[maseter]

Keep it simple, just leave the stamp tiles blank.

[mushguy]

Well, that would certainly be more unique... but the original is more like a signature stamp that is common in Japan but not elsewhere. Still, I'm open to more suggestions on what to do.

Fancy an update? Go on then, here's a screenshot: I've just finished putting in the titles for the Normal Mode menus.



There's a whole bunch in the Config Mode section, so I've still got quite a few to add there, but once they're done, I'll be inching closer to the end. Just got to sort out the artistic details of the certificate, and of course, those level names.

Liking how it looks so far. Don't forget to include the shadows to the letters like in the original Japanese.

[Mattiac]

So stage 6 will be called "A song of ice" and stage 10 will be called "And fire"?

Well guys, I think it's time for an update!

I can't be bothered to give you any screenshots, just take my word for it that it's getting there. Almost all of the menus are done, as far as I can tell. There's a couple of things like the Bowling Bomber screen and the game over screen in Normal Mode, but I'll get to them soon enough. It's been a slow and laborious process, given the fact that each menu is different and I've been trying to deal with the compression. Add to that the lack of time I generally have, and you get the picture. But hey, nearly there.

I come here for a good reason, though. I've turned my attention to the names of the maps, and they're all stored in sprite form, which is weird but whatever. It looks like I have space to put an entire 16x16 alphabet to replace the existing characters, which is nice - I would use 8x16 but I don't think the SNES supports them (although I could just put 16x16 sprites really close together and overlapping... will have to give that a shot). So the question is about the names of the stages. Here are my best guesses thus far. I haven't made screenshots of them so if anyone could boot up the Gold Cartridge (for the 3 extra maps) and check these with me, that'd be great.

1   Normal
2   Big Conveyor
3   Roof Hide-and-Seek
4   Two Lights
5   Run Fast
6   Snow and Ice!
7   Turn Zegou?
8   Get on the Rail Car
9   Road Closed
10   Fire Dance
11   Strange Loop
12   Mechanical Conveyor
13   Incredible Rail Car

As you can see, the only one I'm not so sure about is 7: the turn verb is obvious but ゼゴー isn't. An internet search brings up a brand of cycling glasses called Zegho, but something tells me that might not be it. Any thoughts?

Those names will probably be tweaked in the final version, and I still haven't tried replacing the sprites yet. I still have to change the blue titles at the top of each menu, and I'm intentionally leaving them until last, since they're virtually pointless anyway. Still, once these little things are done, and those titles, then I suppose that's it. Oh, and then I need to try and apply everything I've done to the Gold Cartridge, since I've been working exclusively with the original retail version.

Feedback on level names appreciated! More updates still to come!

[darknior]

WOAW incredible, i'm a fan of this game, so cool to see some one translating it, thanks a lot

[Shade Aurion]

This looks great and Bomberman 5 is long overdue for a translation. I'll absolutely play the heck out of this <3

[Mattiac]

Perhaps Bombermaniacs, Bombermanglers, Bombermanhandlers, Bombermanagers, Bombermanslaughters or Bombermanliness?

How about a stamp with a thumbs up in it and the thumb could have a fuse like a bomb has, just for fun?

No, as we established, it's Turn and Go, or words to that effect. If you know Japanese, you'll know it has nothing at all to do with blocks.

Anyway, I thought I'd give you guys an update, mainly because I want some feedback on something. When you get a game over, you get a certificate with your 'clear rate' and a title. It looks like this:



I want some feedback on the best way to go about this. Here's my somewhat idiomatic translation:

CERTIFICATE OF ACHIEVEMENT
This certifies that your clear rate is
000%
and you are therefore recognised as
[Baby Bomber]
Bomberman Union [signature/stamp]

I thought of making a nice new graphic for the top part, and I'm not sure about the last bit. I know literally it means "all of the Bombermen", but that doesn't sound good in English. I figured Council or Union or something would work better. Thoughts? Also, the red stamp says "all of the Bombermen" inside, so I thought a more Western-style round stamp or a signature would work better. How about you guys?

Regarding the rest of the game, it's getting very close. The only stuff I'm aware of is the menu titles, the level names, and this certificate. Of course, I haven't played through the game so maybe there's Japanese later in the game, or the credits. I'm gonna watch a longplay to find out. Don't worry, the end is in sight!

[RadioTails]

Well, that would certainly be more unique... but the original is more like a signature stamp that is common in Japan but not elsewhere. Still, I'm open to more suggestions on what to do.

Fancy an update? Go on then, here's a screenshot: I've just finished putting in the titles for the Normal Mode menus.

The CONTINUE WHICH FILE? text doesn't flow very well in English. Most games would use something like: SELECT A FILE

What you have done so far is looking really good. I hear Super Bomberman 5 is really good.