Metroid Database.com

Today saw the release of an English translation patch for Yoshio Sakamoto's Game Boy game, Kaeru no tame ni kane wa naru (For the Frog the Bell Tolls). The game was a collaboration between Sakamoto-san and Toru Osawa, who said in an interview I recently translated that he created Kid Icarus more or less by himself. The translation patch was largely the work of ryanbgstl, who created an editor and spent long hours playtesting the game to ensure it worked.

For the Frog the Bell Tolls is the story of two friend and rival princes, the impetuous, but good-natured Prince of Sable, and the valiant Prince Richard of Custard, and their quest to rescue the beautiful Princess Tiramisu, who's kingdom has been overrun by the evil Croakian army. The game features simple platforming and RPG action. The RPG system is so simple (experimental?) in fact that they removed combat entirely, leaving the Prince of Sable to humorously fight in a dust cloud with no need for combat input from the player! The Prince powers up by collecting magical stones and buying items from the shop. The game's engine was later used to create Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, and some of the characters (specifically Prince Richard) have cameo appearances in that game.

The most beautiful part of the game though is its story, which is a wonderful mix of dark humor from Sakamoto-san and Osawa-san that demonstrates the duo's storytelling abilities. The story takes an unexpected twist when the Prince of Sable purchases a magical potion that can help him defeat Delarin, the king of the Croakians... With a blend of fairy tale, pop culture, and self-critique (part of the story involves a trek to visit "Nantendo Headquarters" to find the "latest version of an old product"), it's a cute romp through a game that never made it to foreign shores. This is probably due mainly to the bizarre gameplay system that is unusual even today as well as some distinctly Japanese cultural references that were localized quite well here. An attempt had been made in the late 90s to create a Game Boy Color version of this game, but the project was cancelled for unknown reasons.

Playing the English patch of For the Frog the Bell Tolls requires the patch, a copy of the Japanese ROM (please don't ask here for it) and a Game Boy emulator. It's well-worth checking out this lost classic from the creator of Metroid.

Until next time...
Captain Commando