Gitaroo Man/Regional Differences

This is a sub-page of Gitaroo Man.

To do:

Europe and South Korea version differences
- English Flyin' To Your Heart in South Korean version
- Japanese sound effects in North American Collection illustrations were removed from EU/SK

Menu Differences

Title Screen

Japan	North America

The Japanese title logo has bolder colors and rougher, thicker outlines than the English logo. In addition, the year was removed from the North American version's copyright, and the rest of the copyright text was spread out more to compensate.

Main Menu

Japan	North America

A trippy animated wavy effect was added to the North American release.

Multiplayer Menus

Locked Characters

Japan	North America

In the Japanese version, not all multiplayer characters are available right away—some are locked behind a question mark. They can be unlocked by progressing through the game or loading a Gitaroo Man Wan save bonus.

In all other regions, as soon as a stage is unlocked, all multiplayer characters are immediately available. There, the question mark graphic is present but unused.

Miscolored P4 Marker

Japan	North America

In the North American version, after playing Nuff Respect with four players, the results screen's "P4" marker is mistakenly colored black instead of the usual light blue.

Collection

Japanese Name & Text Color

Japan	North America

The Japanese version shows names in English and Japanese, but the North American version has only English names. The Japanese version also has black description text, while the North American version has the text colored to match the background.

"Angel" Border

Japan	North America

The black border around the name "Angel" was made a little thinner in the North American version.

Pine & Bamboo Background Transparency

Japan	North America

In the pine and bamboo background graphics, the Japanese version has some square-shaped regions that weren't made properly transparent. This was fixed in the North American release.

Save/Load Menu

Colored Text

Japan	North America

This text for choosing a memory card is rather plain in the Japanese version. It was given color and a stylized font in the North American version.

Japan	North America

The same thing happened with this text, too. Also, the word "Please" appears twice in the English text; this is because the Japanese message uses the word for "save" or "load" depending on context, while the English message simply uses "Please" in both cases.

Yes/No/OK/Cancel

Japan	North America

In the North American version, these options have a different font, "Yes" is capitalized differently, and the highlighted words have much less of a glowing effect.

"BANK" Background

Japan	North America

When viewing save data, the background behind "BANK" continues the stripy orange-and-yellow pattern seen on the rest of the screen. For some reason, the North American version removed the yellow stripe from the top-right corner.

Character Names

Chibi-Kun

Japan	North America

Little-O is known as Chibi-kun in the Japanese version.

Kuma

Japan	North America

As might be expected, "kuma" is the Japanese word for bear.

Sanborn Trio

Japan	North America

In the Japanese version, Sanbone Trio is written as "Sanborn Trio."

Band Name

To do:

Is there any better way to transliterate "あにまーる。", like "Animaal"? Does it have any special meaning, such as a pun on a real band's name, or it is nothing more than "animal" with a dash?
- Possible clues (JP): About Anima–ru, Naming vote final result page, Naming vote in-progress pages & other pages linked there

Japan	North America

Yung, Noren, and Mr. Yasuda's are referred to as "bandmen" in their Japanese and English spoken descriptions. However, their band actually has a name in Japan: あにまーる。, which can be read as "Anima–l." This unfortunately did not carry over to the English translation.

Difficulty Modes

Japan	North America

Equivalent difficulty modes
	Japan	North America
Easiest mode	Easy	Normal
Harder mode	Normal	Hard

In the Japanese version:

The default difficulty is Normal mode.
The player can switch to Easy mode.

However, in the North American version:

The Japanese Easy mode was renamed to Normal. This became the new default.
The Japanese Normal mode was renamed to Hard.

All-Star Certificate

To do:
What are the criteria for unlocking this? All Collection items, including those only obtainable by loading Gitaroo Man Wan save data?

The All-Star Certificate is exclusive to the Japanese version. It is unlocked when...^{(details needed)}. When the criteria are met, then the next time Collection is opened, the game plays a special movie:

Against a background of joyous, triumphant music, glowing circles of color swirl and make way for a faint light. Then they all merge together, slowly growing brighter and brighter to reveal...

All-Star Certificate

Japanese	Translation
ミツル公(はむこう)認(にん)_(←ハム) 「オールスター認定書」あんたあ〜。すごくよくがんばってぜんぶ集めてくれて本当にありがとう。（ヒマなんだね…）そのがんばり●をさあべんきょうにむけりゃあよかったのにね…フフフいや、冗談やけど _{マジ冗談よ} （多分）_しかし本当に成績は大丈夫なのお～？お母さん心配だわよお〜グフ〜でアゴも光りました。キラリと _おわり。 _キラリ	Mitsuru's ~~Ham~~ Official Recognition_(←ham) ~All-Star Certificate~ Sup, my dude! Thanks a ton for working so hard to collect everything. (You've got a lot of free time, huh...) You probably shoulda taken that effort and put it towards your studies, instead... hehehe. Nah, I kid, I kid. _Really! (Maybe.) _but Seriously, though, your grades OK? Your mother is worried! Sniffle~ So, my chin shone too. Sparklingly so. _End. _shine

...a message from the game's artist, Mitsuru Nakamura (also known as 326). In the first line, the joke is that he messed up writing 公 (official), making it look like ハム (ham).

Scroll Icon

The scroll icon on the Japanese version's Collection screen.

GMAN certificate collection parts US.png

After the All-Star Certificate appears for the first time, a scroll icon with a △ button appears at the bottom-right corner of the Collection screen. From then on, pressing the △ button here will show the All-Star Certificate again. This scroll graphic is present but unused in the non-Japanese versions.

Gitaroo Man Wan Save Bonuses

Gitaroo Man Wan

The Japanese version has another exclusive feature: the ability to load save data from Gitaroo Man Wan, a maxi single-style demo that was sold only in Japan.

By playing Gitaroo Man Wan, the player can earn three Special Items and save them to a memory card. The save data can then be loaded in the Japanese version of Gitaroo Man to unlock some features:

Special Item	Earn Method	Unlocks in Gitaroo Man (Japan)
Pine	Pass the demo stage with grade A or higher	Master's Play (without having to beat the game) All multiplayer characters (without having to play through the game) Collection item: Gitaroo
Bamboo	Pass the demo stage with grade B or lower	Collection item: Puma (singing)
Plum (blossom)	Win the Donuts minigame	Collection item: Puma (pilot)

(In Japan, the pine, bamboo, and plum make up a three-tiered ranking system much like gold, silver, and bronze.)

Fortunately, even though non-Japanese copies of the game can't load Gitaroo Man Wan save data, all of the features above are still available one way or another. The Collection items and multiplayer characters are already unlocked when the game starts, and Master's Play can still be unlocked by beating the game.

Loading Gitaroo Man Wan Data

To do:
Are these messages still accessible via hacking in non-Japanese versions?

Japan	North America (unused translated message)

The Japanese Load menu will automatically load Gitaroo Man Wan save data if present. The message was translated to English for the North American version despite being unused.

Japan	North America (unused translated message)

If the Gitaroo Man Wan save data contains the Pine item, it will display this message after loading. This message was also translated to English for the North American version despite being unused.

This slightly creepy "Yeah!" plays with the message above. The sound effect, called MATSU ("pine"), is present but unused in the North American version.

Unlockable Collection Items

Japan	North America

In the Japanese version, three Collection items are initially locked behind icons of a pine tree, bamboo, and a plum blossom. They can only be unlocked by loading Gitaroo Man Wan save data that contains the matching Special Items. In non-Japanese versions of the game, these Collection items are already unlocked, and the three icons are present but unused.

Save Data Indicator

Japan	North America

Once the Special Items are loaded into Gitaroo Man, then upon saving the game again, the Special Item icons are added to the save data. These icons are present but unused in the North American version.

Button Actions and Icons

	Japan	North America
Confirm	○	✕
Cancel	✕	△

As with many PS2 games, the Confirm and Cancel buttons were changed for the North American release. These changes only affect menus, not actual gameplay.