Rhythm Heaven Fever/Regional Differences

This page or section needs more images. There's a whole lotta words here, but not enough pictures. Please fix this.

To do: Compare Korean images with the international images. source:http://imgur.com/a/z3nSm/all Improve translations for Police Call

Because of its heavy reliance on verbal language and different management between the localization teams, Rhythm Heaven Fever had to go through a number of changes when it was brought outside of Japan. This included the re-balance of certain rhythm timing, the replacement of entire minigame, and (in the Korean version's case) their own cultural localization as well.

Wii Home Menu Channel & Save Data Banners

Like most other Wii games, the region's appropriate logo and background is used for the game's Wii Home Screen Channel Banner. This also applies to the Save Data Icon and Save Data Banner.

Wii Channel Banners

Japan	North America
Europe	Korea

On the Wii System Menu screen, when the game's disc is inserted, the effects for the Japanese, North American, and Korean version's banners are colored firework-like circles. The European version changes these to colored sound waves, to better match up with its logo.

Japan	North America
Europe	Korea

When the Disc Channel is selected, the banners for each region are different. Japan and Korea's versions use a rainbow-striped background, the North American version uses an orange and blue-striped sunburst background, and the European version uses an yellow and orange-striped sunburst background. The copyright text is also different for each region as well.

Save Data Icon

Japan / Korea	North America	Europe

On the Japanese and Korean version's Save Data Icons, Marshal/Matt was given a white outline and the stars are white. The North American version's icon removes the white outline around him and has three yellow stars instead of two, and the European version's icon has the black stars moved slighty closer to his outline.

Save Data Banner

Japan	North America
Europe	Korea

The region's appropriate background and logo are different for each version's Save Data Banner.

Title Screen

Japan	North America
Europe	Korea

The North American version's title screen has slightly different outlines for the bubble characters compared to the Japan and Korean versions, while the European version gets an entirely new logo to compensate for its name change.

Language Toggle

International	Europe

Exclusive to European versions is a new voice selection option seen in the file select screen. This option toggles the sound effects and music between their Japanese and English counterparts. This option would later appear in international versions of Rhythm Heaven Megamix, although not without certain caveats.

Save File Labels

The European version changes "Pal" to "Grandson", and "You" to "Cousin".

Rhythm Games

Screwbot Factory

Japanese	International

The Japanese version labels the robot arm with "安全第一" ("Safety First"). This was removed in international versions.

Ringside

Japan	International

The "YONE" text (referring to the game's sound director, Masami Yone) was removed from the star pattern on the background in international version. The stars were centered to compensate.

International	Korea

The Korean version changed the red and yellow background of the wrestler's pose to orange and yellow, most likely to avoid resemblance to Japan's rising sun flag.

Packing Pests

• In the Japanese version, the bonus cash has kanji on it. In the North American version, a dollar sign is used. The European and Korean versions use the word for "PAY" in their respective languages.
• In the Japanese version, the signs on the walls are written vertically. In the international versions, they are written horizontally.
• The "Spider-Free Candy" sign reads "Quality Control" in the European version. Curiously enough, in Rhythm Heaven Megamix, the "Spider-Free Candy" sign is used in both the North American and European versions.

Samurai Slice

International	Korea

Much of the character designs for this game and its sequel had to be altered in Korea to scrub out the references to Japanese culture, dressing all the characters in traditional Korean attire, and inverting the background colors of the superb image.

Exhibition Match

Japan	North America	Korea

The North American version changed the logo at the bottom from "Batting Show" to "Batting Exhibition", and in the Korean version, the logo was translated into Korean as "batting show".

Donk-Donk

In the Japanese version of the game, the player figure is labeled "You". In other versions, outside of the practice mode, this text doesn't appear.

Bossa Nova

Japanese	International

The Japanese version positions the text on the right side of the screen and is read vertically, while it is at the top and horizontal in the international releases.

Shrimp Shuffle

International	Korea

The Korean version changes the prologue's background colors from shades of pink to shades of yellow, once again to likely remove the rising sun reference.

Japan	International

The epilogues in the Japanese version all have the letter C in the background, due to the fact that Shrimp Shuffle is largely based around a word-play joke; The backwards jump cue "A, B, C!" can be both interpreted as the first three letters of the English alphabet, or as "Ebi Sea", meaning "Shrimp Sea". This joke even extends to the epilogue text itself, which all have the letter C in place of the Japanese character "shi". This pun wouldn't really work well in other languages, so all references to it were removed in International versions. The C in the backgrounds were all turned into circles.

(Source: Rhythm Heaven Wiki)

International	Korea

The Korean version changed the background's red color to blue, again to avoid a resemblance to Japan's rising sun. The colors were also made a bit brighter.

Cheer Readers

Japan	North America
Europe	Korea

In a likely effort to simplify localization, the European version replaced the "BOOK" labels from the books, with four circles. The main game font was given transparency in the European version, while the Korean version changed the font to a두리둥실.

Karate Man

Japan	International

Oddly, the song's key was lowered by three semitones in the International version, a change that persisted for both its sequel and its section in Remix 10. This change was retained in Rhythm Heaven Megamix. Also, the song's title was re-named. In the Japanese version, it's called "Kanashimi no Squall" ("Squall of Sorrow"). In the international versions, it's called "Lonely Storm".

Night Walk

The song used here was re-named. In the Japanese version, it's called "Bokura no Sedai!" ("Our Generation!"). In the international versions, it's called "Dreams of Our Generation".

Samurai Slice 2

Japan	North America
Europe	Korea

Like with the original, the Korean version alters the character designs to remove references to Japanese culture, although this time presents a considerably less drastic change that only affects the samurai. Aside from that, the background was altered between versions, with the sign reading "Music" in the Japanese and Korean version, "Live Music" in the North American version, and "Jazz" in the European version. The sign additionally had a martini glass symbol beneath it in the Japanese version that was removed in all other versions.

Working Dough 2

International	Korea

Lady Dough's design was changed in the Korean version, where she now wears a pink dress with a long ribbon on her back. Her hair has also been slightly changed.

Karate Man 2

Japan	International

Like before, the song's key was lowered in International versions.

Remixes

Remix 3

The song used here was re-named. In the Japanese version, it's called "I Feel Fine!!". In the international versions, it's called "Tonight".

Remix 4

International	Korea

The guard from the Try Again rating screen was changed in the Korean version, where he wears black and white clothes and a hat, and wields a baton instead of a jitte.

Remix 8

The song used in this Remix was re-named. In the Japanese version, it's called "I love you Watashi no Kimi". In the International versions, it's called "I Love You, My One And Only".

Remix 9

Japan	North America
Europe (Japanese)	Europe (English)

The North American version adjusted the Tambourine section to better match the translated lyrics, specifically with the third beat being shifted forward by an 8th. Interestingly, despite having both Japanese and English versions of the song, the European version's Tambourine sections always uses their North American patterns. The "Hit 3!" graphic that was strangely missing from the first and last Karate Man segments in international versions has also been added to the European version.

The song used in this Remix was also renamed. In the Japanese version, it's called "Yagate Onna wa Kirei ni Naru Darou" ("Woman Is Going To Be Beautiful Soon"). In the international versions, it's called "Beautiful One Day".

Remix 10

Japan	America/Europe (Not English)	Korea/Europe (English)

The titles of all remixes change between versions. For example, Remix 10 is called "10th Remix" in Korean and European English, "１０ｔｈ　リミックス" in Japanese, and "Remix 10" in all other languages/versions. There are also some visual changes in the backgrounds of the prologues.

Extra Games

Power Calligraphy

International	Korea

The International version's prologue features a man wearing a kimono, which was changed to a red jeogori and a gat in the Korean version.

International	Korea

The face at the end had its ear changed from a る to a 3. This change subsequently affects the animation and the sound effect.

Endless Games

Changed Endless Game

Manzai (Japan)	Mr. Upbeat (International)

In the Japanese version, the Endless Game unlocked by earning 32 medals is a game called Manzai. The game consists of a traditional Japanese comedic duo, the boke (who does stupid actions) and the tsukkomi (who points out the absurdity of the situation and makes exaggerated angry reactions). Here, the boke tells increasingly stupid jokes, relying heavily on puns, while the player takes the role of the tsukkomi with two actions: Pressing A makes him say "Hai! Hai!" ("Yes, yes!"), and pressing A+B for getting annoyed when the boke is done telling his stupid joke, signaled by the boke's "Boing" cue. The goal is to entertain an audience by picking the appropriate reactions.

Because of the numerous heavy puns from the dozens of jokes used here, as well as the specific cultural context of Manzai itself, translating this game would have been nigh impossible. As such, instead of rewriting the jokes, the developers decided to replace this completely with Mr. Upbeat, lifted from Rhythm Tengoku. This change is also reflected in the Endless Remix.

Interestingly, it seems Manzai was originally considered to be included in the international versions of the game, as one piece of text, the game's title, was translated:

Comedians

No other unused or Japanese-exclusive text was translated, contributing to this idea.

A transliteration has been provided which shows that the puns are based largely on the pronunciation of the words in question.

Boke's Joke	English Translation	Explanation/Transliteration
布団が吹っ飛んだ	The futon blew off.	Futon ga futtonda
ミカンがみっかんない	I can't find any mandarin oranges.	Mikan ga mikkannai
お金はおっかねい	Money is scary.	Okane wa okkanai
雨ってあめえ	Rain is sweet.	Ame tte amee
ラクダは楽だ	Camels are comfortable.	Rakuda wa raku da
梅ってうめい	Plums are delicious.	Ume tte umee
紅茶を凍っちゃう	I'll freeze the tea.	Kocha wo kotchau
カエルが振り返る	The frog looks over its shoulder.	Kaeru ga furikaeru
カレーが辛れえ	Curry is spicy.	Karee ga karee
思いのほか重い	It's unexpectedly heavy.	Omoi no hoka omoi
遅れず来ておくれ	Come without being late.	Okurezu kite okure
トイレに行っといれ	Go to the bathroom.	Toire ni ittoire
相手に逢いて	Meet your partner.	Aite ni aite
イクラはいくら？	How much is the salmon roe?	Ikura wa ikura?
草がクサイ	The grass stinks.	Kusa ga kusai
廊下で語ろうか？	Shall we speak in the hall?	Rouka de katarouka
プリンがたっぷりん	There's a lot of pudding.	Purin ga tappurin
チャイナに行っちゃいな	He went to China.	Chaina ni ittchaina
スイカは安いか？	Is the watermelon cheap?	Suika wa yasuika?
イカが怒った	The squid got angry.	Ika ga okotta
タイに行きたい！	I want to go to Thailand!	Tai ni ikitai!
トナカイは大人かい？	Are the reindeer adults?	Tonakai wa otonakai
サルが去る？	Is the monkey leaving?	Saru ga saru?
サイを見なさい！	Look at the rhino!	Sai wo minasai
鯛が食べたい！	I want to eat a sea bream!	Tai wo tabetai
太陽が見たいよう	It looks like the Sun wants to see.	Taiyou ga mitaiyou
メガネには目がねえ	There's no "eye" in "eyeglasses."	Megane ni wa me ga nee
鮃が閃いた	The flounder undulated.	Hirame ga Hirameita
お餅の気持ち	The feelings of a rice cake.	Omochi no kimochi
鶏肉が取りにくい	Chicken meat is hard to get.	Toriniku ga torinikui
電話に出んわ	He's not answering the phone.	Denwa ni denwa
魚かな、まさかな	Don’t tell me that's fish?	Sakana kana masakana
猫が寝転んだ	The cat lay down.	Neko ga nekoronda

The tsukkomi's reactions, however, are much easier to translate:

Tsukkomi's Reaction	English Translation
はい！はい！	Yes! Yes!
どないやねん！	What's wrong with you!?

(Source: http://rhythmheaven.wikia.com/wiki/Manzai (boke's phrases and translations))

(Source: Bast (corrections to some of the above translations))

Game Number (Medals Needed)

This change in minigame caused the order of the Endless Games list to be switched around, most likely because Mr. Upbeat was the first Endless Game that can be unlocked in Rhythm Tengoku. It was thus made the first Endless Game unlockable for the International versions of this game.

Minigame Name	Japan	International
Mr. Upbeat	N/A	1 (3 Medals)
Wake-Up Caller	1 (3 Medals)	2 (11 Medals)
Munchy Monk	2 (11 Medals)	3 (23 Medals)
Lady Cupid	3 (23 Medals)	4 (32 Medals)
Manzai	4 (32 Medals)	N/A

Rhythm Toys

Police Call

Japan	International

Japanese	Transliteration	International
てんけん	Tenken	SEESAW
ねたばらし	Netabarashi	BOUTS
しあいみせて	Shiai Misete	MATCH
さむらいごるふ	Samurai Gorufu	GOLFHERO
とりのたんばりん	Tori no Tanba rin	BIRDS
すたっふ	Sutaffu	STAFF
おもいきりそくてん	Omoikiri sokuten	SPIKE
きわまるたくみわざ	Kiwamaru Takumi waza	CLOCKWORK
まさにべつもの	Masani betsu mono	POSITIVE
きみをあいしつづける	Kimi o aishi tsudzukeru	AFLOAT
えがおがうまれる	Egao ga umareru	FEED

In addition to the Easter Eggs having different codes, the phone itself was changed to be in English, too.

Since Manzai was replaced in International versions, the phone call in the International versions was changed to Rhythm Fighter's music overlaid with sound effects from various Rhythm Games.

(Source: A special thanks to T.J. Snapper for the Korean images.)