Everyone else, plus the intro. Basically just vs mode win quotes...those are the interesting ones anyway.
Intro
I wasn't sure where else to put this.
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Ryo Sakazaki. To rescue his kidnapped sister, he heads to the dangerous streets of Southtown... | Ryo Sakazaki, to find his kidnapped sister... goes into the dangerous South Town. |
| Robert Garcia. Ryo's good friend and rival. He goes with Ryo to Southtown. | Robert Garcia, a friend and rival of Ryo. Goes to South Town with him. |
| The one awaiting them in Southtown is... | Who is awaiting them in South Town ? |
...and it's mostly here for completion's sake. This is pretty typical for AoF1's story mode, with a literal translation and stilted phrasing. It reminds me of Fatal Fury 2, but not quite enough that I can say the same person worked on both.
One thing that stands out is the awkward spacing after Ryo's name. It suggests they wanted to lay it out like the Japanese but changed their minds at the last minute. Space concerns? The layout in Robert's screen is a bit careless as well.
Besides the translation, it's interesting that Ryo and Robert are explictly not from Southtown here. They seem to have moved there in AoF2...I can understand Takuma ending up settling down there, but I'm surprised the Garcias went with.
Ryuhaku Todoh
He gave us Kasumi, that's worth something.
VS Mode Win
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Is there no one strong enough to fight me? | No one's as strong as me. What a bummer! |
Right off the bat we see some classic SNK here. This is definitely the work of whoever set the style going forward.
The big standout is "bummer", which is slang that doesn't fit Todoh at all. The entire line is made more informal compared to the Japanese, another SNK hallmark. For reference, Todoh talks exactly like you think he does in Japanese: old-fashioned martial arts dude
That said, the line itself has the same meaning and intent as the Japanese.
Incidentally, see that "waiting for a challenger" text above the continue countdown? That's a straight translation of the equivalent Japanese text. Which is interesting, because either the usual vs mode translator didn't feel like punching it up or the regular story mode translator did it. VS mode was pretty obviously added on after SNK realised that the SFII revolution wasn't a passing thing, so I'm assuming the former, but who knows.
It's also interesting that the text was in Japanese in the first place. Usually it was in English to start with.
Jack Turner
Is there anything interesting to say about this guy in AoF1?
VS Mode Win
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Anytime you want the great Jack to do you in, just bring it on! | Take on, moi? I'll blow you away! |
I had trouble with this one, so as always, corrections welcome.
And like the rest of the vs quotes, they're mostly the same idea, just phrased...oddly.
"Moi" is certainly a way to handle ore-sama, which is a very masculine and self-aggrandizing pronoun...except it just makes Jack sound like Miss Piggy. Miss Piggy rules and all, but it doesn't have the same connotations.
...it theoretically could be calling back to Miss Piggy even so, since she is known for being...high-handed, but it's also possible the translator was just working off the stereotype she originated from. It's really hard to tell from here. I don't think it works for a working class tough guy like Jack either way, but hey.
The "I'll blow you away!" seems like it's just some rephrasing of the rest of the line. Except it also sounds kind of weird in the context of a street fight, or is that just me? Maybe if it was a gunfight, but since this is a fighting game it makes me think of like, wind powers or something. But it's not completely out there.
Finally, welcome to "figure out how to rephrase 'bring it on' six times without sounding repetitive" theatre.
Lee Pai Long
Most of his lines are weird laughter, which makes my job a lot easier.
VS Mode Win
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Hee hee hee. Who's the next one? | Yee hee hee. Who's next? |
Yep.
Japanese has a lot of different forms of laughing that may or may not say something about the character. We have a few different ways in English, but not as many. Both the official translator and I went with "hee hee" to sound like a monkey. So you know.
King
You can tell she's cool because they named an entire series after her later.
VS Mode Win
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Now, come at me. I'll show you how a pro fights. | Come on, weeniemeister. I'll show you my stuff. |
I said that Fatal Fury Special was the first time infamous SNKglish insult "weenie" appears, and I stand by that.
But weeniemeister is incredibly powerful and I'd be remiss not to make a note of it here. Though it didn't have the longevity of its shorter brother, it's a fine place to start and we'd all be poorer without it. Let us acknowledge it here, at the beginning of the journey.
Besides that choice, the official translation drops King bragging about being a pro. Kind of sad.
Mickey Rogers
Man, can you imagine trying to be a tough underworld boxer named Mickey? Maybe that's why he took up boxing, so he could knock out anyone that made fun of his name.
VS Mode Win
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Who's next? Tch, I'll crush you in seconds! | Ha! Who's next? I'll knock your block off you bozo! |
Needs a vocative comma before 'you bozo'. Incidentally, it seems that no one is entirely sure where the term bozo comes from, with there being a bunch of vague theories. Bozo the Clown came into being after the term was already known, but he's probably the most famous bozo out there.
It's kind of interesting how AoF1, being the first, means that things are noticeably more restrained than later SNK games. This is a really mild punch-up, barely worthy of the term. If it wasn't for the bozo this would be pretty normal.
John Crawley
Slightly interesting in how many different ways his last name gets romanized.
VS Mode Win
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Hey, you! If you hate me so much, try to beat me! | What ya lookin' at? If you wanna start somethin', let's do it! |
I am fairly uncertain about this one, so corrections welcome.
The official translator really tried to play up Crawley sounding rough, which does match his Japanese voice, but it's kind of weird when they never really tried for anyone else. It's a good thing to try, but it stands out against everything else. Especially compare to Mickey up there.
I can sort of see where they got the official line from the Japanese, but it's kinda vague. I don't know if the official translator was guessing, if I'm misreading the Japanese, or if they just decided to throw some extra polish on Crawley for some reason. It's very mysterious.
Mr. Big
Can't even fucking jump.
VS Mode Win
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Tch, your skills are weak! Isn't there anyone stronger around? | What a wimp! I didn't even work up a sweat! Next! |
Also a bit uncertain about this one.
My own weak skills aside, this is a pretty straight translation. Again, the English line has been punched up a bit without going overboard. It drops Mr. Big looking for someone stronger to fight, choosing to emphasize how the previous opponent wasn't any trouble.
Story Mode Win
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Yuri? That girl? That's right... By now she's almost done climbing the stairway to heaven! | Yuri, about that girl. She's almost done climbing the stairway to heaven. |
No, he is actually saying that. I didn't believe it either.
Mr. Karate
Abandons his children to pursue vengeance, ends up in debt to a random different gangster, guards his kidnapped daughter for some reason, never actually figures out who killed his wife. What a guy.
VS Mode Win
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Come at me anytime...if you don't value your life! | Come on! I'm gonna cure you of the disease called life. |
"Disease called life" also shows up in Fatal Fury Special, which was my first indication that it was likely the same person worked on both games. One of the interesting parts of this project is being able to trace translation styles through the various games, so I'm always on the lookout for stuff like that.
English version pumps Mr. Karate up from a warning to a threat, but the general idea is the same. He speaks about how you'd expect him to in Japanese (manly old martial arts dude) so the 'gonna' in the English feels a bit off, much like bummer for Todoh. But you know.