Japan Team
In Japanese they're a reference to a saying and all that, but in English who cares.
Story
Rugal Mid-Story
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| The Japan Team? They use some interesting techniques. I would very much like to see them win the championship...ahahahah! | Japan team. They use interesting techniques. I would like them to win. Ha ha ha! |
So even though they did expand Rugal's lines for English, as you can see, it's still pretty stripped down compared to my translation. One bit that sticks out to me is that I naturally added a "the" to "Japan Team", but this isn't in the official translation. That and other bits of stilted English give the feeling this was translated by a non-native speaker, or was a quick pass to get the game out the door. Either way, SNK's legendary editor didn't touch this.
That said, all the information came over so nothing was particularly lost. It's just much more in line with standard arcade translations of the time.
Before Rugal
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Secretary: Congratulations on your victory. The tournament sponsor will certainly want to meet with you all. Please, come with me. | Secretary: Congratulations on your victory! The sponsor of the tournament welcomes you with open arms. He wishes to invite you... Please, follow me. |
| Benimaru: Huh? There's someone collapsed over there! | Benimaru: What?! Somebody is lying there. |
| Kyo: D-dad! Is that you, Dad? | Kyo: ! Dad! You're my Dad!! |
| Dad: Is..is that you, Kyo...? If you're here, then I guess you must've won the championship, huh... | Father: A..are you Kyo? I guess you've won, since you are here. |
| Kyo: What the heck are you doing here? | Kyo: Why are you here!? |
| Dad: I, too, am a fighter. It's natural to challenge the strong. But he was too strong... I regret not being able to watch you fight, but since it's you, I'm sure you'll win... | Father: I'm a fighter, too. It's natural for a fighter to challenge strong fighters. But, he was too strong... I'm sorry that I won't be able to see you fight. But I do believe you'll win... |
| Rugal: Hehehe... You're just a bit too late, it seems. | Rugal: Ha ha ...you've come too late.. |
| Benimaru: Who're you?! | Benimaru: Who the hell are you? |
| Rugal: My name is Rugal! I am the one who organized this tournament. But this is a wonderful day. I can add 4 bodies to my collection, after all! | Rugal: My name is Rugal. I'm the host of this tournament. What a wonderful day today is. I can add 4 new statues to my collection all at once! |
| Benimaru: Collection? | Benimaru: Collection? |
| Rugal: Look around you! These are the remains of those who challenged me and lost. And now, 4 more will join them! | Rugal: Look at the statues around you! These are the people who fought against me and lost. Today, 4 more statues will be joining them! |
| Kyo: Go ahead and try. But it's going to be you that joins them! | Kyo: I won't let you do such a thing! I'll put your statue here instead! |
| Rugal: Ahahahaha! Your father was pretty strong, but I think you'll show me an even better time! Well then, let me invite you to the battle stage! | Rugal: Ha ha ha... Your father was pretty strong. But I expect I can enjoy fighting with you more. So, let me take you to the battle stage. |
Whew!
First off, take a second to appreciate how damn much text there is here for an arcade game from 1994. This is RPG-level! And it's just getting started... (no I am not looking forward to 96 or 97)
You can also see how much easier it is to compress text in Japanese than in English. Saisyu's line, pictured, is a full two screens longer in English! Three lines of 13-14 characters each is not a lot, and SNK did what they could to make it easier on the poor translator. All in all, there are 10 more screens in English than in Japanese.
Like in the mid-story scene, the translation is stilted and literal to the point where sometimes I and the official translator were using the same phrasing. Nothing is particularly wrong, just...awkward. Like Kyo yelling "You're my Dad!" at the injured Saisyu.
Mid-fight
Rugal ripping his shirt off is the same for all characters, so it's on his page.
After Rugal
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Rugal: I-impossible! That I should be defeated-! | Rugal: I..impossible! How could I lose a battle.....!! |
| Benimaru: I knew it! We're number one! | Benimaru: We are no.1! I knew it! |
| Rugal: Heh, true enough... But I haven't lost yet! Drown in the ocean's depths! Farewell! | Rugal: Y..yes, indeed..... But I haven't really lost yet!! A watery grave awaits you! |
| Benimaru: Oh hell! Run for it! | Benimaru: Jesus! Let's get away! |
You can say whatever you want in the arcade, no one's going to stop you.
I'm less bummed about this not getting an English home port as I am the Super Famicom Art of Fighting 2 not coming over, but still. "Jesus!" is not something you expect to see in a video game in the US in 1994.
I really like "A watery grave awaits you!" Either a native went in and touched up one line, or the translator had a bolt of inspiration. Either way, it's good.
Ending
| My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|
| Benimaru: You're leaving? | Benimaru: Are you going? |
| Kyo: Yeah. I'm still a long, long way from where I want to be... | Kyo: Yeah. There is still a long long way to go.... |
| Daimon: I see, it's a difficult road ahead of you. | Daimon: Hmm... The road is rocky ahead! |
| Kyo: Well, you know! I'll go as far as I can! | Kyo: Well, I'll go as far as I can! |
| Benimaru: Next time we fight, I'll beat you good! | Benimaru: Next time, I'll be the winner! |
| Daimon: That's right! Keep up your training! | Daimon: Yes! You must train hard! |
| Kyo: Yeah, you too! | Kyo: You, too. Bye....! |
This is somewhat confused in the official translation. I suspect lack of context, because it's a vague conversation in Japanese too. The basic idea is that everyone is agreeing to train more for next year, but I always found it hard to tell until Benimaru comes right out and starts talking about winning next time. Until then it's like...is Kyo going home or what?
Other than that, it's once again so straight that sometimes the official translator and I ended up using the exact same phrasing. It's a coincidence, I swear.
Win Quotes
Kyo
| Team | My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|---|
| America | You lucked out! Just a little more and you would've been burned to a crisp! | This is too easy! |
| Brazil | How'd you like my fists? They burn even hotter than napalm! | My fists are burning. |
| China | You can't beat us with cheap tricks! Burn that into your mind! | Cheap tricks won't work! |
| England | You've got some good moves, but I saw them all coming! | Impressive, but I saw it coming! |
| Italy | Sorry, but we're going to win this tournament! | We'll be the champions! |
| Japan | Anyone that has the nerve to imitate us will get their just deserts! | That's the fate of a fraud! |
| Korea | My fists have a 1800 year history! You can't break them that easily! | My fists are hard to beat! |
| Mexico | That's it for Kyokugen karate! There's no martial art style in the world that can beat us! | This is the end of Kyokugenryu! |
The main part to notice about the win quotes is that they're shortened. Really shortened. Without the ability to just add extra screens, the translator had to go all out to squish the lines down. So while you can generally get the idea in English, the Japanese is considerably expanded. I especially noticed bit like Kyo talking about his flames being hotter than napalm vs the Ikari Warriors/Brazil, or talking about the history of the Kusanagi style vs Korea.
One interesting note: Kyo's line against the America Team seems to have been retouched in King of Fighters '94 Rebout. It's a one character switch in Japanese, but it changes "You lucked out!" ("that was some good luck!") to "Too bad!" ("that was some bad luck!"). Since they did change that, I'm not 100% on my reading here...maybe it comes off differently in Japanese and I'm missing something. As usual, grain of salt, I'm not a professional, etc.
That line is also the one that's most changed in English, to where it's hard to see where the English line comes from. Sure, it's something Kyo would say, but it has nothing to do with the Japanese! Mysterious.
Benimaru
| Team | My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|---|
| America | Victory with beauty and style. I wouldn't expect you guys to understand, though! | This is my style in battle. |
| Brazil | You're so rough! Relax a little! | Let's have more fun fighting! |
| China | You really thought you could win at your level? Don't make me laugh! | Did you think you could win? |
| England | Dresses suit you better than fights! | You'd look better in a dress. |
| Italy | My popularity is sure to rise even more after beating you! | Now I've got lots of fans! |
| Japan | There's no way you could imitate my strength or good looks! | My looks and power are true! |
| Korea | How'd you like my lightning? It's a real shocker! | You were shocked by my attack! |
| Mexico | So that's Kyokugen karate, huh. Well, it was fun enough! | I've quite enjoyed it! |
Again, the lines are more heavily edited than weird or made up like you usually expect out of SNK. There are a couple I'd like to point out, though.
Benimaru's line against America is so heavily cut down it misses the diss, which is a shame.
Against Italy he's saying that beating them up will make him even more popular, which is more implied in English.
Against Korea there's a bit of a pun in there. The word used can mean both shocked, as in by electricity, or excited/enthralled. "Shocker" isn't quite the right connotation, but it's pretty close. The English, by being so literal, drops this bit of wordplay.
The English grammar is weird (for America) on the Mexico line, and it makes me wonder what dialect of English was being used. Commonwealth?
Daimon
| Team | My translation | Official translation |
|---|---|---|
| America | My strength is that of the earth! | Be determined to win! |
| Brazil | A peaceful world is best! | A peaceful world is the best one! |
| China | Skill defeats strength! I'm sure you have the right stuff! | You can become much stronger! |
| England | Half-measures won't bring you victory! | You are obsessed by desires! |
| Italy | Work steadily and hard from now on! | Keep practicing hard! |
| Japan | I hate imitators....! | I hate copy cats! |
| Korea | Hmph! Pathetic! | Uhm, almost! |
| Mexico | You're as skilled as I thought! | A good fighter, as I expected! |
Daimon is a man of few words in Japanese, so his lines usually survived the translation better than his teammates'. Which makes the couple times they're not the same even more bewildering.
For instance, his line against America. The line is so simple that a Japanese 101 student could probably handle it by the end of the semester, which is why the fact it's nothing like the English line is so weird. That's not what he's saying, but this is KoF94! A game marked by very straightforward and literal translations!
The line against England is also strange for the same reasons. Usually in these circumstances you'd assume someone misread a kanji, but I don't see how you can get from one to the other even so.
The explanation for Korea is just that the Japanese word has multiple meanings and the translator and I picked different ones. Who's right? Hard to tell when anyone who would know has since left the company.
A note about China: you might recognize "Skill defeats strength!" as a part of one of Jubei's lines back in Fatal Fury 2. The reason is because it's a famous saying by the founder of judo, Kano Jigoro. As a result, you see it pop up all the time whenever there's a judoka around.