Dave Shadoff is a PC Engine developer who has been working behind the scenes for decades, researching the platform’s hardware and sharing his findings with other developers. He has also aided translators and has published a number of translated ROMs himself. He is currently working on MiSTer’s FPGA core.
Recently, on the SmokeMonster Elite Discord, Ray Commend asked if it would be possible for someone to make a ROMhack for the Japanese exclusive Ninja Gaiden [Ninja Ryuuken Den], which includes a hidden English translation that can be accessed by holding I+II+select at the main menu. Ray noted that this English translation is exclusive to the PC Engine, and is not the same as the NES release. Dave Shadoff was in the chat and responded with a new patch that does exactly that.
After applying the patch, Ninja Gaiden launches in English automatically. It’s a simple hack that may surprise those who have been playing the game in Japanese for years without realizing that English was an option. Get the patch here, and apply it to the No-Intro’s Ninja Ryuuken Den with an IPS patcher like FLIPs.
I showed the patch off in a recent stream:
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