I’ve mentioned on several occasions that my family lived in Japan for a few years, thus my first games console was not an NES but a Famicom. I grew up playing the Japanese versions of famed Nintendo classics, and it was only once we moved to the States and I visited friends’ homes that I realized just how different my experiences had been.

So many things I thought I knew were flipped on their head.Mega Man 2? I never had an option to select difficulty.Batman? The first and second level themes were swapped.Battletoads? I started with five lives instead of three and the Turbo Tunnel was actuallyeasier.

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Then there wasSuper Mario Bros. 3. I played that game to death and never thought for a second that I was actually having a tougher time than my American buds. When you take damage while carrying a power-up in the US version, you revert to big Mario. In the Japanese version, it’s right back to little Mario. There are some other subtle differences as well that I was unaware of until this video, but I’ve been privy to that first bit since I was a young lad.

Super Mario Bros 3 English VS Japanese Comparison (USA Vs Japan) on the NES & Famicon Game Console[YouTube viaGoNintendo]

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