List of regionally censored video games

Many video games have certain elements removed or edited due to regional rating standards. While, in the past, games were often toned down when translated overseas, in terms of violence, religious references, profanity, drug use, etc., when compared to their Japanese counterparts,^[1] in recent years Computer Entertainment Rating Organization (CERO), among other ratings organizations, have imposed harsher restrictions on violent games.^[2]

NES

• Bionic Commando - The game was renamed from Top Secret: The Resurrection of Hitler (ヒットラーの復活 トップシークレット, Hittorā no Fukkatsu: Toppu Shīkuretto), the character of Adolf Hitler was renamed "Master-D", the Nazis are renamed "The Badds" in-game (they're referred to as "The Nazzs" in the instruction manual) and all swastikas were edited into a German eagle insignia. However, Hitler's death scene in the game is still retained.^[3]
• Mother - Although never released outside of Japan, it was localized and planned for release in the United States. The localized prototype was near completion before the cancelled release. It was later bought by a collector and the ROM was released online. This localized version of the game featured several changes from the original. All references to religion were removed, and several battle sprites were edited to remove references to blood or tobacco.
• Ice Climber - International versions replaces seals with yetis.
• Narc - Drug references removed.
• Super Contra - Renamed "Super C" because Konami thought that the word Contra would be an offensive reference to the Iran-Contra affair.

Multiplatform

• Call of Duty: World at War - The game had difficulties in passing censors in some countries before it could go on sale. The German version of game has removed the gore and gibbing on shoot and explosions, the swastikas are replaced with iron cross and the Hitler in the Berlin pictures is replaced with Luftwaffe officer.
• Fallout 3 - The side quest "The Power of the Atom" was changed in the Japanese version to relieve concerns about depictions of atomic detonation in inhabited areas. In non-Japanese versions, players are given the option of either defusing, ignoring, or detonating the dormant atomic bomb in the town of Megaton. In the Japanese version, the character Mr. Burke has been taken out of this side quest, making it impossible to detonate the bomb.^[4] Also in the Japanese release, the "Fat Man" nuclear catapult weapon was renamed "Nuka Launcher", as the original name was a reference to the bomb used on Nagasaki.^[4][5]
• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - See Hot Coffee mod
• Indigo Prophecy - Sony and Microsoft had policies that they will never allow "Adults only" (AO) rated games on consoles. To earn a M rating from the ESRB, most of the scenes depicting sex (one of which is interactive) and other adult content were removed from the North American versions. An exception is the final sex scene between Carla and Lucas, which was not completely cut from the game due to its important role in the story, but was shortened by removing the more graphic shots and most of the visible nudity. Though one shot of nudity remains, in the edited version the angle that should have revealed Carla's fully naked breasts, the nipples were removed from her model skin, giving the appearance that the nipples were merely obscured from view, and thus avoiding any identifiable depictions of frontal female nudity.^[6]
• Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude - In the North American console versions, the game was censored to receive the ESRB M rating, while the PC version was released in both censored (M-rated) and uncensored (AO-rated) versions in North America. The European versions were uncensored on all three platforms it was released for.
• Resident Evil 4 - In Japan, all versions of Resident Evil 4 do not show decapitations or various other portrayals of gory death.
• Resident Evil 6 - Like Resident Evil 4, decapitations of enemies in game are not portrayed.
• Silent Hill Homecoming - The game had difficulties in passing censors in some countries before it could go on sale. The Australian classification board, the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC), refused to classify the game, due to "impact violence and excessive blood effects". The objectionable scenes included various body parts being drilled into, as well as the bisection of a character by an enemy. This had the effect of banning the game for sale in the country, and representatives for publisher Atari mentioned that they would be asking Konami to tone down the violence to allow the game to receive the needed MA15+ rating for its sale to be permitted in early 2009.^[7] The German version of the game was also postponed to 2009 in order for cuts to be made to pass the German censors.^[8]
• Saints Row IV - The Australian version of the game has had a mission removed in which characters steal and use alien drugs in order to give them stronger physical abilities. Portraying the use of illegal substances as a way to gain rewards is not permitted according to Australia's classification guidelines.
• South Park: The Stick of Truth - The European version of this game has all references to anal probing removed (there were 5). An abortion minigame was also cut. Ubisoft claimed that it was their decision to censor it.^[9]

GameCube

• Reign of Fire - NA version has been cut to receive T (unrestricted and for ages 13 and up) rating from ESRB, probably because the movie is rated PG-13. Meanwhile, the PS2 and Xbox versions are M, which is restricted to those ages 17 and up.

Game Boy Color

• Metal Gear Solid (Game Boy) - NA version does not depict nor reference smoking.

Nintendo 64

• Duke Nukem 3D - Many of the sexual references found in the PC Version have been either removed or toned down in the Nintendo 64 Version. The steroids have also been replaced with vitamins. Also some of the swear words have been either removed or edited as well. However much of the violence like the blood and gore have been kept intact overall.

• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - The red blood that Ganondorf has is removed in later versions and replaced with green blood to retain an E Rating in the United States. The Fire Temple chant was also removed in later versions of the game as it's a Muslim Chant referencing God. The crescent Moon symbol found on one of Link's shields and some blocks is also removed in later versions because it looks a lot like the symbol of Islam.

• Gex 3: Deep Cover Gecko - The North American version has been cut to obtain an E rating from the ESRB, unlike the PlayStation counterpart, which received a T rating.

• Super Smash Bros - Sounds affected altered in the North American and PAL Versions to be much more cartoony. The Japanese version featured much more realistic sound effects punches and kicks for each character. Possibly done so that the game could receive an E Rating in the United States.

• Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 - Blood is Removed from the Nintendo 64 version. Only 6 of the 16 songs found in the other home console versions of the game are featured. Some of the songs have been censored or cut down due to cartridge limitations. But the game still remains relatively the same as the other console ports.

PlayStation

• Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back - A death animation in which Crash is squashed into a stunned head and feet was altered for the Japanese version of the game due to its resemblance to the severed head and shoes left by a serial killer loose in Japan at the time.^[10]
• Um Jammer Lammy - A few lines and an entire cutscene were altered for the American release, such as references to cutting down trees in "Power off, Power on!", and going to hell in "Taste of Teriyaki". Any references to hell were changed, and instead of slipping on a banana peel (and subsequently dying), Lammy gets her waist stuck on a door, and it stretches very long to sling her to a tropical island.

PlayStation 2

• BMX XXX - A North American version of the game disables the ability to create naked customized riders.^[11]
• Parappa the Rapper 2 - In stage one, "Beard Burgers", the lyrics "Tastes better than wine" were changed to "You better get in line" in the North American version. Also, in stage three and six, every line that referred to Guru Ant as "The lord" were changed to "The man".
• Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht - Some level of sexual themes removed, most violence intact.
• Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse - A graphic scene with a young Albedo blowing his head off with a gun replaced with an energy ball. various other censorships.
• Xenosaga Episode III: Also sprach Zarathustra - All instances of blood removed. This was done for various reasons. It left the game with some odd scenes, with characters referencing blood that was not present in scenes anymore.

PlayStation 3

Some titles in the PlayStation 3 library have been censored according to the console hardware, resulting in consoles from certain regions directly altering game content, regardless of the region in which the game was produced.

• Beyond: Two Souls - The European version of the game is censored to keep the PEGI rating at 16 instead of 18. Two changes were made to the version, amounting to 5–10 seconds of gameplay.^[12]
• The Last of Us - The European release of the game is censored. The version doesn't feature dismemberment and exploding heads in the multiplayer mode.^[13]
• Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe - In order to ensure a T rating in North America, two Fatalities in the game were censored.^[14][15] In the United Kingdom version, both the Joker and Deathstroke's first Fatality feature them each finishing their opponent with a gunshot to the head, with each respective shot shown uncut from a distance. However, the North American version has the camera quickly pan toward the victor before the shot is fired, thereby cutting the victim out of the shot completely.^{[16][17][18][19]}
• Resistance: Fall of Man - Blood is removed from the game when played on Japanese consoles. Players can work around this by using an altered save file or copying save data from a North American console.^[20]
• Siren: Blood Curse - Blood Curse was released only via PlayStation Network, as a downloadable game in the United States. The United States version of this game has been heavily censored to receive "Mature" ESRB rating. Examples include: Extremely violent stabbing scene in the intro, which is omitted in U.S. version, by the way of applying shaky camera motion filters & altering the video angle itself. Scene where Seigo Saiga commits suicide by placing a .338 caliber hunting rifle in his mouth and blowing his head and brains out. Characters & enemies show significantly (in some places completely omitted) lower amount of blood splatter decals on skin, clothes, and face. (This also removes the ability to view realistic cut and slice wounds.) Scenes including Bella Monroe and Shibitos have been cut, due to her being a minor, which was deemed inappropriate by the rating board.
• Uncharted: Drake's Fortune - Blood is removed from the game when played on Japanese region PS3.^[20]

PC

• Command and Conquer Generals - Due to the game previously being banned in Germany, EA released a title-localized German version specifically for the German market called "Command & Conquer: Generäle", which did not incorporate real world factions or any relation to terrorism. For example, the "terrorist" suicide bomber unit was transformed into a rolling bomb and all other infantry units were changed into "cyborgs" in order of appearance and unit responses similar to earlier releases of the Command & Conquer franchise.^[21]
• Fallout and Fallout 2 - Children were removed from gameplay in the UK and German versions of the games. The graphical portrayal of character deaths is affected by the reduction of violence options in Game Options. Fan made patches are available to restore the European versions of the games to the same level as the uncut US version.
• Left 4 Dead 2 - In Australia, the game was originally banned due to the high levels of violence in the gameplay. Valve then submitted a 'censored' version of the game, which no longer contained images of "decapitation, dismemberment, wound detail or piles of dead bodies". The game received the MA15+ rating (the highest possible rating at the time in Australia), and was allowed to be released in the Australian Market.^[22] The German version is similarly censored.
• The Witcher - All the female portrait cards shown after Geralt's "sexual conquests" were censored ("retouched to a more modest standard") for the U.S. release version.^[23]

Xbox 360

• Gears of War 3 - Japanese version tones down certain scenes deemed too violent, despite the fact that the cut version obtained the restricted Z rating from CERO.

Super Nintendo Entertainment System

• Ballz 3D - The phrase "You gotta have Ballz" was replaced with "You gotta play Ballz".
• EarthBound - In the North American version, few of the game's materials been edited from the Japanese version. For example, Ness appears clothed in pajamas instead of appearing naked. References to death were less obvious, a punishment is changed from spanking to loss of dessert, the phrase "Die and go to Hell" is replaced with "I'll smash your guts out!". However, this occurred after the ESRB was introduced, which was when Nintendo started to loosen their censorship rules. A red cross on hospital signs were removed to avoid any possible conflict with the Red Cross Organization, which registered the symbol as a trademark in some countries.^[24] The game was originally rated by ESRB as "K-A" (former rating equivalent of "E"), but despite the Wii U Virtual Console rerelease in 2013 retained these alterations and not being uncensored, the game has been re-rated as "T".
• Final Fantasy IV - In the North American version, references to Christianity were altered or removed from the game, as well as certain images. The magic spell Holy has been renamed White. All references to prayer are eliminated; the Tower of Prayers in Mysidia is renamed the Tower of Wishes (though the White Mage in the tower still calls it "Tower of Prayers"); and Rosa's Pray command is absent. Direct references to death are omitted, although several characters clearly die over the course of the game. Anything considered too risqué has been censored, such as bikinis on town dancers (replaced by leotards). The Programmers' Room special feature (in which the player can find a pornographic magazine) has been removed.^[25] New promotional character art was made for published previews.^[26]
• Final Fight - The game's first two bosses, Damnd and Sodom, were renamed Thrasher and Katana respectively (those names was also used in the SNES version of Street Fighter Alpha 2 despite the game released after ESRB was formed); Belger's wheelchair was redrawn to look like an office chair; Poison and Roxy, two transgender enemy characters,^[27] were replaced with two male enemies named Billy and Sid;^[28] all alcoholic references were removed, with two health-recovering items replaced; the line "Oh! My God", spoken by an enemy when his car is destroyed during the first bonus stage, was changed to "Oh! My Car"; the blood splash effect shown when a character is stabbed is replaced by a generic explosion.^[29]
• Mortal Kombat - Due to Nintendo's "Family Friendly" policy, the SNES version replaced the blood with sweat and most of the fatalities with less violent "finishing moves".^[30]
• Street Fighter Alpha 2 - Much like Final Fight Sodom's name was once again changed to Katana on the character select screen. Swearing was also removed from some of the character's victory quotes. Also the blood was wiped clean from this version in cutscenes. However, like Earthbound, Alpha 2 was released after the formation of the ESRB and once Nintendo cut back on censorship.
• Super Castlevania IV - Japan version has blood dripping on title screen. The tombstone in the opening cinematic doesn't have the cross showing in the American version. Some of the statues in the game also have bare breasts showing. They were covered up in Western Versions.
• Super Mario RPG - Bowser's Middle Finger pose was changed for Western releases to be much less offensive, as this is considered a very obscene gesture in Western Territories.
• Wolfenstein 3D - North American version contains no blood, enemy dogs (replaced with rats), Nazi references, swastikas, and references to Hitler (renamed Stetmeister).
• Zombies Ate My Neighbors - All depictions of blood and gore in the North American version are removed or changed to purple ooze.^[31] Censorship committees in several European Nations censored more by having the game renamed to Zombies and made other changes including the replacement of the chainsaw-wielding enemies with lumberjacks wielding axes.^[32]

Wii

• No More Heroes - In the versions released in PAL territories and Japan, blood spatter is removed. Decapitation scenes are implied, but not shown. Scenes of missing body parts after having been cut off, are replaced with the same scene, but showing the body parts fully intact.

References