Sherlock Holmes English Patch Released! SWAT Moves into Production

Psyklax and I have released an English language translation patch for Sherlock Holmes: Hakushaku Reijou Yuukai Jiken a.k.a. Sherlock Holmes: The Kidnapped Countess for the Nintendo Famicom. This game is notorious for it's unforgiving difficulty, and is ranked the 4th hardest game on the NES.

According to the readme the game is an "arcade-style action game with puzzle elements". The game is described as follows: "The object of the game is to defeat seven bosses in different cities, and input a final password to access the last level. You also need to get your rating to 100% before you can complete the game. To find the bosses, you need to get information from NPCs by attacking them. The way to get the final password is by finding clues for your notebook and interpreting them based on information you receive: the sixteen clues are found by using your magnifying glass on certain objects. The magnifying glass and notebook also must be found, along with other items that are necessary to complete the game."

Our hope is that with this English translation patch for Sherlock Holmes: The Kidnapped Countess, and perhaps a guide and some cheats, more people will be able to find some enjoyment from this historically frustrating title only released in Japan.

In other news, the script for SWAT on the NES/Famicom is complete, and the project has moved into production. Psyklax will be taking a look at the technical work required for an English language patch. Hopefully I'll be able to post an update with more information in the future.

Also, my co-conspirators at Dynamic Designs have been hard at work on Ranma 1/2: Chougiranbuhen, a.k.a Ranma 1/2 Hard Battle 2: Super Move Hustle. I fully translated the script and was able to get it inserted and edited with the help of Bongo`. From there, Taskforce has done an awsome job of editing all of the game's Japanese text graphics, of which there are many, and Bongo` has assisted in ensuring they all insert without issues. Taskforce has also made a custom font, and is in the process of editing the script to accomodate the change in space taken up by the English lines of text.

The Ranma 1/2 Hard Battle 2: Super Move Hustle English language translation project is nearing completion. Keep an eye out for a release in the near future.