My Personal Top 20 Japanese Video Game Commercials

Having translated thousands of Japanese game commercials over the years, here is my selection of the very best 20 of them. Of course, several dozen were most difficult to leave off the list. The top picks being almost completely dominated by Nintendo and Capcom, it's hard to deny those two companies put out some of the very best commercials, not to mention greatest video games in history. That's not to say there's a far more diverse array of commercials from other publishers worth watching...future articles shall give them their well deserved due. Enjoy, and feel free to add your own favorites in the comments!

20. Final Fight 2 (Hagger Slam!) (Super Famicom)

Set to Nakamura Ayumi's energetic 'Midnight Hallelujah,' Hagger and his new crew help each other take out the returning Mad Gear goons. Capcom was eager to move beyond the bizarre decision for a single-player only mode in the predecessor, as the commercial emphasizes the two-player simultaneous ability and the tag line 'You can't go at it alone.'

19. Resident Evil 2 (George Romero) (PlayStation)

Directed by George Romero, this 15 second ad perfectly translated the look and feel of Resident Evil 2's zombie infested police station into a movie, shotgun blasting away the campy acting within the prequel and later string of bizarre movie attempts.

18. Super Mario Bros 2 USA (Famicom)

From the start, you just know Birdo's up to something. After finishing her spiel, she can't help but suddenly launch an egg at the camera! Just as many kids were unexpectedly terrified by the flying Mask Gate and Phanto while playing Mario 2, this is one of Nintendo's most unassumingly frightening commercials. 

17. Pikmin 2 (Song) (GameCube)

Cute and charming, yet offering an obvious hint of gruesome death with each lyric, Pikmin 2's clay-mation ad perfectly conveys the easily misunderstood genius and commentary on both animal and human nature found within the games.

16. Street Fighter 2 (Ryu, Chun-Li) (Super Famicom)

It was so exciting to have Street Fighter II in your home back in 1992, that one could easily overlook how cheesy this commercial really is. Blinded by the excitement of the arcade in your home, Ryu and Chun-Li wandering the desert is the same type of awesome as Rocky conquering the Russian tundra.

15. Legend of Zelda, The: Link's Awakening (Gameboy) 

Link's first Game Boy outing is still considered one the strangest and morally complex adventures in the Zelda series, so this bizarre musical puppet show is a perfect fit to awakening on an unknown island that gradually drifts from a simple shipwreck to an unsolvable 'trolley problem'.

14. New Famicom

The Nintendo All-Stars assemble to celebrate the Famicom's redesign! Putting aside long grudges, dozens of good guys and bad guys are happy to cram together into Nintendo's latest device. Closely associated with the Game Boy at the time, Wario arrives late to the party with one of Nintendo's final games for the system, Wario's Woods.

13. Mario vs Donkey Kong (Long) (Game Boy Advance)

Featuring a fun drum & bass remix of the classic SMB theme, all kinds of chaos and a most gratuitous amount of female curves by Nintendo standards, a freshly villainous Donkey Kong shows up to Mario's toy factory, back with his old ill intent from the 80's.

12. Super Game Boy (Mario and Donkey Kong)

Usually at odds with each other when in the same room (or racetrack), here Mario and Donkey Kong bond in the laboratory, discovering all the exciting new ways to enjoy those black and white Game Boy games. They don't even seem to mind that their feud is rekindled with the new Donkey Kong 1994, programmed especially with the Super Game Boy in mind.

11. Mario Paint (Yoshi Sings) (Super Famicom)

Yoshi really goes off the rails here, embracing his artistic side, all while terrorizing Koopa's minions in retribution for their take over of Dinosaur Land a couple years back. Can you handle the mouse with as much dexterity as Yoshi's fires his tongue?

10. Mega Man X4 / Rockman X4 (Long) (Sega Saturn, Sony PlayStation)

The more mature arc of the X series reaches its zenith in this commercial; full of dramatic anime cut scenes, stunning 32-bit sprites and the game's high stakes theme song: Makenai Ai Ga Kitto. The X series made it all the way to number 8, but never surpassed the amazing tone (among other qualities) found in 4.

9. Super Mario Bros. 3 (Famicom)

Emphasizing the multi directional platforming and many surprises to be found in the game, Mario ascends a dangerous castle and flies off to what many still consider his greatest adventure decades later. Even with all his power-ups, brand new dangers await around each corner, both in the game and commercial.

8. Darkstalkers / Vampire (Long) (Sony PlayStation)

In what's still one of Capcom's highpoints within the 2D fighting genre that they popularized the whole world over, the sorted cast of Darkstalker' monsters become 'animated' at night. While the Werewolves, Frankenstein monsters and others are hand drawn, the sexy succubus Morrigan appears in the flesh.

7. Super Mario All-Stars / Collection (Super Famicom)

Celebrating their record breaking 8-bit success with a freshly painted compilation for the new Super Nintendo, the entire Mario crew, heroic and villainous, hit the theater dressed to impress. They're still at with amazing 2D platforming thirty years later in 2023's Super Mario Wonder.

6. Mega Man X / Rockman X (Long) (Super Famicom)

In possibly the greatest example of establishing a massive tonal shift to an already beloved 80s icon, the X series' far more serious tone is conveyed through demolishing explosions, a shift to heavy metal/progressive rock, and Mega Man's cute nonchalance being traded for a robot man on a mission, the more vulnerable and determined X.

5. Sonic the Hedgehog (Long) (Mega Drive)

Seemingly well aware he was about to give Mario quite a run for his coins all around the world, Sonic throws a spectacular parade and fireworks show for himself to mark his Japanese debut. The beloved soundtrack contribution by Masato Nakamura of the hugely popular J-Pop group Dreams Come True is displayed within the bright lights and dizzying speed of the commercial.

4. Super Mario Land 2 (Game Boy)

Narrated as if it was a children's fairy tale, this most charming commercial shows off all sorts of new enemies and worlds awaiting Mario in spectacular Claymation. A rather important and devious series mainstay even makes his debut at the end...

3. Mario Kart 64 (Animated) (Nintendo 64)

Chaotic and colorful, the updated roster and mind-blowing three dimensional courses are dizzyingly showcased in this anime style commercial for Mario Kart 64. With so much action within each frame, all that's missing is a look at the game itself, which went on to become one of the most legendary multiplayer titles of the 90s.

2. Street Fighter Alpha / Zero 2 (Sega Saturn, Sony PlayStation, Super Famicom)

Attempting to top the worldwide phenomenon that was the (seemingly never ending) Street Fighter II series, Capcom finally hit their stride with the first update to their gorgeously drawn prequel series, Alpha/Zero. Set to an appropriately cheerful J-Pop tune, then newcomer Sakura makes her presence known, trailing Ryu all over the subways and streets of Japan.

1. Legend of Zelda, The: A Link to the Past / Triforce of the Gods (Super Famicom)

Ridiculous, but so bold that you can't help but fall in love with it, the template for the next 25-some years of the Zelda series that is Link to the Past, audaciously pulls off a cheesy but hype tribute to the many great Michael Jackson short films of the 80s and 90s. The early Japanese rap group Scha Dara Parr rhymes of all the spectacle awaiting within the game itself.

Thanks for reading. Many commercials are still yet to be discovered and translated. Maybe something new will show up on this list some day? Feel free to comment with your favorites!