In the 1989 a good friend of mine became famous. Let's call him Bob. It was not because of something Bob did, or said, or thought of, that made him famous, it was because of the dedication of his Mother and Electronic Gaming Monthly.
In 1989 the only way a kid could find out what was going on in Japan was through gaming magazines. EGM was the magazine for the "cool" kids, Nintendo Power was for little kids, and Gamepro was just lame. Bob and I, being "cool" kids, read EGM. And it was in EGM that we read that Super Mario Bros. 3 was already out in Japan.
Bob made it his mission in life to get this game, and his awesome Mom's dedication made it happen. This amazing Woman learned enough Japanese to call a random camera shop in Japan, and got them to ship the game and compatibility piece to her; right in time for Bob's 13th birthday in late July of '89. This was months before The Wizard came out, and about 8 months before Mario 3 hit the States.
For the rest of the summer all we did was play Mario 3. I remember finding the flute for the first time in the mini-castle completely by accident . We didn't find out about the flute in 1-3 for weeks. We did figure out the 1UP trick in 1-2 on our own, and we were really proud about that. The Tanooki Suit was amazing, and the BOOT!!! After we beat the game we started over and tried playing it the whole way through without warping. This is not that hard until you get to World 7, and then it becomes insane. But we did do it.
By the time Bob and I started grade 8 we were experts, and when all the kids started talking about Mario 3 Bob would boastingly talk about how he already beat it. This led to long arguments, for 9 times out of 10 no one believed him, and then the rumor spread.
By November, EVERYONE knew about Bob's Japanese copy of Mario 3, and Bob was charging people to play. People were paying $5 just to see it being played, and were offering $20 to play it for a day. Let's just say that Bob bought a Genesis by December.
People still remembered Bob, and his Japanese copy of Mario 3, years later in High School: it had made him famous. And translating the Japanese text led to language classes, and now he is living in Japan. Perhaps I should get him to send me a Japanese copy of FFXIII, so I can be famous too!
Note: From what I remember there is only one real difference between the American and Japanese version of the game. In the Japanese game if Firepower Mario took a hit: he would shrink into little Mario. In the American version, if Firepower Mario took a hit: he would only lose his firepower and still be big. So even Mario 3 was made easier from the Japanese Version!
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