Regional Differences

This is a sub-page of Gitaroo Man.

To do: Europe and South Korea version differences English Flyin' To Your Heart in South Korean version Japanese sound effects in North American Collection illustrations were removed from EU/SK

Menu Differences#

Title Screen#

Japan	North America

The Japanese title logo has bolder colors and rougher, thicker outlines than the English logo. In addition, the year was removed from the North American version's copyright, and the rest of the copyright text was spread out more to compensate.

Main Menu#

Japan	North America

A trippy animated wavy effect was added to the North American release.

Multiplayer Menus#

Locked Characters#

Japan	North America

In the Japanese version, not all multiplayer characters are available right away—some are locked behind a question mark. They can be unlocked by progressing through the game or loading a Gitaroo Man Wan save bonus.

In all other regions, as soon as a stage is unlocked, all multiplayer characters are immediately available. There, the question mark graphic is present but unused.

Miscolored P4 Marker#

Japan	North America

In the North American version, after playing Nuff Respect with four players, the results screen's "P4" marker is mistakenly colored black instead of the usual light blue.

Collection#

Japanese Name & Text Color#

Japan	North America

The Japanese version shows names in English and Japanese, but the North American version has only English names. The Japanese version also has black description text, while the North American version has the text colored to match the background.

"Angel" Border#

Japan	North America

The black border around the name "Angel" was made a little thinner in the North American version.

Pine & Bamboo Background Transparency#

Japan	North America

In the pine and bamboo background graphics, the Japanese version has some square-shaped regions that weren't made properly transparent. This was fixed in the North American release.

Save/Load Menu#

Colored Text#

Japan	North America

This text for choosing a memory card is rather plain in the Japanese version. It was given color and a stylized font in the North American version.

Japan	North America

The same thing happened with this text, too. Also, the word "Please" appears twice in the English text; this is because the Japanese message uses the word for "save" or "load" depending on context, while the English message simply uses "Please" in both cases.

Yes/No/OK/Cancel#

Japan	North America

In the North American version, these options have a different font, "Yes" is capitalized differently, and the highlighted words have much less of a glowing effect.

"BANK" Background#

Japan	North America

When viewing save data, the background behind "BANK" continues the stripy orange-and-yellow pattern seen on the rest of the screen. For some reason, the North American version removed the yellow stripe from the top-right corner.

Character Names#

Chibi-Kun#

Japan	North America

Little-O is known as Chibi-kun in the Japanese version.

Kuma#

Japan	North America

As might be expected, "kuma" is the Japanese word for bear.

Sanborn Trio#

Japan	North America

In the Japanese version, Sanbone Trio is written as "Sanborn Trio."

Band Name#

To do: Is there any better way to transliterate "あにまーる。", like "Animaal"? Does it have any special meaning, such as a pun on a real band's name, or it is nothing more than "animal" with a dash? Possible clues (JP): About Anima–ru, Naming vote final result page, Naming vote in-progress pages & other pages linked there

Japan	North America

Yung, Noren, and Mr. Yasuda's are referred to as "bandmen" in their Japanese and English spoken descriptions. However, their band actually has a name in Japan: あにまーる。, which can be read as "Anima–l." This unfortunately did not carry over to the English translation.

Difficulty Modes#

Japan	North America

In the Japanese version:

• The default difficulty is Normal mode.
• The player can switch to Easy mode.

However, in the North American version:

• The Japanese Easy mode was renamed to Normal. This became the new default.
• The Japanese Normal mode was renamed to Hard.

All-Star Certificate#

To do: What are the criteria for unlocking this? All Collection items, including those only obtainable by loading Gitaroo Man Wan save data?

The All-Star Certificate is exclusive to the Japanese version. It is unlocked when...^{(details needed)}. When the criteria are met, then the next time Collection is opened, the game plays a special movie:

Against a background of joyous, triumphant music, glowing circles of color swirl and make way for a faint light. Then they all merge together, slowly growing brighter and brighter to reveal...

...a message from the game's artist, Mitsuru Nakamura (also known as 326). In the first line, the joke is that he messed up writing 公 (official), making it look like ハム (ham).

Scroll Icon#

After the All-Star Certificate appears for the first time, a scroll icon with a △ button appears at the bottom-right corner of the Collection screen. From then on, pressing the △ button here will show the All-Star Certificate again. This scroll graphic is present but unused in the non-Japanese versions.

Gitaroo Man Wan Save Bonuses#

The Japanese version has another exclusive feature: the ability to load save data from Gitaroo Man Wan, a maxi single-style demo that was sold only in Japan.

By playing Gitaroo Man Wan, the player can earn three Special Items and save them to a memory card. The save data can then be loaded in the Japanese version of Gitaroo Man to unlock some features:

(In Japan, the pine, bamboo, and plum make up a three-tiered ranking system much like gold, silver, and bronze.)

Fortunately, even though non-Japanese copies of the game can't load Gitaroo Man Wan save data, all of the features above are still available one way or another. The Collection items and multiplayer characters are already unlocked when the game starts, and Master's Play can still be unlocked by beating the game.

Loading Gitaroo Man Wan Data#

To do: Are these messages still accessible via hacking in non-Japanese versions?

Japan	North America (unused translated message)

The Japanese Load menu will automatically load Gitaroo Man Wan save data if present. The message was translated to English for the North American version despite being unused.

Japan	North America (unused translated message)

If the Gitaroo Man Wan save data contains the Pine item, it will display this message after loading. This message was also translated to English for the North American version despite being unused.

This slightly creepy "Yeah!" plays with the message above. The sound effect, called MATSU ("pine"), is present but unused in the North American version.

Unlockable Collection Items#

Japan	North America

In the Japanese version, three Collection items are initially locked behind icons of a pine tree, bamboo, and a plum blossom. They can only be unlocked by loading Gitaroo Man Wan save data that contains the matching Special Items. In non-Japanese versions of the game, these Collection items are already unlocked, and the three icons are present but unused.

Save Data Indicator#

Japan	North America

Once the Special Items are loaded into Gitaroo Man, then upon saving the game again, the Special Item icons are added to the save data. These icons are present but unused in the North American version.

Button Actions and Icons#

As with many PS2 games, the Confirm and Cancel buttons were changed for the North American release. These changes only affect menus, not actual gameplay.

	Japan	North America
Collection
Save/Load
Stage Select
Theater
Options

The button icons in various menus were changed to reflect this. Some of the labels' fonts by these buttons were also changed.