Another busy week for Sega Saturn English translation patches. This time half of the patches are for fighting games, which mostly pull English text right from their worldwide releases. There are also translations for a RPG, a visual novel, as well as a puzzle-adventure game, all being exclusives on the Saturn. These six translation projects all used AI tools. Half are is still in beta, but the others are considered finished. Here’s a quick look at each one:
Samurai Shodown III (Samurai Spirits: Zankurō Musōken)
v1.0 by Alexbl9x (10-23-26)
Starting things off is the English patch for Saturn’s port of SNK‘s Samurai Shodown III, known as Samurai Spirits: Zankurō Musōken in Japan, which released on Alexbl9x‘s Github last Friday during the live SHIRO! Show. They said that “the Saturn port kept a surprising amount of that English material, enough to translate the whole game: fighter names, menus, story texts, the loading screen, even the code that switches between the two languages. I started this patch some time ago the ‘long way’ (with very little knowledge, using Crystal Tile 2, Hex Ed…) but after some stopped time I decided to help myself with Claude Code and learn from it for future projects.” The 1MB RAM cartridge is still required to play the game, but the 4MB cart also will work without graphical issues.
The King of Fighters ’97
v1.0 by Ardiloso (10-24-26)
Next up is SNK‘s The King of Fighters ’97, which was done with the help of Claude AI, with text inserted from the Neo Geo CD English version. There were no grammatical corrections made, but subtitles have been added for Yuki’s voiced line during the Sacred Treasures Team ending. There are also a number of quality of life features hacked in, including all the fighters being unlocked by default. This game requires a 1MB RAM cart as well, but Ardiloso has also included an additional patch for 4MB carts, which prioritizes faster loading times. Ardiloso said, “This is not the YZB hack; it’s a new one I made myself. I tested this extensively on real hardware using a CD-R, a Saroo, an original 4MB cart, and an Action Replay 4MB cart, as well as on the Ymir emulator. I found no issues, but let me know if you run into any.”
Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter
v0.1.0-beta by Princeendo (10-28-26)
The last fighting game on our list, Capcom’s Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, got a beta patch released to the public this week by Princeendo with the help of Claude. It uses official English text from the arcade where it exists, the the rest uses a new translation, which is all covered in detail in the Github post. The cheat “Mech-Gouki NOW!!” is also unlocked without needing to clear Survival Mode, if you hold L+R and Start to select the mode. There are two patches available, one for American names and the other for the original Japanese ones.
Wachenröder
v1.45 by Pale Abyss (10-28-26)
Wachenröder is a strategy RPG developed by TNS and published by SEGA exclusively on the Saturn in 1998. Abyss said nothing was taken from Knight0fDragon‘s beta patch. This was apparently done in under a week, after they were asked on Twitter to translate the game. Abyss said, “I’ve fixed every single thing brought to my attention, although honestly the majority of my work doesn’t end up needing an update.” There has, however, been an update since this was originally released, translating town names and the text you see at the start of a battle. A Bug Reports section can be found on Abyss‘s site if you find anymore issues. The technical documentation or credit of AI tools was not specified.
Martian Successor Nadesico: The Blank of 3 Years
v1.0.2-beta by Pzapzap (10-28-26)
A visual novel, Martian Successor Nadesico: The Blank of 3 Years, based on the Nadesico anime series, was developed by Scarab and published by SEGA in 1998. Pzapzap, who has already released two beta patches earlier this month using the “CODEC BABEL’s AI agents” said that, “The story text is set in the game’s own lettering, spaced for English. The opening song has English subtitles, and so do the spoken lines the game plays with no text on screen.” The game originally came on two discs, plus a mini audio CD. Pzapzap said: “All the game’s text is translated: the story on both discs, its choices and quizzes, the name entry (with an English keyboard), the menus, the save and load screens, the options screen and the staff credits.” The site says you can email any bugs or issues to the email phil@tttships.co.
The Story of the Island of Seven Winds (Nanatsu Kaze no Shima Monogatari)
v1.0-beta by Pzapzap (10-29-26)
Another Saturn exclusive, Nanatsu Kaze no Shima Monogatari, a 2D side-scrolling puzzle-adventure game published by Enix, is the last game to be created by Givro Corporation in 1998. This is the fourth public English beta patch from Pzapzap and the CODEC BABEL’s AI agents released this month on the Saturn. All the text in the game has been translated, including the narrating voice that whispers hints, as well as all the menus. Pzapzap said, “The title logo and the lettering drawn into the pictures are repainted in English: the chapter cards, the Annals headers, the winds scroll and the island map’s place names. The caption cards in the movies have English subtitles.” As with Nadesico, any issues and bugs can be reported by emailing phil@tttships.co.
All six patches have been tested on real hardware via a Satiator, all booting up and working, but only time will tell if there are any things left to fix. Check out Privateye‘s list of translation projects to stay updated on all the Saturn English patches, as well as ongoing projects and other languages.
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