Legends of Localization Discovers 32 Strange Japanese Zero Wing Endings

Today is a little bit of a lazy Sunday, with not a lot of news floating about. However, every day carries the potential of learning something new. Today, North American players learn something new about Zero Wing, the game notorious for localization issues ("All your base are belong to us").

According to the brilliant Legends of Localization site, while the Western version of Zero Wing only had 3 endings, the Japanese version bore a total of 35 endings.

Wow, what a difference!

Referring to a site reader's question:
 

"Hello, A little while ago I saw your article about Zero Wing. I decided to look in the game. So I got a Japanese rom and looked at some of the endings. Apparently the Japanese version has 4 ending while the English only has 3! And more interesting the fourth ending is the only one with text. Maybe the bad translations had something to do with laziness? Do you think you could do a article on it? Here is a screenshot of the ending Just in case."

When the screenshot was checked for authenticity, translator Mr. Mandelen discovered other endings, which emerge with every loop of the entire game.

He then documented each Japanese ending, making the following notes:

From Ending #4, the villain speaks in very unusual Japanese, in an effeminate matter. Sometimes he speaks in heavy dialects, sometimes normal, and sometimes like a kid. Sounds like the villain is a lot more complex than originally believed.

Some of the writing in the endings are presented in an unusual manner thanks to the limited character font.

Many of the extra endings contain references to old comedy routines, music, anime, and more, which aren't documented well on Japanese sites. The text suggests that it's written by someone who grew up in the 1960s or 1970s.

After Ending #35, the endings loop around, beginning with #4.

You can check out all of the secret endings on the official site.