Language: Difference between revisions

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'''Language''' is an option found in the Options menu of ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]'' and ''[[Super Smash Bros. Ultimate]]'', and the [[PAL]] version of ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'', and determined by system settings in ''[[Super Smash Bros. 4]]'' and the PAL version of ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]''. As the name suggests, the player can adjust the language of their copy of the game.

[[File:NTSCLanguage.jpg|thumb|200px|The Language menu in the NTSC version of ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'' which shows options for English or Japanese.]]

Language can only be adjusted in the European PAL version of ''SSB'' (uniquely, ''SSB'' has separate European and Australian PAL versions). The language can be set to English, French, or German through an extra section on the options menu. When the player hovers over a menu item with the language set to either French or German, a white box with its corresponding translation will display at the bottom of the screen. The [[announcer]] is fully dubbed in both languages.

The Simplified Chinese version of the game is only available on the {{s|wikipedia|iQue Player}}, the Chinese export of the [[Nintendo 64]]. While the game is fully translated, all voice acting is reused from the English version of the game.

''Super Smash Bros. Melee'' is available in Japanese, English, French, Spanish, German, and Italian. Spanish and Italian are new to the series, while Simplified Chinese is no longer available.

Interestingly, when the English language setting is active, the "Language" option is written in Japanese. The opposite occurs if Japanese is set as the language instead.

*{{SSBM|Donkey Kong}}'s caption in Japanese in spelled as "D.Kong"; in English, Donkey Kong's caption is "DK".

*Characters may or may not speak depending on the language. In American English, neither {{SSBM|Falco}} nor {{SSBM|Mewtwo}} speak, but in Japanese, the two speak in full sentences in some cases.

**The latter is also the case with PAL versions.

*Crowd chants are different in Japanese than they are in American English.

*The [[Motion-Sensor Bomb]] from ''Goldeneye 007'' reverts to its appearance in ''Perfect Dark'' as in the Japanese release of Melee, both in-game and its trophy. However, its origin is still listed as "TOP SECRET", while the actual Japanese release of ''Melee'' properly credits it to ''Perfect Dark''.

*The Topi trophy does not change to a seal if the language is set to Japanese on an American copy of the game.

The quality of the European localization is questionable; while most of the "simple" text is translated, a majority of the game's text, notably of game modes and menu options, remain in English. Furthermore, despite the presence of the British flag on the English option, the text is unchanged compared to the NTSC's English language setting, and does not take into account for regional differences, such as the use of "color" over "colour". Additionally, the announcer voice clips are reused from English (other than Jigglypuff's foreign names, resulting in a disparity between voices).

''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' is available in Japanese, English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, and Korean. Korean is new to the series.

 

===NTSC versions===

Players no longer have the option to choose between Japanese and American English in ''Brawl''.

 

In PAL versions of ''Brawl'', the player can choose between five different languages, like in ''Melee''. The choices remain the same, and like before, [[List of regional version differences (SSBB)|aspects of the game can change]]. However, the language cannot be changed in-game, as the language for Wii games is decided based on what language the console is set to.

Both versions of ''Super Smash Bros. 4'' are available in Japanese, English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, and Russian. While {{for3ds}} is available in Korean, {{forwiiu}} lacks the option, because the Wii U was never officially released in Korea. Additionally, the Korean version reuses the announcer's voice clips from the Japanese version of the game, rather than the previous announcer from ''Brawl''.

The NTSC version can be set to English, French, or Spanish. However, like the PAL version of ''Brawl'', this is dependent on the console's set language.

The PAL version now supports eight languages, with the additions being Dutch, Portuguese, and Russian. As with ''Brawl'', the language is dependent on the console's set language and cannot be changed in-game. While the five languages from ''Melee'' and ''Brawl'' continue to localize the announcer and a small number of character voices, the three new languages use the same voices as the PAL English version.

[[File:SSBU-Language.png|thumb|200px|The language menu in ''Ultimate''.]]

''Ultimate'' supports 11 languages regardless of region: Japanese, English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Dutch, Russian, Korean, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese. Simplified Chinese is available for the first time since the original ''Super Smash Bros.'', and Traditional Chinese is entirely new to the series. However, Portuguese, which was present in ''Smash 4'', is no longer available.

The English/Japanese announcer, [[Xander Mobus]], serves as the Korean announcer, while his voice clips from the Japanese version are reused for both Chinese languages. New announcers also provide voice clips for the Dutch and Russian languages.

For the first time since ''Melee'', language selection is available from an in-game menu rather than being automatically selected based on the system's region and language settings. Some regional differences are still present, such as the name "Duck Hunt Duo" for {{SSBU|Duck Hunt}} in PAL English, while other former differences such as [[Boxing Ring]] character titles have been standardized between regional versions.

By changing the Nintendo Switch's region to the Americas or Europe, one can change which localization their game provides; the former gives American English, Canadian French and Latin American Spanish, and the latter gives British English, European French and Castilian Spanish. This effectively gives ''Ultimate'' a total of 14 language choices compared to the 11 selectable in the menu.<!--todo: clarify the extent of the regional language differences (color vs. colour, Hammer vs. Hammer Flip, Boxing Ring titles, cosmetic differences, etc.)-->

Unlike previous games, changing language settings in ''Ultimate'' reboots the game. As such, changing the language is used by various players as an alternate method (besides closing and reopening the game) to [[Unlockable character|unlock characters]] in Smash battles more quickly by bypassing the 10-minute cooldown timer between challengers, particularly when using controllers that lack a HOME button.

*In non-English Western language versions of ''Brawl'' and ''SSB4'', most characters retain their voices from the English version, with English or Japanese dialogue where applicable. Exceptions include most ''Pokémon'' characters (apart from [[Pikachu]], [[Charizard]], [[Mewtwo]] and a few [[Poké Ball]] Pokémon), the {{SSB4|Wii Fit Trainer}}s, and {{SSB4|Sonic}} (in ''SSB4'' only). This is due to the ''Pokémon'' anime and spinoff games, the ''Wii Fit'' series, and ''Sonic'' games (from ''Sonic Generations'' onwards) being dubbed into many languages, while the other represented series are either unvoiced or retain the English voices with translated text and subtitles. However, {{SSB4|Fox}}, {{SSB4|Falco}} and {{SSB4|Ike}} still speak English, even though ''Star Fox 64 3D'' and ''Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn'' were dubbed into multiple languages, and {{SSB4|Cloud}} speaks Japanese even though most of his home series appearances were dubbed into English (with some dubbed in additional languages).

** In ''Ultimate'', this holds true for the above characters along with {{SSBU|Zelda}}, who speaks English in all Western language versions of the game despite her incarnation from ''The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild'' being voiced in multiple languages.

*In tournament play, some tournaments in non-English-speaking regions choose to set the game to English rather than the regional language, presumably due to English being the standard game language setting in national tournaments. For example, the "Master Hand" ''Melee'' tournament series in Japan uses the game's English language option.

*[[Bowser]], [[Bowser Jr.]], [[Rosalina]] & [[Luma]], [[Piranha Plant]], [[Sheik]], [[King Dedede]], [[Jigglypuff]], [[Mewtwo]], [[Squirtle]], [[Ivysaur]], [[Charizard]], [[Greninja]], [[Incineroar]], [[Robin]], [[Corrin]], [[R.O.B]]., [[Dark Pit]], [[Isabelle]], [[Duck Hunt]] and [[Mega Man]] are the only playable characters to have their proper names changed in another language.

**Others with a name change just translate titles or descriptors (like [[Captain Falcon]]), and/or have it specified for gender (like [[Wii Fit Trainer]]).