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How to translate SNES games into Dutch with a Hex Editor

I must’ve been around 14 years old when I stumbled across OK Impala!’s website. Sadly, the website has been down since 2014, but the original content is still available on the internet archive. OK Impala! is one of the unsung heroes of video game localisations, as he was the only ROM-hacker translating retro Nintendo games into Dutch. So why did this pixelated antelope make Dutch fan translations of old RPG’s?

In the early 2000’s, the internet gave way to ROM-hackers (hackers of the Read-Only Memory, the data on a game cartridge) who made fan translations of games that were only released in Japan, and thus previously unplayable for anyone who did not speak the language. This eventually lead to small groups of translators who were translating into their native languages, most notably the Hellenic translators of Greekroms.net. In an interview with Game Set Watch in 2008, OK Impala! says that, in spite of the lack of Dutch games for the SNES, such a community did not exist for the Dutch language at the time. That’s why he took it upon himself to start one. He translated the NES games Super Mario Bros., Tetris, Ice Hockey and Duck Hunt when he launched his website in 2002.

Dutch SNES games were a rarity, so much so that I spent so much time writing about them that I decided to give it it’s own article. Upon finding OK Impala!’s titillating treasure trove of translated time-wasters I was immediately dreaming of making my own translations. Luckily for me, OK Impala! had written a tutorial about hex editing that even I could follow at that age. It taught me about counting in base 16, and hex-editing was what eventually got me into programming and engineering.

The game I chose to translate into Dutch was a favourite of mine: Tetris Attack. However, I quickly learned that translating video game ROMs was no easy task. The text boxes are rendered on screen in a fixed size, so you only have limited space for your translation, forcing you to get creative with your translations. I was determined, however, to see it through, and I translated the whole thing.

Sadly, I no longer have the ROM of the game I translated, but the fun experience  of translating has always stuck with me. I would like to end with an appreciative salute to my fellow countryman OK Impala!, to hopefully let him know his hard work did not go unnoticed.

For those who are interested, OK Impala!’s translations are still available on ROMhacking.net.

UPDATE 06 May 2021: OK Impala! Is BACK! The ROM hacker from my youth read my blog post and contacted me, letting me know that he has returned with a brand new website and a Twitter account, and a delightful new ROM hack that completely overhauls Super Mario Kart: Epic Racers. Go check it out!