There is nothing more frustrating than discovering that a seemingly great game is only available in another region, specifically one that does not favor the same language as your own. Japan-only exclusives are a staple of the gaming industry; regardless of the console, there is going to be a handful of titles that fail to make it to the West. Considering Final Fantasy Type-0 took forever to introduce an English version, it is safe to say that no property is safe from the Japan-only treatment.

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All things considered, the Nintendo 64 is not exactly a gold mine for imported games. Most of the big titles earned a worldwide release, although a few exceptions do exist. Here are 10 N64 classics that are still stuck in Japan.

While some of these entries did eventually make it to the West through other consoles or means, an N64 owner looking for the genuine article will need to import the title from Japan.

10 Virtual Pro Wrestling 2: Ōdō Keishō

Virtual Pro Wrestling 64 also never left Japan, but 2000's sequel is the better of the two and a must-own title for anyone interested in Japan's wrestling scene. Those familiar with WWF WrestleMania 2000 on the N64 should feel at home with Virtual Pro Wrestling 2; that said, the latter focus more on the core wrestling than the theatrics often found in the American wrestling games.

With a mix of licensed All Japan Pro Wrestling wrestlers and characters based on other promotions, VPW2 serves as a love letter to Japanese wrestling while also being a solid hardcore wrestling game in its own right.

9 Bangai-O

Bangai-O was released for the Nintendo 64 and Dreamcast, with only the latter being ported to Europe and North America. A side-scrolling shooter featuring over 40 stages and just as many bosses, Bangai-O is quite a hard game to describe, as the level design allows for a certain degree of freedom when it comes to missions.

Putting aside all that, Bangai-O is best described as a game where players fly a mecha through retro-feeling environments packed to the brim with enemies, hazards, and destruction. The gameplay is fast-paced and hard to put down, especially since the controls are tight and responsive.

8 Last Legion UX

Mechas are going to feature prominently throughout this list, which is not all that surprising. Unless a game has the word "Gundam" in its title, it probably stayed in Japan. Last Legion UX is a 3D fighting game pitting robots against each other in quite a diverse set of battlefields, most of which are themed after an element (water, fire, air, and earth).

Multiplayer is Last Legion UX's best feature, but the single-player content isn't terrible either. There are six mechs to pick from for the single-player mode, all of which favor different playing styles. The AI is decent for the era too.

7 Animal Crossing (Animal Forest)

Originally published as Animal Forest, the first Animal Crossing on the N64 was only ever released in Japan. This mostly has to do with the fact the game came out only a few months prior to the debut of the GameCube, so Nintendo opted to port Animal Crossing to the next generation and only made that version available in the West.

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Groundbreaking for its time, the social simulator drops players in a town and generally lets them create their own fun, as they take part in festivities around the village and seek to build connections with the NPCs. The GameCube port does not look any better than the N64 version, but the former's use of the console's internal clock lends itself to Animal Crossing's real-time gameplay.

6 Custom Robo V2

Neither of the two Custom Robo games on the Nintendo 64 made it out of Japan, and they are both worth playing for fans of mechas and RPGs. Divided into arena battles and overworld exploration, Custom Robo V2 pushes aside any semblance of a significant plot to focus on building the ultimate Custom Robo.

Battles are quite basic, mostly playing out like isometric shooters, but the real fun comes from collecting different parts to upgrade and construct new bots. The customization options are impressive for an N64 game, making each Robo feel genuinely unique.

5 Shiren the Wanderer 2

Nintendo seems to flip a coin to determine whether to port a Shiren the Wanderer game to the West; consequently, only three of the five numbered entries made it out of Japan. Unfortunately, Shiren the Wanderer 2 failed to make the cut. The first 3D entry in the series, Shiren the Wanderer 2 is unsurprisingly rough around the edges, lacking much in the way of depth in terms of mechanics or plot.

In order to build a castle to protect a town from demons, Shiren heads out to investigate dungeons that hold building materials. Dungeons are turn-based, as demons will move once Shiren takes an action. While simplistic and unlikely to keep veterans of JRPGs interested for too long, Shiren the Wanderer 2 marked an important step in the franchise and would have served as a good entry point for younger players looking to sample the genre.

4 Super Robot Wars 64/Super Robot Spirits

Admittedly, these two are vastly different games, but they are likely to appeal to the same set of players. Super Robot Wars 64 is a strategy RPG with a wide collection of mechas from a myriad of franchises, including Mazinger and Mobile Suit Gundam, and around 100 missions to complete. The "What if" stories mostly rely on fan-service than anything too interesting, but a decent battle system and a robust collection of upgradable units make this an easy recommendation for anime fans.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Super Robot Spirits is a 3D fighting game with a naturally more limited roster of 10 mecha units. Not the greatest 3D fighter on the N64, but it is better than quite a number of Gundam games that released in the West.

3 Bomberman 64

Things are about to get confusing. There are technically two games called Bomberman 64 on the Nintendo 64, with people mostly being familiar with 1997's 3D adventure game. In Japan, the 1997 game went by Baku Bomberman, while Bomberman 64 refers to a more traditional entry in the franchise released in 2001.

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There isn't much to say about this one, as Bomberman 64 plays almost the same as the SNES games. The soundtrack does get a bit repetitive, luckily, the gameplay is as fun as ever.

2 Wonder Project J2

If nothing else, Wonder Project J2 is worth checking out simply for its quite striking visual style. A sim about guiding a robot girl named Josette through an array of emotionally and physically challenging trials, Wonder Project J2 is quite light on gameplay, playing more like an interactive visual novel than anything else.

That said, the story and characters are quite well-realized, and it is interesting to see how Josette internalizes the player's answers.

1 Sin and Punishment

The most famous Japan-only game on the Nintendo 64, Sin and Punishment is honestly the only entry on this list that should definitely be sought out. Rail shooters have gone out of fashion, but Sin and Punishment's solid controls and dystopian setting help elevate it above other lesser titles in the genre. Although the campaign does end a bit too soon, the blistering action and cool visuals are a constant delight.

Sin and Punishment is not just the best Japan-only game on the N64 but one of the greatest titles on the console. In 2007, Nintendo made Sin and Punishment available in the West through the Wii's Virtual Console, so the game is not that hard to obtain anymore.

NEXT: 10 N64 Games We Hope Get A Remake Soon