User:Nealbo/sandbox/List of Censored Video Games

This is a List of censored video games covering instances where a video game has had content, visuals or references removed, altered or replaced. In some cases video games will have been banned in certain countries, regions or even globally. Reasons for censorship range from political, violence/gore, racism/negative steroetypes, sexuality, nudity and sexualization, profanity & general vulgarity, religion, changing attitudes of society over time, global events such as 9/11, and external controversy related to cast, voice actors etc.

Not all instances of censorship have a confirmed reason behind the decision but the change itself often implies the motive.

A lot of early censorship from Nintendo NA were due to the family friendly policy. Where this is the case, the type of censorship has been broken down into sexuality/nudity, violence/gore, profanity/vulgarity etc. to better categorise the type of censorship.

Political censorship in video games

Below is a list of video games that feature political censorship. The most notable instance of this is removal of Nazi imagery or insignias. Other such examples are censorship triggered by Hong Kong pro-democracy activism and visuals showing the Japanese Rising Sun flag or American Confederate flag.

Game Name	Year	Region/country	Platform(s)	Type of censorship	Non-censored alternative	Details of censorship
Bionic Commando	1988	NA, EU	NES	Altering of visuals, text and references.	Original JP Release (NES)	The game was renamed from Top Secret: The Resurrection of Hitler (ヒットラーの復活 トップシークレット, Hittorā no Fukkatsu: Toppu Shīkuretto). The character of Adolf Hitler was renamed "Master-D" and the Nazis were renamed "The Badds" in-game. However, they are still referred to as "The Nazzs" in the instruction manual. All swastikas were replaced with a German eagle insignia both in-game and in the instruction manual.

Violence/gore/death censorship in video games

Game Name	Year	Region/country	Platform(s)	Type of censorship	Non-censored alternative	Details of censorship
Contra/Probotector	1988	EU	NES	Removal of blood, and human enemies.	All other regional releases (NES).	Human combatants were replaced with robots due to a German law that bans video games that allow humans to be shot on screen.
Mortal Kombat	1993	All	SNES, GB	Removal of blood, gore and death.	Arcade, MS-DOS, Amiga, Sega CD. As part of Mortal Kombat: Deception, Midway Arcade Treasures: Extended Play and Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection. Sega Mega-Drive & Sega Game Gear (If code is entered)	Due to Nintendo's "Family Friendly" policy, the SNES and GB version replaced the blood with gray/blue sweat and most of the fatalities with less violent "finishing moves".
Final Fantasy	1990	NA	NES	Text changes	Original JP release	The spell "Kill" was renamed to "Rub" in the NA release.

Racism/negative stereotypes censorship in video games

Game Name	Year	Region/country	Platform(s)	Type of censorship	Non-censored alternative	Details of censorship
Punch Out!!/Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!	1987, 2007	All	NES, Wii (Virtual console)	Character name change	Original Arcade release of Super Punch-Out!!	The character Vodka Drunkenski has his name changed to Soda Popinski. Note: The reason may also be Nintendo's family-friendly policy reacting to the mention of alcohol, rather than the removal of a negative stereotype.

Sexualization/nudity censorship in video games

Game Name	Year	Region/country	Platform(s)	Type of censorship	Non-censored alternative	Details of censorship
Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle	1989-1991	All regions except JP	Sega Genesis	Removal of implied nudity	Original JP release (Sega Genesis)	In the original Japanese version of the game, when Alex or his opponent loses a Rock Paper Scissors match, the loser's clothes disappear, leaving him/her naked with a fig leaf covering their genitalia. In the Western versions, the loser is flattened by a heavy weight.
EarthBound	1995	NA	SNES	Removal of nudity	Original JP release (Mother 2)	In the JP release (Mother 2), Ness is naked in Magicant. In the NA release, Ness is clothed, wearing striped pajamas.
Final Fantasy	1991	NA	NES	Removal of nudity	Original JP release	In the JP release, the Medusa and Earth Medusa sprites were topless with visible nipples. In the NA release the sprites were edited to have the breasts covered with a bra/bikini top.
Final Fantasy IV	1991	NA, EU JP (Easy type release)	SNES/GBA/PSP	Removal of suggestive sexualization	Original JP release (SNES), PS1 release (NA/EU).	In the original JP release, and the global PS1 release, the dancing girl in pubs removes her dress to reveal a bikini. However in the NA SNES release, the JP easy type release (SNES) and all releases on GBA & PSP, the undressing animation was removed.

Religion/Religious censorship in video games

Game Name	Year	Region/country	Platform(s)	Type of censorship	Non-censored alternative	Details of censorship
Final Fantasy	1991	NA	NES	Removal of implied nudity	Original JP release	Churches were renamed to clinics and the religious cross symbol featured outside of them was removed.
Final Fantasy IV	1991	NA	SNES	Alteration or removal of religious references	Original JP release	Religious references were altered. The spell "Holy" was renamed "White", and most references to prayer were removed. For example, the Tower of Prayers in Mysidia was renamed the Tower of Wishes.

External links

• www.example.com