Ratalaika and Shinyudenhave announced that, yes, they are going to localizeKaizō Chōjin Shubibinman Zerofor the West asCyber Citizen Shockman Zero. It will be coming to consoles on July 5.
Ratalaika has been steadilyworking throughtheShockmanseries alongside Shinyuden, and, perhaps most importantly, has gone to the effort of translating the games for other regions. By my count,Cyber Citizen Shockman Zerois the last stop on their journey, completing the entire series.
Cyber Citizen Shockman Zerois unique in a lot of ways. While the previousShockmangames were all released on the PC-Engine (with the second game being the only one that made it to the Turbografx 16),Shockman Zerowas developed for Super Famicom. According to MobyGames, development of it completed in 1994, but it was delayed and eventually became exclusive to Nintendo’s Japan-only Satellaview add-on, which was a service to temporarily download games via modem. Eventually, it got pressed to cartridge, but when I say eventually, I mean back in 2017 as a boutique (again, Japan-only) release by Columbus Circle.
More recently, there was a fan translation forKaizō Chōjin Shubibinman Zerolast year.Writing about that, I said, “This might be the closest we ever get to an official translation.” Because I’m very confident that the universe specifically sets me up to be proven wrong, I will now take all the credit forCyber Citizen Shockman Zerogetting officially translated. You’re welcome.
Cyber Citizen Shockman Zerois a platformer not all that far removed from theMega Manseries. The big difference is that the protagonists don’t shoot the enemies, instead getting up-close and personal like you’d see in a beat-’em-up. Also, it has two-player co-op.
Cyber Citizen Shockman Zerois releasing for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Switch on July 5. It will run you $6.99 USD.
