Obscure 1996 Sega Saturn JRPG Airs Adventure is now playable in English thanks to fan-made patch

This holiday season is going to be particularly exciting as many niche Japanese retro games have received fan translations via English patches. Joining these titles is a Japanese RPG released on the Sega Saturn in 1996 called Airs Adventure. 

Receiving an English patch for the first time, Sega Saturn players finally have a reason to dust off their consoles to play Airs Adventure, which is now available to a global audience after nearly three decades.

Airs Adventure was developed in 1996 via a collaborative effort between Toys Press and May Music. The game puts you in the shoes of a mischievous protagonist, following his light-hearted story. He meets a kind-hearted princess, which leads to a series of events that quickly unfold into quirky quests riddled with humor and turn-based battles.

While the Sega Saturn didn’t receive many critically acclaimed RPGs like its rival, the Sony PlayStation, games like Airs Adventure remained locked to Japan due to language barriers amid the Saturn’s poor performance in Western markets.

One may be curious to ask the obvious question: How did Airs Adventure finally receive an English translation after nearly 30 years? This is all thanks to a Saturn hacker, Hitomi2500, and a passionate team of fans who took it upon themselves to translate the game in early 2025. 

Movement on  Airs Adventure’s English patch was swift as the team shared an in-progress build in March 2025. Now, at the tail end of 2025, the complete English patch for Airs Adventure is finally here.

Fan sites for the Sega Saturn celebrated the English release of Airs Adventure, calling it “an ‘it’s so bad it’s good’ Sega Saturn exclusive to Japan,” which is now finally playable by English speakers.

Gamers eager to try out Airs Adventure can acquire a copy of the game, dump their ROMs, and apply the English patch to their original copies via websites like Romhack.ing.

Airs Adventure isn’t a critically acclaimed title, as reviews from back in the day and retrospectives point out that the game had simplistic 3D visuals with your average turn-based RPG gameplay. It was dubbed a “decent daily grind if you happen to like the genre and are looking for an entry-level experience.”

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