A fan translation has just been released for the Artdink's hot air balloon simulator Kaze No Notam.
Kaze No Notam is a game that was released exclusively in Japan in 1997 for the original PlayStation. It sees players using the wind to steer a balloon around a map and complete different tasks that will change depending on which mode they have selected.
Fly In, for instance, challenges players with locating a land target in the world and firing a marker, while Try Delta has you instead place three points on the map to create a triangle on the map. The last mode Wolf Hunt, meanwhile, is a bit more action-packed, tasking players with hunting down several other balloons and marking them within a time limit.
The game is notable for featuring a title screen and box art from the Japanese illustrator and graphic designer Hiroshi Nagai, an individual who was well-known in the past for creating album artwork for various City Pop artists in the '80s, including artists like Issei Okamoto and Eiichi Ohtaki. In addition to this, it also features a brilliant ambient electronic soundtrack from the former Jaleco employee and Doshin sound designer Yasuyuki Suzuki.
Despite only ever being created for the Japanese market, the game has often been considered to be quite a friendly title for Western fans to get to grips with, as there is some English text present and there is no overarching story that players will be missing out on if they don't have a firm grasp of Japanese. This new fan translation, therefore, is mostly just meant to smooth out the experience, converting the objective screens into English to help players get to grips with what they need to do, and making the interface navigation a little bit smoother.
The patch is the work of a group of translators calling themselves Matizhill, with the credits listing denpakei, Joo, Jv132, and Neo01 as the people responsible for this specific release. According to Jv132, the idea of translating the game into English came about in 2023 after they'd completed a Portuguese patch of the title and later resurfaced after they saw the demand for an English version. Work started earlier this year, and took 4 to 5 days in total, with the team starting the translation process again from scratch.
For those who want to give it a try after reading the above, you can download the patch now from the Romhack Plaza.