Joust (NES)

Joust
Developer: HAL Laboratory Publishers: HAL Laboratory (JP), HAL America (US) Platform: NES Released in JP: October 30, 1987 Released in US: October 1988 This game has regional differences.

Joust is notable for being one of the earliest NES games programmed by the late Satoru Iwata.

Regional Differences

Title Screen

Japan	US (Title)	US (Menu)

The US version completely redesigns the title screen, adding some extra copyright info, and moves the main menu so it replaces the added copyright info after pressing Select once. (Pressing Start automatically starts Game A and bypasses the menu entirely.)

If the 1983 copyright date and striking resemblance to early NES title screens in the Japanese release seem unusual, that's because this and three other Atari games (Millipede, Stargate, and an unknown title that was never released) were originally created as part of an abandoned deal for Atari to distribute the Famicom in western regions. The development of these were outsourced to HAL, who ended up self-publishing the titles a few years after the deal was abandoned.

Of the three, this one had the most notable legacy: head programmer Satoru Iwata was later brought on to develop the console version of Balloon Fight, a game which shares numerous gameplay similarities with Joust.

Splash Screen

A "WELCOME TO JOUST" screen was added for the US version. This also shows off the game's other new font.

Graphics

Japan	US

The graphics were greatly changed, adding much more detail.