Helping Hand: 高速バトルカードヒーロー (Card Hero) Part 1

HDRL is here to help. Not only do we shed new light on our fledgling industry with weekly editorials and offer reviews on the niche import games that no one else bothers to tell you about, we also want to make import gaming as smooth as possible, even for those who know little to no Japanese.

While many import games get their fair share of translations and guides, some of the less popular and lesser known often slip through the cracks. With Helping Hand, we hope to offer initial tutorials for games that might be particularly hard to learn without knowledge of the Japanese language.

Our first Helping Hand tutorial will cover Intelligent System’s Kousoku Battle Card Hero, the card based Strategy RPG for the DS. This is Part 1 of the tutorial, which covers translation of the main menu and its sub menus. Let’s begin.

Getting Started

When you first turn on Card Hero, you will be asked to choose your name. While the keyboard uses hiragana by default, the light blue buttons on the left side can be used to switch between hiragana, katakana, and English. It is your choice whether or not you choose to name yourself in Japanese, or in English.

Once that is completed, the game will offer you two choices: ひらがな (hiragana) or 漢字まじり (kanji). Choosing hiragana will force all card descriptions in the game to appear only in hiragana and katakana. This is designed for younger players who still do not have a lot of kanji under their belt. This is also helpful for import gamers who know how to read kana but cannot read kanji. For import gamers who know zero Japanese, we recommend choosing kanji, as hiragana is actually very strenuous on the eyes after prolonged gaming sessions.

Once you have made your choice, the game proper will begin.

NOTE: All Japanese in this tutorial uses the kanji, rather than the hiragana.

Main Menu

While players will start with the story as soon as they’ve created their save file, the main menu will soon become an important part of the game as the player progresses. Let’s quickly take a look at everything the player can do from the main menu.

ストーリ (Story)

This is the meat of the single player game. The game progresses in a linear chapter based fashion, involving multiple conversations with other characters, and eventually card battles. After finishing a particular chapter, if you wish to return to the main menu instead of continue the story, choose メインメニュ (main menu) at the End of Chapter menu, instead of 次へ (Next).

センターモール (Center Mall)

Center Mall is the best place to practice and earn some points (more about that later). While there are four game modes to choose from, only one mode, Speed Battle, will be open to players at first. As players unlock the subsequent modes in the story, they will become available in Center Mall. (Center Mall becomes available in the main menu once the player has progressed in the story a specific amount)

カードショップ (Card Shop)

This is where players can buy, sell, and even create cards for their decks. The currency of choice in the card shop is the point. Points are earned by challenging players at Center Mall. Once entering the card shop, there are four available options:

ブーストパック (Booster Pack)

Players can purchase booster packs of three cards, from one of the four sets: World of Quest, Monster Squad, Fantasy Lords, or Last Imperial. When purchasing a pack, merely drag it with the stylus down to the drop box at the bottom, and then touch the drop box. To purchase the chosen pack, click 買う (Buy). To cancel the purchase, click 買わない (Don’t Buy). To purchase more packs before you continue, click カードをカラにする.

シングルカード (Single Card)

Much like real life card shops, the card shop in Card Hero allows players to buy single cards, but at inflated prices. Be careful what you purchase from the Single Card section, as the selection is randomized, and some cards are way overpriced.

カードを売る (Sell Card)

This is where players can sell their cards for points. Prices are not based on strength of the card, but rather rarity, so be careful when selling cards. To sell cards, drag the card from your collection to the blue drop box at the bottom right. Clicking the drop box will bring you to a screen showing a list of the cards you are about to sell. To go back, click the red arrow. To confirm, click ウル (Sell).

ブレンドくん　(Blend-kun/Mr. Blend)

Using Mr. Blend, players can make new cards using a combination of three cards they already own. Recipes are required to perform a blend, and recipes can either be unlocked by progressing through the story, or by downloading them periodically from the Wi-Fi download service.

The Card shop will appear in the main menu after progressing the story to a certain degree.

NOTE: When exiting out of a purchase or sale in the card shop, the game will always ask you if you are sure you want to continue.  The orange button that says ハイ means yes, while the blue button that says イイエ means no.

コレクション (Collection)

This is where players can see the collection of all the cards they have owned throughout their game time. Even if a player sells the last of a specific card, its information remains in the collection database.

デッキ (Deck)

This is where players can adjust the cards that are currently in their decks. While players will only have a Speed Battle deck to work with at first, they will eventually also unlock Junior, Senior and Pro decks as the story progresses. Deck management is very easy. Players move up and down the deck row using either the stylus or the D-pad, and drag cards in and out of the deck using the stylus. Most of it should be fairly self-explanatory.

ワイヤレス (Wireless)

This is the option players will use to engage in wireless battles or trading with other DS users in the same area. Wireless does not appear in the main menu until after significant progress in the game story.

Wi-Fi

This is the only option that requires no translation. Card Hero supports Wi-Fi battling, trading as well as periodic downloads from Nintendo’s servers. To log into the Wi-Fi network, choose Wi-Fiツウシン. To check your list of friend codes, choose トモダチコード. To check Wi-Fi settings, choose Wi-Fiセッティ. Wi-Fi does not appear in the main menu until after significant progress in the story.

オプション (Options)

This is where the player can change technical settings for the game, as well as check mail from game characters and Nintendo themselves.

マイデータ (My Data) shows life time wins and losses, as well as the player’s birthday.

パスワード (Password) sets a password on your data.

メール (Mail) is where players can check their character’s mail.

ナマエヘンコウ (Name Change) is where players can change their character’s name.

セッティ (Settings) is where players can adjust BGM volume, switch between hiragana and kanji, adjust message speed and switch between headphone and speaker sound.

This is the end of Part 1. Part 2 will cover rule sets for all four game modes, as well as the rules of Center Mall, trading with opponents, and how to understand card attacks.

Was this tutorial helpful? Should we bother doing this for other games? Is there an old feature you want see come back? Let us know, by dropping us a line in the comments box below!