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GAME TRANSLATE · SNES · ENGLISH PATCH v1.0
Bakumatsu Kourinden ONI
English Translation
Banpresto’s 1996 Super Famicom RPG, playable in English from the opening raid on the Ikedaya to the staff roll. The patch also adds quality-of-life features the original never had: auto battle, a map for every dungeon and a switch for random encounters.
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About the game
YouTube video player
Bakumatsu Kourinden ONI (Legend of Bakumatsu) is a Super Famicom entry in Banpresto’s long-running ONI series, set in the last, chaotic years of the Tokugawa shogunate. It opens in Kyoto in the summer of 1864, the night the Shinsengumi storm the Ikedaya Inn, and then cuts to Iida Town, where a village boy named Yamato is about to learn that he carries the blood of the Oni.
What follows is a long journey across Japan and beyond: youkai hiding in the mountains, the Shinsengumi and their secret “Shadow” unit, a Shogun with plans of his own, and the Spirit Holes that quietly hold the country together. Along the way you recruit dozens of NPC allies, learn summons from gods and spirits, build a village for friendly youkai and fight at sea on your own ship. Your karma changes how people treat you, and some choices can’t be undone.
Screenshots
What’s translated
New features
Horizontal text box
The original prints Japanese text in a narrow vertical column. The patch replaces it with a wide horizontal box (three lines of English, portrait on the left) and a font drawn to match the original’s look. Your hero’s name can be up to 8 letters (default: Yamato).
Auto Battle
Press L+R at the battle command menu. “Auto: ON” appears in the corner and your party keeps attacking on its own until you press L+R again. The setting is kept in your save file.
Random encounters On / Off
Open the menu, go to Settings and set Enemy to Off to walk around without random battles, for example when backtracking to a chest. Story battles and bosses still happen. Switch it back to On whenever you want to level up.
Area map
Press R in any cave, mountain, forest or dungeon (84 areas) to see the whole map: paths, your position (blinking dot) and every unopened treasure chest. Chests you’ve already opened disappear from the map. Press R, A, B or X to close it.
Tougher bosses
ONI is an easy game once you have a few allies, so every boss and sub-boss now has double HP, including the final battle. Regular enemies, random encounters and the low-karma duels are unchanged.
Small fixes
Longer town names in the Feather warp list, clearer “EXP” and “Next” labels in the party and ship menus, and English everywhere the original used Japanese graphics.
Controls added by the patch
| WHERE | BUTTON | WHAT IT DOES |
|---|---|---|
| Battle command menu | L+R | Auto Battle on / off |
| Caves, mountains, forests, dungeons | R | Open the area map |
| Area map | R A B X | Close the map |
| Menu → Settings → Enemy | ← → | Random encounters On / Off |
How to patch
- Get a clean Japanese ROM. You need your own dump of Bakumatsu Kourinden ONI (Japan): 4 MB, no copier header. Check it before patching:
CRC32 1CF3C877SHA-1 a24edc1cdb730792f2d1d2a474121fec24a64cf9
If the file is 4,194,816 bytes it has a 512-byte header; remove it first (Rom Patcher JS can do this for you). We can’t share ROMs, so please don’t ask. - Download and unzip the patch. Inside is
Bakumatsu Kourinden ONI (English) v1.0.ipsand a readme. - Apply the IPS. The easiest way is Rom Patcher JS in your browser: choose the ROM, choose the .ips, click Apply patch. On desktop you can also use Floating IPS (Flips).
- Check the result. The patched ROM is 6 MB (it was expanded to fit the English text):
CRC32 914FB62DSHA-1 b51b6b43f3d8780aa26c90c712c70236d040a8de - Play. Tested in Mesen. Any accurate emulator that runs large “ExHiROM” games such as Tales of Phantasia should work (bsnes, ares, a recent Snes9x). On real hardware, use a flash cart that supports ExHiROM, such as the FXPak Pro.
Updating from an older build? Always patch a fresh copy of the clean Japanese ROM, never a ROM you already patched. Your in-game save (.srm) carries over; emulator save states made with older builds can show a garbled text box until you enter a new area, so save at a Jizo statue before switching.
Known issues
- Double boss HP is built into this version and can’t be switched off.
- The area map only exists in dungeons, caves, mountains and forests. Towns and the world map don’t need one.
Found a typo or a line that reads oddly? Leave a comment below with where it happened (a screenshot helps) and it’ll be fixed.
Guides for this game
We also wrote a full English guide that uses the same names as the patch:
- Complete walkthrough: every main and side quest in play order, with maps, chests and shops
- Missables: everything you can lose for good, and when
- Karma guide: every choice that raises or lowers karma
- Secrets & hidden mechanics
FAQ
Is the translation complete?
Yes. Every line of dialogue, every menu and every battle message is in English, from the opening to the staff roll.
Does turning encounters Off also skip boss fights?
No. It only stops random battles. Story battles, bosses and fights you trigger by talking to someone still happen.
Why is the patched ROM bigger than the original?
English takes more space than Japanese, and the new features need room too, so the ROM is expanded from 4 MB to 6 MB (the same “ExHiROM” layout Tales of Phantasia uses).
My emulator shows a black screen.
Check the patched ROM against the CRC32 above. If it doesn’t match, your original ROM was not the clean Japanese version or still had a header. If it matches, try Mesen or bsnes: some older emulators don’t support ExHiROM.
Can I upload the patch to another site?
Not without permission. Please share the link to this page instead, so everyone gets the latest version. If you’d like to host or mirror it, email gametranslate.us@gmail.com. Pre-patched ROMs must never be shared: the game itself still belongs to Banpresto.
Sharing & redistribution
⚠️ Please don’t re-upload this patch
This patch took months of translation and ROM hacking. To keep one up-to-date, safe copy for everyone:
- Do not upload the patch file (or a pre-patched ROM) to any other website, file host, forum, Discord server or ROM site without written permission from Game Translate.
- Do link to this page instead. Sharing the link is always welcome, and it means people get the latest version and the install guide.
- Don’t sell the patch, put it behind a paywall, or bundle it with ROMs, repro carts or any paid product.
- Videos, streams and let’s plays are welcome. A link back to this page in the description is appreciated.
Want to host or mirror it, or include it in a collection? Just ask at gametranslate.us@gmail.com. We usually say yes.
Credits
Translation, ROM hacking & tools: belfallen (Game Translate)
Original game: © 1996 Banpresto / Pandora Box
v1.0 · September 29, 2026 · first public release
Enjoying ONI in English? This patch is free and always will be. If it let you finally play it, a coffee helps fund the next translation.
⬇ Download patch v1.0ZIP · 1.1 MB · freeStuck on the ad page? Read the download guide.
Lee
Hey, fantastic effort, really loving it so far. I came across a typo error at the weapons shop in Kyou:
On the Gamefaqs guide the weapon at 320G is the Zangetsu, the one at 440G is the Zantetsuken: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/snes/571423-bakumatsu-korinden-oni/faqs/77488
Regards
Game Translate Author
Hey, thanks for the kind words and for taking the time to report this!
I just double-checked the weapon shop in Kyou, and everything seems to be correct on my end. Zangetsu is listed at 320G, while Zantetsu is 440G, so the prices match the guide.
Thanks again for keeping an eye out for potential errors. I really appreciate it! 🙂
Lee
@Game Translate I thought I’d provided an image, my bad.
The town’s called Kyoto in your translation, think it’s the same place as I mentioned in the guide or perhaps I got that mixed up.
I’m obviously blind too haha, it does indeed state Zantetsu…errh, I’ll endeavour to be more thorough in future! sorry.