A Hudson JRPG based on Momotaro, with charming Japanese folklore humor. Long and chatty, for offbeat narrative fans.
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Category
Board / Card Game1 player3+
Description
RPG featuring Momotaro traversing mythological Japan to battle demons. Published by Hudson Soft, released in Japan in 1993. Top-down exploration of traditional Japanese regions, turn-based combat and ally recruitment system. Sequel in the Momotaro Densetsu series on Super Famicom.
Shin Momotarou Densetsu review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
4/5
Music
★★★★★
"Excellent"
4/5
Story
★★★★★
"Captivating"
Hudson draws on Japanese popular imagery: thatched roof villages, red bridges, mountains in flat washes recalling woodblock prints, and a bestiary of horned oni taken from children's tales. The palette favours warm tones and crisp outlines, so the screen looks more like a picture book than a role playing world.
The instrumentation stays traditional throughout: bamboo flutes, plucked strings, festival drums and shrine bells. The village themes are built on old scales, the fights add tighter percussion without changing vocabulary, and the whole thing sounds like a troupe of travelling storytellers rather than an orchestra.
The story takes up the tale of Momotaro and unfolds it across an entire country: the boy born from a peach travels the provinces, recruits his animal companions and faces demons lodged even inside the administration. The tone stays good natured, yet the game allows itself moral detours unexpected for an adaptation of a children's legend.
Complete: box, manual and disc/cart very clean. Lightly handled.
Q1 damagedQ6 completeQ10 new
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Collector interest
A 1993 Hudson Super Famicom RPG, Japan-exclusive on original cartridge, based on the Momotarou folklore. The Rev 1 fixes several scrutinised bugs. The cart is culturally interesting because it offers a Japanese folklore RPG transposition uncommon on SNES. Intact boxed CIB with cardboard sleeve and illustrated Hudson manual has become a target for niche Hudson SFC collectors, and the cote climbs steadily, sustained by physical scarcity and by the singularity of the folkloric subject.
Is Shin Momotarou Densetsu still worth playing in 2026?
Never released outside Japan, Shin Momotarou Densetsu is a Hudson JRPG inspired by Japanese folklore, namely the hero Momotaro and his monkey, dog and pheasant companions traveling a world halfway between fable and Showa era postcard. The combat system stays classic but readable and the dialogues mix humor with tenderness. A fan translation exists. Recommended to fans of folklore tinted Japanese JRPG and to those curious about the Momotaro branch Hudson long cultivated away from Western markets.
