Following its initial launch on the PC Engine Super CD-ROM² back in 1994, Tokimeki Memorial has gone on to become one of the most influential dating sims of all time, inspiring ports, sequels, and even a remake for Nintendo Switch that is scheduled to launch next month.
However, in all that time, the game has never received an official release overseas, with its creator Konami seemingly being reluctant to take advantage of the curiosity that has been generated over the years by lengthy video essays, Hall of Fame nominations, and other forms of free publicity. As a result, it has mostly fallen to a handful of fans to give English-speaking players a way to experience the classic title, without the barrier of having to learn an entirely new language to understand what is going on.
Back in 2022, for instance, a translation patch for the Super Famicom version of Tokimeki Memorial was released by Translated Games, which converted all of the important text into English, allowing it to be played from start to finish. And now it appears that another team is currently working away on an unrelated hack for the Sega Saturn port, intending to do the same for that specific version of the game. The only catch? They need more help to help catch and fix some of the issues with the current build.
This patch is being worked on by Burntends, an individual who is leading the team behind the translation of the PS1 title Macross: Do You Remember Love? and is also serving as an editor for the fan translation of the Sega Saturn game Sakura Wars 2. They recently took to Twitter to offer an update on the team's progress on the patch, sharing video and images of what's been done so far, but in the process also issued a "help wanted"-style ad asking for assistance from anyone who knows their stuff and lend a helping hand.
"Got an update for you about Tokimeki Memorial's Sega Saturn," Burntends wrote. "The patch's team has been slowly working on the English translation and is making essentially a help wanted ad. The current patch crashes a lot and we could use people with hacking and debugging experience. Let us know!
If you feel like you might qualify for this, it may be worth reaching out to the Burntends to express your interest.
Here are some of the screenshots Burntends posted of the project so far: