It’s too easy picking out English games from a chart and call it a top 10, that’s why Next Generation has an article breaking down the 10 best games released in Japan this year. As quoted below, they point out some succesful games you’ll have heard from, but also some gems that have yet to be released in America/Europe.
Popular: “Nintendo re-releases Super Mario Bros. on Gameboy so many times because it allows them to run commercials wherein pop-stars get surprised at how tiny the Gameboy Micro is. The re-release of the Famicom Mini re-release of Super Mario Bros., first released in 2004, was the top-selling Japanese game released in 2005 for dubious reasons. It evoked cheap nostalgia for a game we played long ago.”
Underdog: “What Bumpy Trot does, however shrewdly, is introduce us to something we can like as much as we used to like things like it. It’s a remarkable feat. That it sold more than a hundred thousand copies in Japan following no publicity is a small miracle. If these words don’t make you think I’m some kind of weirdo, then when it’s released in English by the heroes at Atlus, do yourself a favor and pick it up. You’ll be pleasantly surprised.”