Rusty Facelift

The folks over at Tiny Cartridge have discovered a couple of interesting design changes made to Rusty's Real Deal Baseball during the localization process. Nintendo's next foray into free-to-play garnered some attention for its unconventional take on the model, which involves in-game haggling to lower the real life cost of additional content.

That being said, it seems Nintendo felt some aesthetic alterations were needed to help Western gamers fully appreciate the title. Specifically, Rusty himself has undergone a full makeover — in a side-by-side comparison of the two versions, Rusty's original incarnation features traits easily identifiable with its Japanese origins, while the Western version adorns him with large eyes and a more general "cartoon dog" look. Also of note is the box art for the game behind Rusty, on which the batter's design is slightly different: blond hair and wide blue eyes replace the dark hair and closed eyes of the original.

What's your take on the redesign Rusty underwent on his way to Western shores? Are you a fan, or do you actually like the designs in Japan more?

[source tinycartridge.com]