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Myself, I've picked up somewhere around 130 imports over the years, and it's been a mixed bag. I've had Seiken Densetsu 3 for years, and it's pretty dull on the whole. The sequels I've listed were ones I thought really stood on their own merits (save maybe a hair of fanboying over Mother 3). For instance, Dragon Force II newly allowed two types of units to be used in the same army, which drastically changed the tactics of the battles. Ogre Battle for NGPC was much like the SNES release, only portable and multiplayer (with new story I was unable to follow due to the language barrier). Mother 3 was very English friendly with its icon-based item menus and distinct events that gave you a decent clue of what to do next. Elevator Action Returns took the base concept of Elevator Action but actually infused action into it, with tons of shooting and weapons that became a very fun multiplayer game.

There are other whole franchises I really like, such as the ONI games for SNES (Kishin Korinden Oni and Bakumatsu Korinden Oni). Both are RPGs with fast-paced battles, lush graphics, and a neat setting (feudal Japan) that hasn't been used in many traditional RPGs (another good one was the Rurouni Kenshin PSOne game):



My roommate's been hooked on the Another Century's Episode games for PS2, which are basically Armored Core with anime robots from tons of various series replicating their missions, even done by From Software.

Some of my biggest disappontments were Lunar: Magic School for Saturn, Bahamut Lagoon for SNES, Taito Memories vol.2 (volume one was fantastic), and Macross M3 for Dreamcast.

I don't think for me it's so much the grass is always greener so much as that I prefer 2D games by and large, and there's a huge playground of imports out there (though so many suck ass).

Tweeter, were the old Tales games really that good? I've only played Tales of Destiny for Playstation (I've never done Phantasia or any of the others), and it was okay.

Yeah, a game genie'll do it for you on SNES. A Game Shark will play just about anything on Dreamcast, and the N64 Game Shark works as well, though the only really popular imports on N64 were Sin and Punishment and the Evangelion action game on it (Animal Crossing debuted there as well, but there's no reason to play that in Japanese on an older system other than to satisfy curiosity). A game genie will take care of most Genesis games, or just a Genesis 3 has a wide enough cartridge slot for anything. 3DO games are entirely interchangeable (no one cares, and with good reason), as are any Game Gear, Game Boy of any variety, and DS games. NES games simply require a cartridge converter, which you can buy easily or just rip out of an old copy of Gyromite by popping it open. A game shark will do any non-RAM upgraded Saturn games, but a 4-in-1 RAM cart is the way to go to play anything. Turbo Grafx CD plays imports out of the box provided that you have the appropriate system card, but the HuCard games require either a conversion card or an entire Japanese system. PS2 has crappy mod devices, and you're best off just buying a Japanese system. Master System's entirely interchangeable. I'm leaving more out, but maybe that's a little helpful, mobiusclimber.

I have to admit, I haven't tried any multidisc Saturn imports. My Panzer Saga, Enemy Zero, D, etc. are all the domestic versions. Modding a Saturn's not too difficult with a soldering iron, though, and neither is a Playsation. If you're into Playstation or PS2 imports, I'd strongly suggest just getting a Japanese PS2. They're pretty affordable, and a lot of the games that experience early compatibility issues were redone in the PS books series with that fixed, such as Vib Ribbon.

Sega CD does have regional lockout, and though there are cartridges that you can use to circumvent it, they're not really universal for all games. An import unit's not too pricey, though. As far as Genesis imports that are really worth tracking down go, the most popular games are games like Alien Soldier or anime-based titles. I can recommend some I like if you'd want, but it's not the most exciting system for imports, and many of the good games you can get on collections (like Golden Axe III or Alien Soldier) that are on other systems for dirt cheap. Sega CD has a few titles such as Cosmic Fantasy 1 & 2 (which are also on Turbo CD) and some shooters that are somewhat popular for importing, but again, Sega systems were never really import darlings until the Saturn.

One Famicom game I really like, though, for anyone who's into those games is Holy Diver. I've had the cart for awhile, and it's a very solid, if not difficult platformer. The control and graphics have a defined Castlevania air to them, but the magic spells function more like Mega Man weaponry (or I suppose the spells on Totally Rad might be a better comparison).