The Magic of Scheherazade/Japanese differences

Hero changes

 * Hero's features more anime inspired eyes.
 * You do not start out with the first Rod, you must earn it.
 * Oprin is not a magic spell that you may cast any time you like. It must be purchased in packs of five like an item.
 * New levels of experience are reached much more slowly. The only way to level up is by heading down into Japanese version-only caves and talking to a woman there after accumulating enough experience. There's one such cave in each world.
 * Because Oprin is an item, you will begin the game with 0 maximum MP, and you will not earn any until Level 2.
 * At Level 2, you learn Bolttor 1, Pampoo, Defenee, and another spell that makes invulnerable enemies vulnerable to your attacks.

Overworld/Towns

 * The worlds in each chapter are substantially bigger. Map making is especially recommended in order to prevent getting lost.
 * There are a lot more underground dungeons to find and explore.
 * Changarl will attack you on the screen before the bridge leading to Horen in the past. The fight is extremely difficult if you don't possess the rod (which conveniently is in Horen). If you do have one, it's a good way to build up money, since he drops a yen bag worth 20 coins every time you kill him.
 * There's an MP star at the north end of the map of Chapter 1; no MP star exists in the first world of the North American version.
 * You may be assaulted by invulnerable thieves in the past; you can't harm them with your rod or sword unless you cast the spell which makes them vulnerable
 * You change your items/magic on the fly without going to the subscreen. Pressing to pause the game and select your A/B button options with the control pad.
 * Some of the field enemies are drawn differently; the most notable are the monsters that pop out of the water to shoot you.
 * The University charges 100 Rupias for admission, and 50-80 Rupias for the courses. Two of the three courses involve formations, and the third teaches you about Monecom.

Sound

 * Most music is different throughout the game.
 * The first town music is mostly the same as the shop music in the North American version. Other towns use a completely different tune.
 * The field music of the Japanese version is different in the presence of any enemies, not just certain enemies as in the North American version.
 * Many sound effects are different. The sound effect for the coins is very reminiscent of the sound effect in Super Mario Bros.

Dungeons

 * Even in the first chapter, dungeons can span multiple floors, although they all contain only one enemy type.
 * There are a lot of rooms where you can talk to people or buy stuff, as if you went into a building in a town.
 * There's a room in the third level of one of the dungeons where you are permitted to level up if you have enough experience points.

Turn based battles

 * There is no Escape command in the first or second phases before battle; The first menu only has Fight and Bribe, and the second only has party construction options.
 * The game does not automatically allocate bread and mashroob to battle partners, you must manually allocate them every time.
 * Coronya is considerably more powerful in the Japanese version; she has 30 HP and 50 MP at start, and her magic rod deals 2 points of damage at Level 1, instead of only 1.
 * The designs of the enemy sprites are all different.

Story

 * The prologue of the game appears when you turn on the game as opposed to when you start a new game.
 * There is no animation of your hero being sucked into a time door when you start the game in the Japanese version. In fact, there are no time doors at all; when you do travel through time, you are sucked into the void.
 * North Cape is still in Chapter 1, and Horen is still submerged in the Present.
 * Faruk is not located in the same place in the past; his house contains a generic woman.

Misc.

 * Passwords do not contain the chapter numbers that identify what level you wish to continue from.
 * The Casino in the first world is in the underwater town of Horen. The background turns from blue to green specifically for this screen.
 * In one of the caves, you can enter a room with an old man in it. He'll ask you to say a secret password. If you type it in correctly, you'll get the Great Magic.
 * Chapter 1 boss Gilga fires many more projectiles in the Japanese version.
 * You don't rescue any princesses after you beat a boss in this game. You collect a Star instead.
 * Kebabu gets two formations in this game, one with Coronya (a wind attack), and Moniburn with Faruk.
 * On the overworld, you can have Faruk zap an enemy. It costs some of his MP, but he has plenty to spare.

Progress through Chapter 1

 * 1) Go to the second town and talk to Jad. He'll tell you of the cave in the eastern island.
 * 2) Upon entering the cave, a man will give you the Scimitar.
 * 3) With the Scimitar, you can jump into the North Cape and swim to Horen, where you'll find Faruk.
 * 4) Then you use Oprin (which you must purchase) to go back into the past.
 * 5) Just south of Horen you need to use Oprin. There you'll meet Kebabu, who'll ask you two questions. Answer No, then Yes, or else you'll get a Game Over.
 * 6) Level up, learn all the formations in Horen, etc.
 * 7) With Kebabu in tow, you can get into the underwater castle and beat Gilga.