Rod Land on Famicom and Game Boy: The Japanese Cartridges and Their Product Codes

Rod Land began as a Jaleco arcade game in April 1990. Two fairies, Tam and Rit, climb a tower to rescue their mother, catching monsters with a magic rod and slamming them into the floor. Its home versions were mostly European computer releases. In Japan it came home twice, on two Nintendo cartridges — the Famicom in December 1992 and the Game Boy in May 1993 — under the title 妖精物語ロッド・ランド, Yōsei Monogatari Rod Land, “fairy story Rod Land”.

Both are easier to stumble into this year than to find on purpose. In August 2026 the Famicom version arrived on Nintendo Switch as a download, and since 2024 a brand-new Rod Land Game Boy cartridge has been on the market. Neither of them is the Japanese cartridge. This guide covers what the two Japanese releases are, how they differ from the arcade game, and how to find each one by its product code: JF-39 for the Famicom, DMG-RLJ for the Game Boy.

• Japanese title: 妖精物語ロッド・ランド (Yōsei Monogatari Rod Land), published by Jaleco (ジャレコ)
• Famicom: 11 December 1992 · product code JF-39 · 6,500円 before tax
• Game Boy: 21 May 1993 · product code DMG-RLJ · 3,900円 including tax
• Original: Jaleco arcade game, April 1990, released only in Japan
• On Switch since 6 August 2026: City Connection’s ジャレコレ ファミコン編 (Jaleco Collection, Famicom edition) release, 990円 — the Famicom game plus its European version, download only
• Not the Japanese Game Boy cart: the 2024 Retro-Bit collector’s edition sold through Strictly Limited Games and Limited Run Games is the European English version

What is Rod Land, and which versions came out in Japan?

The arcade Rod Land was developed and published by Jaleco and, according to the English Wikipedia article, was “originally only released in Japan in April 1990”. It has no jump button: you move by ladders, and you can conjure one ladder of your own at a time. The home computer versions — Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum — and the NES version were made by the London studio The Sales Curve, and the computer versions were European releases.

Japan got the two Nintendo versions, both published by Jaleco: the Famicom cartridge on 11 December 1992 and the Game Boy cartridge on 21 May 1993. Neither reached North American shelves at the time. Wikipedia says the NES version “was only released in Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Japan”, and Limited Run Games describes its 2024 Game Boy cartridge as the game’s “first official physical release in North America”.

How are the Famicom and Game Boy versions different from the arcade game?

The Famicom version is the more heavily reworked of the two. The English Wikipedia article singles it out as the version that “adds some new platform stages and allows the player to jump”. The Japanese Wikipedia article lists the changes in more detail:

• No second story. The arcade game has a second set of 30 stages after you finish the first; the Famicom version does not
• Jumping, as an option. A setting lets you jump, and you can stomp on enemies to stun them for a while
• Extra stages. Vertically and horizontally scrolling stages were added before two of the boss fights, and one boss fight takes place underwater

Wikipedia does not single out the Game Boy version that way; the one difference it records makes the game easier. In the arcade game you cannot attack while climbing a ladder; on the Game Boy, Wikipedia notes, “the player can strike enemies with the wand even while climbing a ladder, making the game slightly easier to play.”

Is the Switch release, or the new Game Boy cartridge, the Japanese version?

The Switch release is the Famicom game — but not a cartridge. Game Watch reported that City Connection would release ジャレコレ ファミコン編：妖精物語ロッド・ランド on Nintendo Switch on 6 August 2026, priced 990円, as the eighth title in its Famicom line. It is a “2 in 1”: the title screen lets you choose the original Japanese version or the overseas ROD LAND, which City Connection calls the European version. The overseas version adds a tutorial and more option settings, and both can be played with Japanese subtitles. City Connection also turns the jump setting on by default. Outside Japan it is sold as JALECOlle Famicom Ver. ROD LAND: the US Nintendo eShop lists it at $7.99, released 5 August 2026, with Japanese and English as its languages, and Nintendo’s UK store lists the same title with the same release date and languages. If you want to play the Famicom Rod Land, this is the easy way. If you want to own it, it is still the 1992 cartridge — and a Famicom cartridge needs a Famicom, since its 60-pin board does not fit an NES without an adapter.

The arcade original is coming back too. JALECO ARCADE COLLECTION Vol.2, announced in July 2026 and published by Gravity Game Arise, includes the arcade Rod Land; its official site lists Steam, Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5, with physical editions for Switch and PS5, and gives the release date as “Expected Winter 2026” — the arcade game, not either Japanese cartridge.

The new Game Boy cartridge is not the Japanese version. In 2024 Strictly Limited Games and Retro-Bit took pre-orders for a Rod Land Game Boy collector’s edition, sold in North America through Limited Run Games. The publisher’s FAQ is explicit: “The Game Boy® version is the European English version,” and the licensing has been updated in the game, “which is reflected on the title screen.” The same release included an NES cartridge of the PAL English version. It is a new cartridge of the European version with updated licensing — not the Japanese DMG-RLJ cartridge.

What are the product codes, and how do you use them?

The Famicom cartridge is JF-39. Two independent catalog listings give it — the Japanese game database Pikopiko Daihyakka and a Hard-Off shop listing — and a product-code search at Suruga-ya for JF-39 returns this game and nothing else.

The Game Boy cartridge is DMG-RLJ. The Game Boy Database lists it as the code on the box flap, the manual and the cartridge itself, and a Suruga-ya code search for DMG-RLJ again returns only this game. Type the long form with the country suffix, DMG-RLJ-JPN, and Suruga-ya returns nothing, so leave the suffix off.

Neither code is in the Agency for Cultural Affairs Media Arts Database, which Kataban’s catalog is built on. We added both on 12 September 2026 from the sources above, so the catalog cards for the two cartridges now show them.

The codes also give you cleaner results than the title. At Suruga-ya on 18 September 2026, the code searches returned five Famicom listings (two of them misspelled ロットランド) and three Game Boy listings, all of them Rod Land. The title search ロッドランド returned 25, seven of them arcade circuit boards.

Where can you buy the Japanese cartridges today?

Suruga-ya: one of each, the day we checked. On 18 September 2026 Suruga-ya had one Famicom copy in stock, listed as 美品 (near-mint condition) at ¥13,900–¥33,200, and one Game Boy copy, listed as 説明書不備 (manual incomplete or damaged), at ¥12,900–¥70,900. Every other listing was sold out. Suruga-ya hides sold-out items by default, so if a code link below shows zero results, the game is out of stock that day, not missing from the shop.

Japanese auctions: use the short name, then read the titles. Through the proxy service Buyee, ロッドランド returned 17 listings on 18 September 2026: seven Famicom cartridges, four Game Boy cartridges, one Game Boy bundle with other games, one arcade board, two manuals on their own, one flyer covering several Jaleco games, and one box and manual sold without the cartridge. The fuller forms caught much less — 妖精物語ロッド・ランド ファミリーコンピュータ (the full title plus “Family Computer”) returned three and the Game Boy equivalent two — because sellers spell the name several ways. So search short, and check each title before you bid: ファミコン or FC for the Famicom, ゲームボーイ or GB for the Game Boy, and skip 説明書のみ (manual only), 基板 (arcade board), チラシ (flyer) and 箱・説明書 (a box and manual with no cartridge — not the same as 箱説付, which means the cartridge comes with its box and manual).

eBay: good for the Famicom cart, not for the Japanese Game Boy one. Searching Rod Land famicom (measured 18 September 2026, from Japan) returned nine exact matches, all listed as the Famicom Rod Land. Rod Land game boy returned 36, and the first twelve were seven copies of the Retro-Bit edition, four European cartridges and one European manual on its own. Filtering by eBay’s NTSC-J (Japan) region left no Japanese Rod Land Game Boy listings at all. For the Japanese Game Boy cartridge, use Suruga-ya or Buyee.

Why search Kataban in Japanese?

Because the English name only finds one of the two cartridges. The catalog stores the English title Rod Land on the Game Boy entry only, and the Famicom entry’s reading is a single run-together word. So Rod Land on Kataban returns the Game Boy cartridge and misses the Famicom one. ロッドランド returns both, each with its product code, the release date and the kana to look under on a Japanese shelf (ヨ, in the や row). JF-39 or DMG-RLJ takes you straight to one cartridge.

Yōsei Monogatari Rod Land (Rod Land) · 妖精物語ロッド・ランド · Famicom 1992 (JF-39) · Game Boy 1993 (DMG-RLJ) · Jaleco (ジャレコ)

Where to buy: Suruga-ya.jp — Famicom (JF-39) · Suruga-ya.jp — Game Boy (DMG-RLJ) · Buyee · eBay — Famicom
Search for both cartridges on Kataban →

One arcade game, two Japanese cartridges, and two newer releases that look like shortcuts but are not. The Switch release is the best way to play the Famicom version today, and the Retro-Bit cart is a fine way to own a Game Boy Rod Land. If it is the Japanese original you are after, the codes are what to look for: JF-39 and DMG-RLJ.