It took what... 2 years for the Japanese version to get translated?
They dropped the ball big time.
Layton 1 was pretty popular when it was new, now you can't expect people to really give a shit, they've moved on.
If 2 had been released soon after 1, I'd have been all over it, I had a blast with the first game. Now I don't care.
Besides, I never really liked doing I HAFF TWELVE MATCHSTEEK problems while I was supposed to be chasing some mysterious kidnapper across moonlit streets. It was just silly.