Angel_Arle Sailor Moon reviews
Part 1: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon for GB
Part 3: Nakayoshi to Issho for Famicom
Part 4: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon R for Super Famicom
Part 5: Welcome Nakayoshi Park for GB
Hi everyone! It’s time for me to review another Sailor Moon game however things will be different for this one. For these reviews I wanna go in chronological order for the games but due to this site listing this and the Mega Drive version together I’ll be reviewing that one as well. If that version ever gets its own page then I’ll be moving it to that page but for today you’ll be getting two reviews for this. Hope you enjoy it!
Super Famicom version
You know I never imagined coming back to this game. I think the last time I ever tried replaying this game was in 2017. I really wasn’t a fan of this game. I used to think this game was bad and had sort of resent it somewhat. So, was it any better after coming back to it? Well kind of yes and kind of no. This game was released on August 27th 1993 done by Angel once again.
This game is a 2D beat em up for 1 or 2 players and you’ll be fighting enemies through five different stages all from the Anime. Unlike the last game I discussed, this one is a lot more faithful to the Anime. Though there sadly doesn’t seem to be a plot of any sorts. If the manual tells you then I wouldn’t know as the only story related thing is the ending which is from the last episode of the first season. You have the choice of any of the five inner senshi of the group though be warned that your choice can’t be changed once the game starts so think you can experiment throughout the game. Sadly they don’t offer the most variety when it comes to things outside of some attacks with the biggest one being Minako having a chain whip. Ok wait can we talk about this for a second? Why a chain whip? Is it meant to be the Venus Love Me Chain? If that’s the case then it looks awful but yeah this has always bothered me.
When it comes to moves, here's what you got. Your attack varies among the cast but it’s vital for getting some good damage out so it’s handy to use it periodically. Pressing attack while in the air will do a kick and there’s even a separate kick for Ami and Rei if you jump without moving forward or back. Holding down before doing a kick will have each one do a stun attack letting you get a free attack in or throw. Grabbing an enemy is just as easy as touching them and pressing a direction. You can also hold a direction to throw them at enemies to hit them for small chip damage. If you’re playing as Usagi or Rei they can also pummel if you don’t hold a direction but keep in mind they’ll be knocked out of your grasp once you do the third one. If you press attack and jump at the same time then you’ll do your special move which hits anyone that touches it but costs you life so only use it in a pinch. Lastly there’s your charge special, hold attack until the meter at top is full and you can use their iconic special move from the anime.
The game’s combat is a very mixed bag. It’s actually surprisingly easy to just abuse some tactics in this game. First is your stun move, it’s very easy to just spam this on one enemy and most of them can’t hit you while you’re doing this making for free quick kills if you can get the timing down. One thing you can do with Minako is hit an enemy two times with the chain and move back a bit and keep repeating till you can’t make enough distance away from them and hit them with the third hit as it’s the only one applied with knockback. Throws are disgustingly broken in this game. You see, even if an enemy gets up, as long as they are on screen just wiggle the d-pad left and right on top of them and as they get up they’ll be grabbed again. If there is a wall you can use then throw them at the wall and just hold the direction towards it and they are stuck in an infinite grab loop they can’t get out of. Also involving Minako’s chain is that the AI seems to have poor pathing offscreen as throwing them off screen and spamming the attack button will get them hit by it over and over again. There’s probably some other things I’m forgetting but it can be easy to make this game your bitch with some practice.
Now this might sound like I’m saying the game is easy and it kind of is but this leads into a big problem with the game. It’s so easy for your run to go downhill instantly. You see, you can make this game feel like a joke but one mistake can get you hit taking a lot of damage and at times it can be annoying like to the point of aggravation. It doesn’t help when stages have gimmicks that can hurt your plans and you really don’t want the enemy getting the upper hand on you. If you are playing this game for the first time I’d recommend playing Usagi for your run just because she’s pretty good with the things I mentioned though I find Minako a good choice too but it takes more practice. Another big issue is there are only two buttons that do anything meaning the special move can’t be mapped to its own button. Final Fight had this exact same problem on the Super Famicom and I can’t stand it with either game, you have so many places to map it and you chose none? Though that doesn’t even come close to easily the worst part of the game.
The bosses can die in a ditch for all I care cause they all suck! They are probably the #1 reason why I used to hate this game, play as good as you want in the stages because if you don’t play optimally you are not winning at this game. Bosses like to ignore your attacks or grabs until they do their moves and let me tell you, their damage output is so good that it’s insane how fast you can die to them. Some of them also like to rush at you or get in your face after you hit them and I will tell you right now that if you don’t want to risk getting hit, try timing your special attack to dodge it. That might sound nice and all but remember when I mentioned it wasn’t mapped to its own button? Well guess what, sometimes you might get unlucky and it won’t register the move and you’ll instead do a normal attack so bye bye to most of that health. It angers me so much.
Now I will confess after playing this game twice, it can be fun. This might be due to the ways you can cheese the game but I did find myself liking it more than I used to. This game in it’s enemy variety being actual Youma from the Anime and stages referencing the show is nice. It did feel like the team did have a fond appreciation for the show. They even appeal to Manga side somewhat by giving Makoto her Flower Hurricane attack. Ok it’s just one thing but still I like it. I want to make it clear that after all I said about this game so far is that I have no hatred for the developers, I’m sure they tried hard to make a good game and I can see that in this even with the issues.
Here’s some fun trivia for you all. This game would actually get a PAL release using the french language, it does seem to have a lot of errors in the translation but it was given a new logo removing the Pretty Soldier from the title. If you hold X before selecting options you’ll unlock a Nakayoshi difficulty along with Usagi saying it as the options open up. Nakayoshi is basically just easy mode but lets you play the whole game as it normally stops you after the Dream Land stage. For some reason that I’ll never know, if you do down down down right right right up up up left left left up down right left on the eyecatch scene, it’ll make the girl you play as barefoot on this screen. Why is this a thing?? Oddly enough if you use an emulator and disable the sprite layer, you’ll realize the girls were drawn naked first with a clothing sprite layer overlayed on top of it. Granted there’s no like actual boob and stuff there but it’s still so weird to me. Last fact is this was also the first game to have a commercial for it which is pretty neat.
The game graphically is nice but nothing spectacular for the Super Famicom in 1993. I never was too big on the sprites for the girls, I’m not sure why, maybe I’m just used to how they look in later Super Famicom games. The environments and enemies are also right from the show for the most part and I feel it’s enough to make a fan satisfied even if there are some inconsistencies. The music was done by the actual composer for the Anime and it shows as it feels perfect for what the Anime OST was like. In fact there’s even a CD that has these songs in higher quality. Though I will say that because of this, some songs in the actual game sound rather lackluster to me. I mean just compare this to this while it’s not all bad but I can’t help but wish there was a way to play the game with the better versions. Also I can’t stand the ingame version of Dark Kingdom’s theme it sounds so annoying to me. This game also has the voice actors of each girl from the Anime and while the voice quality could be better, it’s still nice to see them here.
This game to me is just a game that’s hard to describe my feelings for. I feel like it could be a good game with enough tweaking but it’s not only frustrating at times but it’s also draining. Especially if you play on the hard mode which has enemies with up to three health bars it’s just not fun at times. The base is decent but there’s some bad design here that keeps it from even being close to good. That said, I don’t think it’s a bad game anymore but that might be because I’ve played so much worse in my life. I wouldn’t personally recommend playing it but if you do like the Anime then I don’t think it would hurt to try but just don’t play on hard, spoiler alert it gives you nothing if you beat it, the ending is the exact same. That’s it for this review and remember, The Moonlight is a Messenger of Love!
Mega Drive version
It’s been almost a full year and now the Mega Drive is getting its own version of the game on the date of July 8th 1994 but this one is rather odd. It’s definitely based on the Super Famicom game but yet it has so many differences that it can honestly stand as its own game. There’s a lot to talk about this one, in fact let me get this out right away I freaking love this game! That’s right I’m probably going to be awfully biased for this one so without further ado let’s get into it.
This one is also a 2D beat em up where once again you play as one of the inner senshi fighting the evil of the Dark Kingdom. This time there is an actual plot with the Dark Kingdom being revived due to the darkness of people’s hearts still existing. At first it’s to be seen in Usagi’s dream but then it turns into reality so it’s up to the girls to stop it once and for all. I’m still kind of confused where this is in the canon but maybe it’s not meant to be. This game even has dialogue for the beginning of the stages and bosses and most of it is unique for each character too! You’ll go through five stages beating up Youma and this time even Jadeite and Nephrite are bosses so all the main guys are here to beat up. Like in the Super Famicom version you can’t swap characters at all once you begin so keep that in mind. Movesets for the girls are mostly the same here but there are some replacements for some moves and even some new ones to play with.
New to this version is a super jump where if you double tap a direction and jump you’ll get a huge leap from it. This also means you have a super kick if you press attack while in midair during the super jump. It should be noted your stun attack is not upgraded during this jump. Charge attacks also now have been changed to remove the charging bar to just let you release it as long as you see the special effect for it. There’s a lot of new changes made but a big one is Ami, Rei, and Makoto have new specials that are oddly all made up for this game which is kind of lame to me like why does Makoto throw out small tornados? New to this game are input moves. All the girls have specific inputs involving three directions with the control pad to do an awesome attack. Usagi will shoot out supersonic waves from her crying that hits enemies above her. Ami can do a bubble uppercut hitting anyone in front of her or closely above. Rei will summon a fire tornado in front of her that has good power and even gives her i-frames during it. Makoto pounds the ground and hits anyone near her. Minako gets a command grab and if it connects it does a whole health bar of damage making it the second strongest move in the game though it lacks range obviously. The last thing I need to say for moves is there is a paper fan item that you can use as a weapon. It’s got massive range and can hit really hard especially when you get hit multiple times during the animation.
Now I bet you weren’t expecting this but it’s time for ANGEL_ARLE TECH TIME! That’s right boys and girls you are getting some useful tech to help you beat the game. The first of two I have to give is if you play as either Usagi, Ami, or Rei, you can do what I called the attack infinite. You see, their normal attack is just a move that hits multiple times with the final one dealing knockback. However if you wait a split second after doing the second last hit and don’t do the final hit, try to keep doing this and they’ll get stuck in it without ever getting knocked out of it. This is a vital strategy so try to practice it because it’ll be easy once you figure it out. The next one I have is the pummel lock and you’ll have to be Usagi or Rei for this. You see there is a programming quirk with an enemy getting out of a grab as holding forward towards them will let you grab them again meaning pummel twice hold forward and wait to regrab and you can pummel them till they are dead. It’s advised to do this when there’s only one enemy. One thing regarding health is you can upgrade it, be on the lookout for one on stage 3-2! If you spawn enemies on the 2nd section and then go left, you’ll find it.
With all that said, the game itself is pretty fun to play for me. Nothing too much here that you haven’t seen from beat em ups of the past but it’s got a lot of good here for me. The level design is what you expect and nothing too awful. The new areas that are new don’t feel too Sailor Moon like to me and you can tell which were taken from the Super Famicom game but they are still fun regardless. Not a fan of 3-1 though where its on small don’t have much room to move on trucks. They are also pretty big, not even letting you stay on just the path you’re on, giving you much room to navigate especially with that super jump.
The Youma variety is somewhat similar to the Super Famicom version but some were cut and some were added. Nothing here is too annoying but I have never been a fan of the clown enemies. They are especially bad when two are around or are around tougher enemies. Bosses this time are also a lot more manageable but that’s probably because you can do those infinites on them. Though we need to talk about Queen Beryl. She is absolutely ruthless in this game if you don’t do the infinite. Her only two moves are one where she throws a projectile constantly making you have to approach her diagonally to not get hit and if you let her summon lightning or you get bad rng then good luck because she can summon up to three and they home in on you and don’t even disappear on contact. Worst of all, the summon gives her i-frames so there’s nothing you can do!
The game once again has three different difficulties but this time you can beat the game on any difficulty. The difficulties really only change two things which are the amount of health every enemy has and the speed of them. They can get fast on hard mode so it’s recommended you practice the game a bit before you decide to challenge it. If you do play on hard mode you’ll actually get a brand new final boss though I won’t spoil what it’s like if you wanna experience it yourself. Just be warned that it’s nothing special. Playing on easy also won’t give you the ending so keep that in mind.
So is there anything I don’t like about the game? Well there is one big thing I have to save. There is absolutely no 2 player mode in this game. This is the one fatal flaw that prevents it from being a 10/10 game for me. Do you have any idea how much I would have loved to play this with a friend? Now granted I get why this was done, it was probably due to the game never boxing you into one screen which would probably cause problems but dammit it still makes me sad! Sailor Venus was nerfed so badly in this game, her chain while looking like the actual Venus Love Me Chain is nice but now it only has a knockback hitbox making it severely weak and due to the tech being different in this game, she has no advantages and her input move is awful on hard mode. Stun attacks are also a lot less useful in this game and Minako’s stun attack is practically useless because of this. Oh I also don’t like the sound of the enemies when you knock them out of the elevator.
Here’s some trivia for ya! When you get to Fake Sailor Moon in 4-1, go back to the beginning of the stage, you’ll be awarded a paper fan! If the sprite sheet for Usagi online is legit then it seems victory animations were planned but were never put into the game. The shout Minako made in the Super Famicom version during a throw was cut but was oddly left in the sound test. An unused song for the game is also still in the sound test. In a magazine ad for this game in Japan, there is a screenshot that seems to be from a beta build for the game as it uses the wrong character portrait. Despite the fact the box has text on it reading the name Chibiusa, she’s actually not in this game at all, this was a carry over from the fact she was in the very last screen of the Super Famicom version hinting at a sequel game. Lastly, try to use bubble uppercut on the chocolate wall in stage 2-2, it lags the game horribly during the move, why do it do that?
The presentation is decent but once again nothing too special.It does once again make for a good game for representing the Anime as a lot of the set pieces are still there. There’s even some nice touches like the eyecatch still being there even having them be in their normal attire for the last one. The sprites in my opinion look better here and I think the size of them look better but that might be just me. Though some don’t look too good like Kunzite with his awful looking eyes. The game also has a really good looking Usagi when you start the game. There’s also nice pictures of each girl for their endings that oddly have their clothing be from a random episode in season 1. The music is kind of a weird thing to talk about as you see it was done by Aki Hata this time and it sounds more video gamey this time and honestly I really like it a lot. I’d argue it’s one of the more underrated OSTs of the system. Sure it doesn’t really match the same feel as the Anime meaning it could be inferior to the Super Famicom OST but I still personally enjoy it more. The voice samples were reused in this game but sadly don’t sound too great which was typical for the system.
This game, despite some issues, is probably one of my favorite comfort games to ever play. I really love replaying this one and have done so like about 50 times by this point. I really respect this game and it’s easily my most biased love for a game out there which in my opinion is fine. I honestly recommend this one easily if you enjoy the series but otherwise it might be a hard sell. There’s a reason this used to be a top five game for me. I’ll never forget the memories with it and I’ll always cherish it. Sadly the actual game is expensive nowadays going for over $100. To this day it is still my favorite Mega Drive game and I expect it to stay that way. That’s all for now and remember, The Moonlight is a Messenger of Love!
Well that was both reviews, hope you all enjoyed that if you got through all of that! Next time we will be looking at something you might not expect so I think I’ll keep it a secret for now but if you know then you know!
Part 1: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon for GB
Part 3: Nakayoshi to Issho for Famicom
Part 4: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon R for Super Famicom
Part 5: Welcome Nakayoshi Park for GB
Hi everyone! It’s time for me to review another Sailor Moon game however things will be different for this one. For these reviews I wanna go in chronological order for the games but due to this site listing this and the Mega Drive version together I’ll be reviewing that one as well. If that version ever gets its own page then I’ll be moving it to that page but for today you’ll be getting two reviews for this. Hope you enjoy it!
Super Famicom version
You know I never imagined coming back to this game. I think the last time I ever tried replaying this game was in 2017. I really wasn’t a fan of this game. I used to think this game was bad and had sort of resent it somewhat. So, was it any better after coming back to it? Well kind of yes and kind of no. This game was released on August 27th 1993 done by Angel once again.
This game is a 2D beat em up for 1 or 2 players and you’ll be fighting enemies through five different stages all from the Anime. Unlike the last game I discussed, this one is a lot more faithful to the Anime. Though there sadly doesn’t seem to be a plot of any sorts. If the manual tells you then I wouldn’t know as the only story related thing is the ending which is from the last episode of the first season. You have the choice of any of the five inner senshi of the group though be warned that your choice can’t be changed once the game starts so think you can experiment throughout the game. Sadly they don’t offer the most variety when it comes to things outside of some attacks with the biggest one being Minako having a chain whip. Ok wait can we talk about this for a second? Why a chain whip? Is it meant to be the Venus Love Me Chain? If that’s the case then it looks awful but yeah this has always bothered me.
When it comes to moves, here's what you got. Your attack varies among the cast but it’s vital for getting some good damage out so it’s handy to use it periodically. Pressing attack while in the air will do a kick and there’s even a separate kick for Ami and Rei if you jump without moving forward or back. Holding down before doing a kick will have each one do a stun attack letting you get a free attack in or throw. Grabbing an enemy is just as easy as touching them and pressing a direction. You can also hold a direction to throw them at enemies to hit them for small chip damage. If you’re playing as Usagi or Rei they can also pummel if you don’t hold a direction but keep in mind they’ll be knocked out of your grasp once you do the third one. If you press attack and jump at the same time then you’ll do your special move which hits anyone that touches it but costs you life so only use it in a pinch. Lastly there’s your charge special, hold attack until the meter at top is full and you can use their iconic special move from the anime.
The game’s combat is a very mixed bag. It’s actually surprisingly easy to just abuse some tactics in this game. First is your stun move, it’s very easy to just spam this on one enemy and most of them can’t hit you while you’re doing this making for free quick kills if you can get the timing down. One thing you can do with Minako is hit an enemy two times with the chain and move back a bit and keep repeating till you can’t make enough distance away from them and hit them with the third hit as it’s the only one applied with knockback. Throws are disgustingly broken in this game. You see, even if an enemy gets up, as long as they are on screen just wiggle the d-pad left and right on top of them and as they get up they’ll be grabbed again. If there is a wall you can use then throw them at the wall and just hold the direction towards it and they are stuck in an infinite grab loop they can’t get out of. Also involving Minako’s chain is that the AI seems to have poor pathing offscreen as throwing them off screen and spamming the attack button will get them hit by it over and over again. There’s probably some other things I’m forgetting but it can be easy to make this game your bitch with some practice.
Now this might sound like I’m saying the game is easy and it kind of is but this leads into a big problem with the game. It’s so easy for your run to go downhill instantly. You see, you can make this game feel like a joke but one mistake can get you hit taking a lot of damage and at times it can be annoying like to the point of aggravation. It doesn’t help when stages have gimmicks that can hurt your plans and you really don’t want the enemy getting the upper hand on you. If you are playing this game for the first time I’d recommend playing Usagi for your run just because she’s pretty good with the things I mentioned though I find Minako a good choice too but it takes more practice. Another big issue is there are only two buttons that do anything meaning the special move can’t be mapped to its own button. Final Fight had this exact same problem on the Super Famicom and I can’t stand it with either game, you have so many places to map it and you chose none? Though that doesn’t even come close to easily the worst part of the game.
The bosses can die in a ditch for all I care cause they all suck! They are probably the #1 reason why I used to hate this game, play as good as you want in the stages because if you don’t play optimally you are not winning at this game. Bosses like to ignore your attacks or grabs until they do their moves and let me tell you, their damage output is so good that it’s insane how fast you can die to them. Some of them also like to rush at you or get in your face after you hit them and I will tell you right now that if you don’t want to risk getting hit, try timing your special attack to dodge it. That might sound nice and all but remember when I mentioned it wasn’t mapped to its own button? Well guess what, sometimes you might get unlucky and it won’t register the move and you’ll instead do a normal attack so bye bye to most of that health. It angers me so much.
Now I will confess after playing this game twice, it can be fun. This might be due to the ways you can cheese the game but I did find myself liking it more than I used to. This game in it’s enemy variety being actual Youma from the Anime and stages referencing the show is nice. It did feel like the team did have a fond appreciation for the show. They even appeal to Manga side somewhat by giving Makoto her Flower Hurricane attack. Ok it’s just one thing but still I like it. I want to make it clear that after all I said about this game so far is that I have no hatred for the developers, I’m sure they tried hard to make a good game and I can see that in this even with the issues.
Here’s some fun trivia for you all. This game would actually get a PAL release using the french language, it does seem to have a lot of errors in the translation but it was given a new logo removing the Pretty Soldier from the title. If you hold X before selecting options you’ll unlock a Nakayoshi difficulty along with Usagi saying it as the options open up. Nakayoshi is basically just easy mode but lets you play the whole game as it normally stops you after the Dream Land stage. For some reason that I’ll never know, if you do down down down right right right up up up left left left up down right left on the eyecatch scene, it’ll make the girl you play as barefoot on this screen. Why is this a thing?? Oddly enough if you use an emulator and disable the sprite layer, you’ll realize the girls were drawn naked first with a clothing sprite layer overlayed on top of it. Granted there’s no like actual boob and stuff there but it’s still so weird to me. Last fact is this was also the first game to have a commercial for it which is pretty neat.
The game graphically is nice but nothing spectacular for the Super Famicom in 1993. I never was too big on the sprites for the girls, I’m not sure why, maybe I’m just used to how they look in later Super Famicom games. The environments and enemies are also right from the show for the most part and I feel it’s enough to make a fan satisfied even if there are some inconsistencies. The music was done by the actual composer for the Anime and it shows as it feels perfect for what the Anime OST was like. In fact there’s even a CD that has these songs in higher quality. Though I will say that because of this, some songs in the actual game sound rather lackluster to me. I mean just compare this to this while it’s not all bad but I can’t help but wish there was a way to play the game with the better versions. Also I can’t stand the ingame version of Dark Kingdom’s theme it sounds so annoying to me. This game also has the voice actors of each girl from the Anime and while the voice quality could be better, it’s still nice to see them here.
This game to me is just a game that’s hard to describe my feelings for. I feel like it could be a good game with enough tweaking but it’s not only frustrating at times but it’s also draining. Especially if you play on the hard mode which has enemies with up to three health bars it’s just not fun at times. The base is decent but there’s some bad design here that keeps it from even being close to good. That said, I don’t think it’s a bad game anymore but that might be because I’ve played so much worse in my life. I wouldn’t personally recommend playing it but if you do like the Anime then I don’t think it would hurt to try but just don’t play on hard, spoiler alert it gives you nothing if you beat it, the ending is the exact same. That’s it for this review and remember, The Moonlight is a Messenger of Love!
Mega Drive version
It’s been almost a full year and now the Mega Drive is getting its own version of the game on the date of July 8th 1994 but this one is rather odd. It’s definitely based on the Super Famicom game but yet it has so many differences that it can honestly stand as its own game. There’s a lot to talk about this one, in fact let me get this out right away I freaking love this game! That’s right I’m probably going to be awfully biased for this one so without further ado let’s get into it.
This one is also a 2D beat em up where once again you play as one of the inner senshi fighting the evil of the Dark Kingdom. This time there is an actual plot with the Dark Kingdom being revived due to the darkness of people’s hearts still existing. At first it’s to be seen in Usagi’s dream but then it turns into reality so it’s up to the girls to stop it once and for all. I’m still kind of confused where this is in the canon but maybe it’s not meant to be. This game even has dialogue for the beginning of the stages and bosses and most of it is unique for each character too! You’ll go through five stages beating up Youma and this time even Jadeite and Nephrite are bosses so all the main guys are here to beat up. Like in the Super Famicom version you can’t swap characters at all once you begin so keep that in mind. Movesets for the girls are mostly the same here but there are some replacements for some moves and even some new ones to play with.
New to this version is a super jump where if you double tap a direction and jump you’ll get a huge leap from it. This also means you have a super kick if you press attack while in midair during the super jump. It should be noted your stun attack is not upgraded during this jump. Charge attacks also now have been changed to remove the charging bar to just let you release it as long as you see the special effect for it. There’s a lot of new changes made but a big one is Ami, Rei, and Makoto have new specials that are oddly all made up for this game which is kind of lame to me like why does Makoto throw out small tornados? New to this game are input moves. All the girls have specific inputs involving three directions with the control pad to do an awesome attack. Usagi will shoot out supersonic waves from her crying that hits enemies above her. Ami can do a bubble uppercut hitting anyone in front of her or closely above. Rei will summon a fire tornado in front of her that has good power and even gives her i-frames during it. Makoto pounds the ground and hits anyone near her. Minako gets a command grab and if it connects it does a whole health bar of damage making it the second strongest move in the game though it lacks range obviously. The last thing I need to say for moves is there is a paper fan item that you can use as a weapon. It’s got massive range and can hit really hard especially when you get hit multiple times during the animation.
Now I bet you weren’t expecting this but it’s time for ANGEL_ARLE TECH TIME! That’s right boys and girls you are getting some useful tech to help you beat the game. The first of two I have to give is if you play as either Usagi, Ami, or Rei, you can do what I called the attack infinite. You see, their normal attack is just a move that hits multiple times with the final one dealing knockback. However if you wait a split second after doing the second last hit and don’t do the final hit, try to keep doing this and they’ll get stuck in it without ever getting knocked out of it. This is a vital strategy so try to practice it because it’ll be easy once you figure it out. The next one I have is the pummel lock and you’ll have to be Usagi or Rei for this. You see there is a programming quirk with an enemy getting out of a grab as holding forward towards them will let you grab them again meaning pummel twice hold forward and wait to regrab and you can pummel them till they are dead. It’s advised to do this when there’s only one enemy. One thing regarding health is you can upgrade it, be on the lookout for one on stage 3-2! If you spawn enemies on the 2nd section and then go left, you’ll find it.
With all that said, the game itself is pretty fun to play for me. Nothing too much here that you haven’t seen from beat em ups of the past but it’s got a lot of good here for me. The level design is what you expect and nothing too awful. The new areas that are new don’t feel too Sailor Moon like to me and you can tell which were taken from the Super Famicom game but they are still fun regardless. Not a fan of 3-1 though where its on small don’t have much room to move on trucks. They are also pretty big, not even letting you stay on just the path you’re on, giving you much room to navigate especially with that super jump.
The Youma variety is somewhat similar to the Super Famicom version but some were cut and some were added. Nothing here is too annoying but I have never been a fan of the clown enemies. They are especially bad when two are around or are around tougher enemies. Bosses this time are also a lot more manageable but that’s probably because you can do those infinites on them. Though we need to talk about Queen Beryl. She is absolutely ruthless in this game if you don’t do the infinite. Her only two moves are one where she throws a projectile constantly making you have to approach her diagonally to not get hit and if you let her summon lightning or you get bad rng then good luck because she can summon up to three and they home in on you and don’t even disappear on contact. Worst of all, the summon gives her i-frames so there’s nothing you can do!
The game once again has three different difficulties but this time you can beat the game on any difficulty. The difficulties really only change two things which are the amount of health every enemy has and the speed of them. They can get fast on hard mode so it’s recommended you practice the game a bit before you decide to challenge it. If you do play on hard mode you’ll actually get a brand new final boss though I won’t spoil what it’s like if you wanna experience it yourself. Just be warned that it’s nothing special. Playing on easy also won’t give you the ending so keep that in mind.
So is there anything I don’t like about the game? Well there is one big thing I have to save. There is absolutely no 2 player mode in this game. This is the one fatal flaw that prevents it from being a 10/10 game for me. Do you have any idea how much I would have loved to play this with a friend? Now granted I get why this was done, it was probably due to the game never boxing you into one screen which would probably cause problems but dammit it still makes me sad! Sailor Venus was nerfed so badly in this game, her chain while looking like the actual Venus Love Me Chain is nice but now it only has a knockback hitbox making it severely weak and due to the tech being different in this game, she has no advantages and her input move is awful on hard mode. Stun attacks are also a lot less useful in this game and Minako’s stun attack is practically useless because of this. Oh I also don’t like the sound of the enemies when you knock them out of the elevator.
Here’s some trivia for ya! When you get to Fake Sailor Moon in 4-1, go back to the beginning of the stage, you’ll be awarded a paper fan! If the sprite sheet for Usagi online is legit then it seems victory animations were planned but were never put into the game. The shout Minako made in the Super Famicom version during a throw was cut but was oddly left in the sound test. An unused song for the game is also still in the sound test. In a magazine ad for this game in Japan, there is a screenshot that seems to be from a beta build for the game as it uses the wrong character portrait. Despite the fact the box has text on it reading the name Chibiusa, she’s actually not in this game at all, this was a carry over from the fact she was in the very last screen of the Super Famicom version hinting at a sequel game. Lastly, try to use bubble uppercut on the chocolate wall in stage 2-2, it lags the game horribly during the move, why do it do that?
The presentation is decent but once again nothing too special.It does once again make for a good game for representing the Anime as a lot of the set pieces are still there. There’s even some nice touches like the eyecatch still being there even having them be in their normal attire for the last one. The sprites in my opinion look better here and I think the size of them look better but that might be just me. Though some don’t look too good like Kunzite with his awful looking eyes. The game also has a really good looking Usagi when you start the game. There’s also nice pictures of each girl for their endings that oddly have their clothing be from a random episode in season 1. The music is kind of a weird thing to talk about as you see it was done by Aki Hata this time and it sounds more video gamey this time and honestly I really like it a lot. I’d argue it’s one of the more underrated OSTs of the system. Sure it doesn’t really match the same feel as the Anime meaning it could be inferior to the Super Famicom OST but I still personally enjoy it more. The voice samples were reused in this game but sadly don’t sound too great which was typical for the system.
This game, despite some issues, is probably one of my favorite comfort games to ever play. I really love replaying this one and have done so like about 50 times by this point. I really respect this game and it’s easily my most biased love for a game out there which in my opinion is fine. I honestly recommend this one easily if you enjoy the series but otherwise it might be a hard sell. There’s a reason this used to be a top five game for me. I’ll never forget the memories with it and I’ll always cherish it. Sadly the actual game is expensive nowadays going for over $100. To this day it is still my favorite Mega Drive game and I expect it to stay that way. That’s all for now and remember, The Moonlight is a Messenger of Love!
Well that was both reviews, hope you all enjoyed that if you got through all of that! Next time we will be looking at something you might not expect so I think I’ll keep it a secret for now but if you know then you know!