Cleared on March 12th, 2024 (SEGA Genesis Challenge: 53/160)
I'm not gonna lie, Moonwalker is unironically one of my favorite Sega Genesis games that I've played so far. Playing a fantastical rendition of Michael Jackson while he beats up thugs, futuristic soldiers, and even zombies while saving kids that all look alike all while 16 bit renditions of his songs are playing in the background sounds like some glorified power fantasy at best, but hey, if the power fantasy is as fun as this, I'm not complaining.
There are five levels in the game with each of them having 3 rounds. In each round you have to save a set amount of kids which amounts up to searching which can get confusing and even worse-so in 4-3 in particular where the area is so large like a labyrinth that you feel like you need to triple check even if it takes awhile. Only to realize there is a waterfall you have no idea you can check.
Every time you clear a round, you are met with Mr. Big who taunts you that you can't catch him... saying the same thing every... single... time. Then he leaves and throws a gauntlet of enemies which can easily be taken care of by spamming attack while crouched. At Round 3 of each level (with the exception of Level 4) and sometimes Round 2, however, they will throw a boss fight which range from rather easy to actually really annoying. Heck, if you're so careless to step in front of Mr. Big while he's on screen, you will actually take a lot of damage overtime and you can't even damage him, so be sure to step aside when he shows up. Easily the worst fight in the game are the duo zombies at Round 2 at Level 3 because they send their torsos flying at the direction they face and you have little time to react to whether they are about to strike above or below, and sometimes they'll strike both at once which is actually impossible to dodge, and somehow the boss that followed using a similar idea is much easier on the condition that you can actually stunlock one of the zombies and take it down, so you can divert your attention to the other. Also, Round 2 of Level 5 is a really dreadful level because you have these laser turrets that deal a ton of damage. Once you're on the higher floor it's not as much of an issue, but the lower floors are more cramped combined with enemies that infinitely respawn which isn't unusual for the game since enemies infinitely respawn in this game until you've rescued all the kids.
Some other mechanics to keep in mind is that if your health is red, your magic is gone and your attack range becomes scuffed. Until then, your attack is really powerful. You can sacrifice your health to spin around and if you hold it long enough, you can follow with a hat throw that deals a high amount of damage. If that sounds like a liability, the kids can heal you a good amount when you save them. I think my favorite thing about the game are just those odd interactions that you get. Kicking chairs and stones which can slide towards the enemy, sliding down the stairs and knocking out enemies in your way, being able to moonwalk even though that does almost nothing, all those weird sounds that he makes which is reminiscent of those weird flash animations that I've seen featuring Michael Jackson, and him transforming into a robot to pulverize Mr. Big's forces and his base which is then followed up with a plane chase sequence. It is insane.
One more thing is that if you hold your special attack long enough, you can actually perform a screen nuke by forcing all the enemies to dance. Too bad I didn't get a chance to do that on my first playthrough, but on the bright side, I'll surely be coming back for another round of this game someday.
I'm not gonna lie, Moonwalker is unironically one of my favorite Sega Genesis games that I've played so far. Playing a fantastical rendition of Michael Jackson while he beats up thugs, futuristic soldiers, and even zombies while saving kids that all look alike all while 16 bit renditions of his songs are playing in the background sounds like some glorified power fantasy at best, but hey, if the power fantasy is as fun as this, I'm not complaining.
There are five levels in the game with each of them having 3 rounds. In each round you have to save a set amount of kids which amounts up to searching which can get confusing and even worse-so in 4-3 in particular where the area is so large like a labyrinth that you feel like you need to triple check even if it takes awhile. Only to realize there is a waterfall you have no idea you can check.
Every time you clear a round, you are met with Mr. Big who taunts you that you can't catch him... saying the same thing every... single... time. Then he leaves and throws a gauntlet of enemies which can easily be taken care of by spamming attack while crouched. At Round 3 of each level (with the exception of Level 4) and sometimes Round 2, however, they will throw a boss fight which range from rather easy to actually really annoying. Heck, if you're so careless to step in front of Mr. Big while he's on screen, you will actually take a lot of damage overtime and you can't even damage him, so be sure to step aside when he shows up. Easily the worst fight in the game are the duo zombies at Round 2 at Level 3 because they send their torsos flying at the direction they face and you have little time to react to whether they are about to strike above or below, and sometimes they'll strike both at once which is actually impossible to dodge, and somehow the boss that followed using a similar idea is much easier on the condition that you can actually stunlock one of the zombies and take it down, so you can divert your attention to the other. Also, Round 2 of Level 5 is a really dreadful level because you have these laser turrets that deal a ton of damage. Once you're on the higher floor it's not as much of an issue, but the lower floors are more cramped combined with enemies that infinitely respawn which isn't unusual for the game since enemies infinitely respawn in this game until you've rescued all the kids.
Some other mechanics to keep in mind is that if your health is red, your magic is gone and your attack range becomes scuffed. Until then, your attack is really powerful. You can sacrifice your health to spin around and if you hold it long enough, you can follow with a hat throw that deals a high amount of damage. If that sounds like a liability, the kids can heal you a good amount when you save them. I think my favorite thing about the game are just those odd interactions that you get. Kicking chairs and stones which can slide towards the enemy, sliding down the stairs and knocking out enemies in your way, being able to moonwalk even though that does almost nothing, all those weird sounds that he makes which is reminiscent of those weird flash animations that I've seen featuring Michael Jackson, and him transforming into a robot to pulverize Mr. Big's forces and his base which is then followed up with a plane chase sequence. It is insane.
One more thing is that if you hold your special attack long enough, you can actually perform a screen nuke by forcing all the enemies to dance. Too bad I didn't get a chance to do that on my first playthrough, but on the bright side, I'll surely be coming back for another round of this game someday.