Wait this is a Beat-em-up? Where is the tough guy character?
Worst Feature: Exceedingly cheap bosses. The game is pretty short. Isn't particularly noteworthy as far as beat em ups go...Tuxedo mask grades you pretty harshly...
Most people probably don't care about Sailor Moon as a show. They probably care even less about it as a game. Well, I am not like most people. You all should know by now that I am not only just a fan of Sailor Moon, I am the obsessive type of fan that has probably creeped you out at one point or another. So it only makes sense that I would seek out what gaming opportunities there were to be had based on one of my favorite anime. That search brought me to the height of the show's popularity, the early to mid 90's and while their are a lot of Sailor Moon games on a variety of consoles, I focused primarily on the Super Famicom. (Or Super Nintendo for the two of you who don't know that already)
And while the SNES is home to at least four Sailor Moon games, one of the most notable is the beat-em up based on the very first series, Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon. What does that mean? It means you a typical arcade style game, where you take your character from one area to the next, clobbering anyone who gets in your way. But being based off of Sailor Moon, that also means 5 characters to choose from, which is not only unusual for such a game, but since every character has their strengths and weaknesses, it adds a neat sort of variety allowing you 5 different play styles to choose from.
If you have ever seen the anime, these styles should make at least a little bit of sense to you. For example, Sailor Jupiter, who in the show is athletic and an expert hand to hand martial artist, has the greatest attack power, usually removing most enemies in a few hits. While Sailor Venus, the more frail girly girl type, has poor attack power but uses her "Love Me Chain" to have a massive range advantage. And obviously, Sailor Moon herself plays the part of the balance character...having no real strengths, but no real weaknesses either. The other two fall in between, with Mercury having little range or power, but being incredibly fast and Mars functioning like Venus with a little less range and more power. If your like me you can pick your favorite (Jupiter) or just experiment with them and find one that suits your tastes.
The gameplay doesn't step out of the box in any way, sticking to beat em up conventions. You have attack combos, jump attacks, throws and a health draining special attack that attacks on both sides of your character. But the game does allow you one more weapon in your arsenal, a second special attack. While it only travels across the screen, it doesn't drain health and requires you to charge it up, this is a pretty useful addition.
As you might expect, these attacks are your respective sailor senshi's special attacks from the anime. (Sailor Moon throws her tiara, Mercury uses Bubble Spray etc) But things like that really show off what this game does right. It takes the source material and uses it remarkably well for such a game. (The attacks even have character voices!) The stages are all familiar series locations, from downtown Tokyo all the way to the snow filled poles of the planet, where the final battle with Queen Beryl took place. The music is taken straight from the show and note for note sounds just as good in a lot of places, which is pretty impressive for a 16bit console vs an actual anime. Even the bosses are lifted straight from the show, from the Obvious ones like the Dark Kingdom lackeys and Queen Beryl, to even one shot episode baddies like the Princess Doll in the theme park (An episode I like by the way) such attention to the show was really nice to see.
But speaking of the bosses, let's talk about this games biggest problem. The enemies, especially the bosses, are incredibly cheap. Most beat em ups after you get knocked down, allow you a short period of time to get up where you have the vaunted old game flashing invulnerability. Well, that doesn't exist in this one, if you get knocked down in a corner...be prepared to get beaten down something awful. This cheap tactic works on your end as well, but the computer (especially the bosses) will exploit it more then you will ever think to and that can get frustrating.
Luckily for you, before you break something the game will end. This game is only about 5 stages long and can easily be knocked out in one sitting. I suppose the 5 characters and a 2 player mode allow for some replay value, but still with as many villains and settings as the game covered, it is sort of disappointing that the game is so short. Maybe a few bonus stages to earn 1ups could have been added based on series events. For example, maybe a stage where you must dodge volleyballs spiked at your face by Rei. Or maybe a ski race...vs Rei. (Wow...why is she so confrontational?)
I wish I could have scored this game a bit higher, but it's short run time and slightly frustrating nature in addition to it's rather unremarkable formula keep it from being a great mark in the anime based game recordbook. While it's good, it's also somewhat forgettable to anyone but a fan like myself. But it does have a sequel based on Sailor Moon R, maybe I should review that one for you too?