Anyone into import games knows that back in the day, there was one series on who we could depend. Games that were always there to the end. You know who I’m talking about, the one Sailor Moon. In the SNES and Genesis era, Sailor Moon was queen. The anime inspired some shockingly good games, and even people with no grasp of Japanese or access to fan translations could rely on some entertaining fighters and beat’em ups. And now, hopefully, we’re on the cusp of a Sailor Moon revival.
Sailor Moon Crystal has begun and the general consensus is that it’s absolutely worth watching. It may not have all the camp value of the original, but it definitely has style. Most importantly, it’s ushering in a new blitz of Sailor Moon promotional propaganda. People are buying and the moon princess’ story is long, so it’s time to start hoping.
Because really, we all should. I mean, the original Sailor Moon run inspired so many fantastic games. Chief among them was Sailor Moon: Another Story . When convincing a friend it’s worth playing, I used the words Final Fantasy Sailor Moon , and I’m doing it here too. Games based on anime and manga can be hit or miss, and even if they are good, they can be too focused on the target audience to consider newcomers. Sailor Moon: Another Story didn’t require much knowledge of the original subject matter, and instead focused on telling an original story combined with great gameplay mechanics. Each scout got her time to shine, players could customize the party to their liking, and the opportunity to discover which scouts could team up for special attacks made grinding easier to bear.
While Sailor Moon: Another Story was quite an involved affair, most of the other Sailor Moon games weren’t. The endless run of beat’em ups were surprisingly delightful. Most played similarly to Streets of Rage , and while the generic mooks tended to blend together, the scouts themselves were quite detailed. There were always at least five playable characters, which looked and played differently. If you got the right game, there might even have been different endings for each scout. Not to mention, the sprites were incredibly detailed. I know I relied on sprite sheets from some of the Genesis installments when making some geeky cross-stitches for friends.
But the most recent release I remember fondly was Sailor Moon Super S: Shin Shuyaku Soudatsusen on the PlayStation. A college friend of mine had imported a system and some games, and that fighting game was among them. It didn’t have the largest character roster, since it only featured all 10 of the scouts, but I loved it all the same. It was a fun fighter that really made the five inner senshi stand out, and proved even the Sailor Moon games that weren’t incredible, like Another Story , still could be so much fun.
Which is why every Sailor Moon fan should have their fingers crossed. There’s a chance for a second coming here. A new generation of good games could appear because of Sailor Moon Crystal . We’ll probably never see another Sailor Moon: Another Story , but I think we all should be positive. think happy, not-gratuitous-music-game thoughts!