Sailor Moon R

Graphics:	4
SFX:	4
Music:	4
Gameplay:	4
Challenge:	4
Replay:	4
Overall:	4
Genre:	Brawler
Reading ability:	Not Required
Company:	Ban Dai

Background:
The TV show Sailor Moon has done much to boost the popularity of anime in America. This anime series probably has the most related Web sites dedicated to it on the Net; more than any other anime series, outnumbering even Ranma 1/2. Although I'll be honest: I don't watch the show that much. (This is coming from the guy who made the first Sailor Mercury page on the Web.) It's a cute show, but it's been cancelled too many times here in the States and I don't see much of a future for the show here, except to be relived over and over again as a cult status show by a solid fan base.

The Game:
The best way to give you an idea of this game is to compare it to games such as Double Dragon and Final Fight. You walk from one end of the level to the other, beating up lots of dorks. I like beating up lots of dorks. All the enemies are taken from the Sailor Moon R series, I suppose. Although I was disappointed to not find Alan and Ann and their Doom Tree. They were in the R series, right? They would've been fun to beat up in the game. Anyways, you get to hurt lots of bad Negaverse people throughout each level, and then you must face the main boss at the end of the level. There are four levels in all. Aside from using your punches and kicks, you also get to cast spells, just like in the show.

When you begin the game, you can play alone or with a friend. You get to choose between the five Sailor Senshi (Moon, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Venus), and they all have their own unique way of trashing bozos. You can also play a solo game with Chibi Usa (Rini), and she's the easiest way to beat the game, primarily because she's so small that most of the enemies can't harm her. I think this part of the game is designed for all of the little girls in Japan to play the game and enjoy it. I'll make a quick FAQ here to explain the moves: You have a basic attack button (Y), a jump button (B), a special attack button (A). and an ultimate weapon (X) (only available in the one player mode). Here's a list of the moves:

• Regular Attack: Just push the Y button repeatedly, and your character goes through her individual combinations of blows on an enemy. Hold down the button, and your character will charge up to cast a spell. (For example, Moon shoots her tiara, Mercury shoots an ice beam, Mars shoots a fireball, Jupiter shoots lightning, and Venus shoots a heart.) Be careful though, because you'll be vulnerable. Plus, you can't move around to reposition yourself for a better aim.
• Jump: Just jumping won't harm the baddies, so you've gotta press Y to do a jump kick. This doesn't do a whole ton of damage, so you can try pressing down and Y. This doesn't send them flying; it just stuns them a bit, so you can keep pounding on their sorry selves when your feet touch the ground. Notice that Venus uses a whip, and Mars uses her Shinto ofuda paper attack. (She used those things to attack evil ones before she is given her Mars powers, and I've seen her use them in other episodes as well. They're strips of paper with Kanji calligraphy written on them. I think they're just some sort of omen to ward away evil spirits.)
• Special Attack: press the A button when you feel like you're surrounded by Negatrash dinks. This is a pretty clever move. Mercury does this upside down spinning kick that is reminiscent of Chun Li's "Spinning Star Kick" from Street Fighter II, and Venus twirls around with that whip of hers. Unfortunately, performing this attack decreases your life meter when you make contact with an enemy. I don't know why they made the game like this. Maybe it would be too easy if you were able to use this move all the time. But like I said, if you are surrounded by the evil ones, use this and it sends them all flying. Although it takes away a bit of life, it would take away more of your life if you let them surround you and take turns smacking you around.
• Grab: Move your character close enough to an enemy and you'll see her grab ahold of the enemy. You can then push Y to abuse him or her. To throw, press either to the right or left on your directional joypad and press Y. It's fun throwing the enemies into each other. What seems to do the most damage when you grab enemies is when jump up into the air and press the A button. Doing this, you slam them into the ground.
• Super Attack: This attack is only available in the one player version. Since you don't have a friend helping you out, it might get a bit difficult on your own. So, you can get a limited amount of super attacks, indicated by bows on your stats. On some levels, you can pick up additional bows. The super attack makes your character cast her spell from the R series. For instance, wheras the charge attack using the Y button makes Mercury cast her "Shabon Spray" spell from the first series, the Super Attack makes her cast her even more powerful "Aqua Illusion" spell from the R series. The Super Attack seriously bonks all the baddies on the screen at once. To cast the spell, press the X button.

Also, an added bonus to the Sailor Moon R cart is a pointless VS game. This mini-game reminds me of the mini-game included with the first Double Dragon cart for the 8-bit Nintendo where you get to choose your character and go head to head with a friend. That's exactly what this mini-game is. The premise of the Sailor Senshi beating each other up is a silly idea. That's why I'm not interested in ever buying the Sailor Moon S game, since it's just a Street Fighter II clone. However, it is entertaining for a little while, and humorous. Although the controls are a bit different: Y is punch, X is kick, B is jump, A is your spell, and the L and R buttons are used to block. There are also special moves, but these basically make your character perform the same move that the X button activates in the normal game. These are spelled out for you in the manual, and it doesn't really take any reading skills to figure them out. Plus, I don't want to take up the space here to explain them for each character.

Secrets:
This was taken from the Tips to Sailor Moon Games page. Press L, R, Select, and Start all at the same time while the cursor is on this option and the following menu choices will appear:

• Start. This enables you to play a two player game with two Rinis.

• Best Friend. "Best Friend" is a direct translation of the Japanese text. This enables you to play a two player game with two Rinis. There must be an internal difference between this option and the above but so far we have been unable to find it, the difference between the names of the options might be a clue to the answer.

• 2P Select. This allows you to play a two player game where the first player can be a Sailor Scout and the second player is Rini.

The Good:
This game is just full of all sorts of cute stuff! From the intro to the SD animations between each level to Chibi Usa crying her eyes out on the "Game Over" screen, this game is just full of all sorts of cute surprises. When your character succeeds in completing a level, each girl has her own way of celebrating. For Instance, And when you lose a life, each girl has her own way of crying. For instance, Mercury and Mars both exclaim "Itai!" ("Ouch!"). The game shows your character's face in the corner of the screen beside your stats, just like in Area 88. And also like Area 88, your character's face winces in pain each time you are injured. When you do not move your character, after awhile each girl will strike her own unique pose as she waits for you. Also, as with other games of this genre, a "GO!" icon flashes on the screen indicating when you can proceed, and it shows a picture of Luna next to it (something I didn't notice at first). At the end of each level, Chibi Usa comes on screen, bounces her Luna ball around, and gives you a letter grade on your performance, as if you were in school. There are just so many little things to notice that makes this a really enjoyable game. And, it features the voice talent of the original voice actresses, which is an added bonus.

The Bad:
I think there should've been maybe another level or two, to make it more of a challenge. It wasn't a really short game, but it wasn't the longest. It's not the type of game that you can easily breeze through on the first try, but it would've been better with at least another level.

Overall:
Like I said before, this game is adorable. There are just so many different things to this game that makes it a very entertaining game, and a worthy purchase to add to your anime SFC collection. I'd recommend Sailor Moon R to any anime gamer, whether you are a die hard Sailor Moon fan or not. (I'm not a die hard fan. To be honest, I just watch the show because I like the character designs.)

Sailor Moon R FAQ

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