Sailor Moon R

I can’t say what the R stands for because it’s top secret.

Game Data:

  • Review Date: June 10, 2021
  • Release Date: December 29, 1993
  • Platform: Super Famicom
  • Publisher: Bandai
  • Developer: Angel
  • Genre: Beat ‘Em Up

Anecdotes: OK, I went back through the first game and beat stage 1 with each girl to find out their names. Yes, I could have easily just looked them up, but I wanted to practice translating names from Japanese katakana. It helped that there was an easy theme to identify; all of the girls except Sailor Moon are named after planets.

Description: The game picks up where the first one left off. The basics of gameplay are exactly the same. Players pick a Sailor at the start and must use her through the entire game. Once she is chosen, she can’t be switched out unless players start over. The game is short, as it’s only 4 stages. The five ladies to choose from, in alphabetical order, are Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Mars, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Moon, and Sailor Venus. Keep in mind that my opinions are based on only the games because I have never seen the anime/manga.

And here’s our cast of Sailors now, from left to right: Venus, Mercury, Moon, Mars, and Jupiter.

Positives:

  • Let me start the Positives section by comparing the game to Double Dragon. Here is why this is the better game.
    • Sailor Moon R allows players to choose from five characters. DD only has one.
    • SMR has a defined jump button. DD used two buttons together.
    • SMR gives players access to all moves right away.
  • ALL HAIL SAILOR JUPITER. This girl’s awesomeness is off the charts. She’s got her hair back in a way that looks like she’s ready to beat people up. She’s dressed in green, making her look like an Irish dancer. However, the best part about her is that she can do PILEDRIVERS!! That’s right; she can pick up enemies and drive them down.
  • If anyone complains about games not having enough girls and women in them, some them this game. There is a heavily female presence throughout the game, and nearly everything in is female, including all five heroines, the first boss, every minion in stage 1, and even mud blobs. The only exceptions I saw were the boss of stage 2 and a bunch of guys that roll around on the ground.
  • The developers added a nice feature: Falling in water is not instant death. Whenever a Sailor falls into the water, she loses some health, but she restarts from where she fell. It’s a much fairer system, and taking out the instant deaths makes the game more fun to play.

Negatives:

  • Sailor Venus had her whip taken away. I would guess this was done to balance the girls so that they’re all equally difficult, but it removed the only thing that made her stand out. She pretty much looks like Sailor Moon on top of that.

Screenshots:

Sailor Moon R, Stage 1, T.A something, and the girls take roll call.
Because she was awesome in the first game, I started with Sailor Mars. Naturally, here she’s fighting two zombie unicorn women with nunchucks dressed in party dresses, in front of a crepe stand. Of course.
Although I HATE the use of the letter X to shorten Christmas, I just love the Christmas themed level, complete with frost on the windows and Christmas trees in it.
Sailor Mars is not impressed by the two creatures hanging out in the mushroom field.
Getting hit by Sailor Mars will have enemies seeing stars.
Stage 3 would tear me apart, so let’s give someone else a turn.
I went with Sailor Venus, who decided to strangle this woman.
I seriously though the door said PAIN. It’s says PRIN, whatever that means.
Venus tosses this guy around, but I’m ready to move on. Who’s next?
It’s the adorable ball of awesomeness SAILOR JUPITER!!!
Jupiter is dishing out piledrivers in style. Of course, the enemy’s skirt stays in place due to the magic of video games.
I’m awesome. Bring on the next challenge.
Did I mention that Jupiter can piledrive people right into the water? Go Jupiter!
Uh oh…Jupiter is about to go for a swim. She’s a heroine, though; she’ll be fine. Notice the animal in the background. That’s some good detail work right there.
Jupiter gets attacked by mud women. This is as far as I got, but I enjoyed playing.

Final Opinion: It’s really a shame this game never made it to North America. The girls in my family would have loved it and I think the boys would have, too. If the gaming industry were serious about the female market in North America at the time, this game may have blown up. This game was much more fun than it had any right to be.

Grade: A

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