I have something to confess, I’m a pretty big Sailor Moon fan. Confession number two, ever since I first saw the series in the early-mid nineties I’ve been a bit obsessed. Sure my obsession has gone through fazes of hibernation as the franchise itself has been inactive, but as of late my love for all things Moon has kicked into high gear. The reason for this has been the re-licensing of the Sailor Moon brand throughout the world. The anime has been re-airing in various parts of Europe and Asia, Hot Topic online is now stocking Tees, and most excitingly, just today in fact the manga series has been re-released in a retranslated and updated format. It’s pretty great by the way; pick it up and its prequel series Codename: Sailor V (also released today) if you’re interested.
With all of this brand new Moon merchandise I’d been wondering though, will there be any Sailor Moon videogame love? The 16 and 32 bit eras were full with Sailor Moon beat’em-ups, fighters, puzzlers, and even a pretty decent RPG. So just maybe I pondered there would be a Moon game renaissance for this generation. For a while I heard nothing new on the game front, and then my searches lead me to Sailor Moon: La Luna Splende for the Nintendo DS. La Luna Splende is Italian for “the moon shines”, which is what the second season of Sailor Moon was subtitled in Italy. Strangely I could find no evidence of a Japanese release only an Italian one, but hey, a Sailor Moon game is a Sailor Moon game, right?
All I can say is that I can’t believe how wrong I was. La Luna Splende is atrocious! I briefly (very briefly) toyed with the idea of writing a review, but this game is just to terrible for me to endure for any reasonable amount of time. The game-play is bad, the story is boring, and it doesn’t even feature any recognizable Sailor Moon music (could they not get the rights?!) Trust me when I say that importing this game is a very expensive mistake that I can’t imagine anyone, even the most diehard Moon collectors wanting make. Save your dollars, er… Euros, Lira, whatever.
Unfortunately, there has been no other news on any new Sailor Moon videogames, foreign releases or otherwise. The series does have potential, and if it gains any renewed popularity, which I (and I’m sure publisher Kondansha) really hope that it does; then there could be hope. For now I suppose, Sailor Moon fans will have to content themselves reading the new manga editions, watching the old anime series, and playing all the really great retro games.
Speaking of Sailor Moon games, here’s my top 3:
3.) Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon S – Sega Gamegear
A fun and simple platformer/beat’em-up that roughly follows the events of the 3rd (and my favorite) season of the anime.
2.) Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon R – Nintendo Super Famicom
A Final Fight clone that takes place during the second arc of the second season of the anime, in which 2 players can play co-op each choosing to control one the inner sailor senshi.
1.) Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon: Another Story – Nintendo Super Famicom
A turn-based RPG that could possibly take place between the 4th and 5th seasons, that features a new story and a new cast of villains.
LINKS:
Kondansha USA
Sailor Moon Channel (Japanese)
Get Sailor Moon Manga
Make a huge mistake (Italian)
OMG I LOOOVE Usagi chan!
I fell in love with the series when it first began airing. (Gives away my age…)
And yes, I had the games you mentioned in your article
I wish they would bring the series back to games.