Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Super S

"What does a fighting game look like when all the fighters are all just school girls???"

Introduction

Based on the popular manga in Japan [actually more popular among girls than boys.], Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Super S was a fighting game released by Angel in 1996. Huh, don't know what Sailormoon is about? I will give you a brief introduction of what it is about.

First of all, i have to admit that i didn't really catch on with the series well. I have seen only a few shows. If i remember the story correctly, an evil force is threatening to annhiliate the world by draining the power of the people in the Earth away. Together with Sailormoon, her friends and the two cats, they have to protect the world. On the surface, they are just like any other ordinary school girls and they only transform themselves only when lives are at stake. Yes... a group of school girls saving the world... that's why the manga is more appealing to girls than boys. Boys may not really like it at all. [That's also one of the reasons why I don't know much about the manga.] Overall, the manga is still quite good, in my opinion.

Gameplay

I have to strongly admit that this fighting game is pretty lame when compared to games like Tekken, Street Fighter and so on, and any hardcore fighting fans may most likely not like it. Why? Well, don't get me wrong that this game is totally bad. There are really some good points but... I mean, just imagine a group of babes fighting. Does that really look nice? Girls should be gentle and should not fight. But, face it, the manga forces them to fight. They have no choice because they have to save the world. Still, i felt the game was rather stupid, in such a way that the babes actually don't look like fighting, very slugglish actually. [Oh, the effect will be very much different if the fighter is a man, right?] Basically, it doesn't have that fast-pace action which other normal fighting games have. Furthermore, the Al or ''Artificial Intelligence'' seems to be quite weak. Several moves seem to be quite predictable and somehow, the CPU reaction is pretty slow in MOST cases.

If i am not wrong, there are about 9 or more fighters, including Sailormoon, Sailormars, Sailormercury, Super Sailor Chibi Moon and so on. [Basically, all the ''sailorplanets''...! Get what i mean? Do i need to name all the planets?] Each fighter has her own special moves, about 3 to 4 moves, i suppose. Most of the moves are actually quite similar to some Street Fighter moves. Don't worry too much as almost all the moves are quite easy to learn and can be mastered in perhaps less than half an hour.

The modes available include 1 Player VS CPU or Two Players, a training mode, and some option modes which allow you to configure your sound/music, game settings, buttons and so on. Besides that, there is also the ability customise system. What do i mean? You are given a certain number of points and you can choose to add a few points to attributes like Punch, Kick, Throw, Defense, Hit Points (HP) and so on. [Quite similar to FFVIII's Junctioning, but with some differences because you don't use magics here to customise.]

Graphics

The graphics are pretty average. The fighters [Or babes actually] didn't really look as good as i would have thought. The fighter artworks look more like 16-bit graphics. The facial expressions aren't that visible but it doesn't really hurt the game that much. On the other hand, several backgrounds are quite spectacular. Very beautifully drawn! Bright and nice! An example is the battle arena when you are fighting against Chibi Moon; it shows you a grassy hill with Crystal Tokyo in the background.

I have to admit that the gameplay is bad but the opening FMVs, music and sound effects save everything. Why? I will start off with the introduction FMVs first. It's awesome. The rendering is beautiful and the sequence is wonderful. Of course, the opening FMV may not be of Final Fantasy VIII's quality but it's definitely MUCH better than most of the games made in 1996, and perhaps, even better than some games that are made today. Beautiful FMVs aren't enough, without a good opening music. Yes, accompanied by the ''moonlight theme!''

Music and Sound

The ''moonlight theme'' is easily one of my favourites. Yes, it's still humming in my mind! Each fighter has her own theme song too. For example, when fighting in Chibi Moon's arena, the bgm plays Chibi Moon's theme song. Furthermore, there are soundtracks in the CD. Huh? Don't believe me? Put your sailormoon disc into any of your CD Player or even the PlayStation console too and listen to all the tracks, especially the ''moonlight theme.'' The ''moonlight theme'' is the only vocal song, while the rest of tracks are just mainly orchestral. Believe me, the soundtrack really does rock!!! The sound effects, on the other hand, are quite good. Furthermore, there are some decent japanese voices too during combats.

Conclusion

Overall, for all hardcore fighting fans who like to play fighting games like Street Fighter, Marvel, Virtua Fighter, Tekken and so on, Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Super S may not likely to suit your type but if you are already a fan of Sailormoon [mainly girls... ] and truly like the music very much, it's worth considering whether to buy it or not. Perhaps, Sailormoon shouldn't be made into a fighting game in the first place. Definitely, the game doesn't suit me at all... I would rather play a Dragon Ball fighting game than this......

Graphics : 8.0/10.0
Concept : 3.0/10.0
Control : 5.5/10.0
Music : 9.5/10.0
Sound : 8.0/10.0
Gameplay : 5.5/10.0
Replay : 2.5/10.0
Challenge : 3.5/10.0
Overall : 5.0/10.0

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 06/14/00, Updated 12/16/02