Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon: Another Story

"A great RPG for Sailor Moon fans and non-Sailor Moon fans alike!"

I finally had a chance to get my hands on this game. I have always been a big Sailor Moon fan. I love the show a lot and I do hope they dub Stars ^_^. Anyways, back to the subject. Let me make a pointer to you, this is a Japanese game never released in America. I got my hands on a ROM that was English patched(And you KNOW I am not going to tell you where to get it). I played the game for a little while, it was actually, a little boring at first. This game takes some time to get into, even if you are a moonie freak, so just be patient with the game, it is really good, you just don't know it. Lets get onto the review, shall we?

Graphics-The graphics in this game are good, it reminds you of the show a lot. The only few problems are that it's resolution is kinda low, you can actually see the pixels(It kinda looks like EarthBound only less cartoony) and it's not interpolated as good as it should(Just like EarthBound). But the graphics are still easy to get into. The field graphics look like that, but the actually pictures of people look wonderful. When someone talks to you, it will show their picture next to the text and it looks just like the anime.. Other than that the graphics are pretty much a mixed bag. So I give them an 8.
-8/10

Audio-Now the audio is well...urm...a bag of chips, except without the all that. The music sounds pretty nice, with even a few tunes from the anime(Japanese BGM). The sound effects are a mixed bag, some sound pretty much OK, with some annoying. You get used to the mixed bag style eventually, but until then you may want to cover your ears once in a while.
-8/10

Story-Ok, now the core of almost any RPG, the story. Some people say that if you haven't watched the anime then the story will be confusing. I really have no idea what they are talking about. This story has nothing to do with the main anime series story(Thus the name ''Another Story'') so just ignore that, you will love the story. I haven't completed the game, but from what I know, a new enemy is trying to take over the world, like usual, and the Sailor Senshi have to try to stop them. Also to those familiar with the Sailor MoonS story, I am going to let you know that Sailor Saturn is playable in this game. So far Ami is trying to visit her friend(I forgot his name, but his English Dub name was Greg if you remember him). All the girls tease her and keep saying that she is Ami's boyfriend, while Ami trys her best to reject that idea. The story gets better later on it, and it's a story any Sailor Moon fan would want! So I give this a high score.
-9/10

Gameplay-Ok, now the second most core of any RPG, or any game to that matter, the GamePlay. The gameplay is just like your typical RPG, you run into random battles on the street. The difficulty is a mixed bag, the game is easy in some parts, and hard in others. It shouldn't take long to get used to that idea cause so many RPGs use this method. There is no world map to my knowledge. You walk through town on a field map(Although I may be wrong, since I haven't gotten that far yet). The system uses experience points to reach levels and gain stats. The magic system uses crystal points. Instead of numbers you have little crystals, I think the max per character is about 13. Each spell uses about 1 or 2 crystals, so you have to watch your magic. The Sailor Senshi have about the same attacks from the anime, such as Moon Spiral Heart Attack, and Jupiter Oak Evolution, and so on. They also have punch and kick(Something that's funny to see Sailor Moon do cause she has always been the whiner ^_^;) for their normal attacks. I think this game plays fine and you get used to the system rather quickly.
-9/10

That about wraps it up. So do I recommend this game? Yes I do highly! Get the original Super Famicom Cartridge, or if you don't understand Japanese get the English patched ROM(Once again, I will NOT provide you with where it is, GameFAQs rules, sorry.) Good luck!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/04/03, Updated 01/04/03