Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon: Another Story

"Although not the greatest RPG, it was definitely good enough to get me interested in Sailor Moon again..."

After being greatly disappointed by MKR (And I apologize for being ignorant with regards to the anime, but I only reviewed it as a game and did not bother learning about the actual anime...), I did not feel much like playing another anime-based RPG, but being that I just have to try every translated game, I figured I'd give Bishoujo Senshi's translation of Sailor Moon a chance, and lo and behold, it was actually somewhat above average...

Graphics: (7.5) These graphics were decent, especially the battle attack animations and the animation of the Sailor Senshi (Scouts)...I also loved the feeling of the graphics. All the game's regions, particularly Tokyo and Crystal Tokyo, captured the feeling of Sailor Moon extremely well. The only thing that prevents these graphics from getting a higher score is the fact that in the 1994 - 1996 era of SNES games (This game was made in 1995), games like the Donkey Kong Country series, Super Mario: RPG, and Chrono Trigger had noticeably better graphics.

Sound/Music: (8) The sound was neither good nor bad, so I won't really give it any particular mention. The voice acting for the different special attacks was cool though. The music was well done, for the most, and some of the themes are from the Japanese show, I believe (the only one I'm certain of is Tuxedo Kamen's theme). The only complaint in this department is that the battle themes could have used more variety and the one's that are there are definitely not on the upper echelon of RPG battle music.

Gameplay: (7) Although the game in itself was a little bit simplistic and could have been more interactive, especially in what you could do with your environment and in people's houses, the battle system is very well done and reminds me somewhat of Phantasy Star 4's system with the way a couple of things are set-up. Of special note are the Link Techniques, a seemingly enhanced version of PS4's combination attacks. Instead of discovering the attacks haphazardly as you battle, you can go to a menu while walking around, and group the Sailor Senshi in different ways until you see a valid two-way or three-way Link Technique.

Challenge: (6) Although this is not the most challenging RPG ever made (heck, generic monsters usually get massacred in one attack), there are a couple rough spots that make this game fairly challenging in some areas. Chapter 2 comes to mind, because if you didn't buy any equipment or healing items, you're pretty much at the mercy of your enemies during the individual Senshi subquests. Also, unless you stock up on powering healing items, there's no way you'll be able to defeat the last few bosses of the game.

Story: (8.5) Although I have never seen the Sailor Moon series this game is based (the R series I believe), just having seen most of the episodes that were released in North America is enough to tell me that this story is very much like something that would be seen on the anime and is done excellently. Basically, a comet is coming to Earth, and brings with it evil omens and a villainess named Apsu is toying with fate and destiny and is trying to change fate into something more favourable for her and her allies, and the Sailor Senshi must travel through time to stop fate from being changed. At first, time travel will seem to have nothing to do with the game, but as you go on, it becomes an important story-development tool. I obviously can't say more than this, but the story is very good. The only complaint is that many NPCs have monotonous one line comments that are extremely stupid. Unfortunately, even FF2us had better NPCs than this.

Replay: (4.5) Although you may want to replay this game, there are no subquests or other compelling reasons to do so besides the story.

Overall: (7) A good RPG that, although similar to MKR, does more things right, and as a result is a considerably better game. Since the only way to play this game in English is to download the ROM and translating it, I definitely do not recommend importing it. Download it as soon as you find it though and be sure to get the translation patch.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 05/02/00, Updated 02/22/01