Let's Play: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Game Boy

I love to play old, strange, and foreign Game Boy titles every once in a while, so I thought I would have a go at this Sailor Moon Game Boy game, released exclusively in Japan in 1992 and fan-translated into English in 2004. Let's see what it has to offer.

The first thing the game does is ask you whether you want to play 'boys' or 'girls' mode. I was intrigued by this, but sadly it's just a difficulty option. If you choose the 'boys' option the game gives you fewer lives and a smaller amount of HP. I'm not a big fan of this, for obvious reasons, but alright.

How the game works for the most part is that you walk around an area, investigate because your cat has a bad feeling about something, and then end up in a fight stage with a boss. On the first level (if we can call it that) there is also a "Sailor Game" mini game, which echoes the Sailor V arcade game featured in the Sailor Moon manga/anime. You have to beat up a burger. It's a nice touch.

I didn't play the entire game, because the layouts are a little bit confusing and figuring out where you have to go is tedious, but apparently it has about three levels. The game is fairly difficult, but I think it's a very interesting adaptation.

Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon follows the events of three episodes of the Sailor Moon animated series. I think some of the character designs and animations are quite nice for Game Boy titles of this era (check out my animations below), and I think my favourite parts of the game are being able to talk to Luna and playing the Sailor V arcade game.

I also like that the icon for Usagi's lives is a little bunny (because 'usagi' means bunny, get it?) - another small touch that gives this game a bit of extra character.

It's not a very enjoyable game to play, but it is better than a lot of games from this time, especially TV tie-ins. At least the movements and animations in this game are relatively fluid. I recommend playing it on 'girls' mode, because clearly what we're dealing with here is the Dark Souls of 1992 anime tie-in Game Boy games.