Dominus's rating:
Dominus's rating:
| Gameplay: |  5 |
| Story: | 5 |
| Sound: | 5 |
| Control: | 5 |
| Replay: |   3.5 |
| Overall: | 5 |
| Genre: | RPG |
| Reading ability: | Required |
| Company: | Angel |
Opening Remarks:
The Sailor Moon anime is one that you either hate or love. When I first played this game, I had only small tidbits of knowledge of the anime. To start this game with average knowledge of the series is really, REALLY foolish. Fortunately, the game became so interesting that I began visiting several Sailor Moon sites and learned more about the series. To this day, I credit this game with my discovery of the Sailor Moon anime, which then led me to the wonderful world of anime and manga. Another warning: those who have only seen DIC's dub will have definite problems understanding the story, as it commences way past the dub.
Gameplay:
This is rather straightforward; you have your turn-based FF-like setup, with a few significant differences. Regular attacks do almost nothing, so you will be relying on magic most of time. Here is the weird part: you have only 12 MP maximum. Wait! Don't go yet! It regenerates automatically after battle, which DOES make thing more of a all-out hack-and-slash fest, but is a fresh change from other RPG game systems. The attacks (mostly) cost only about 3 MP, so until later in the game, you really don't need to worry that much. As to overall difficulty; people, this is a game for those who really know what they are doing. The monsters start out hard, and every time you enter a different part of the game. Here, ONE level can be the difference between destruction and survival. The puzzles really aren't that hard, but the battles can take a LONG time. This is a very level-building sort of game, so if you like getting to the point with minimal level-building, this is not the game for you. This is a very long game, (it took me weeks to complete) so it will last you a while. It is also very difficult (the last boss is near impossible) so those who like to have a challenge will love this game.
Story:
This is the real thing. The story is long, involved, and contains endless references to most of the series. Can you say twisty? That is what this story is. The Sailor Moon anime is filled with time travel and reincarnation, and this ''gaiden''(side-story) as you might call it, is no different. You will frequently be scratching your head, and asking ''What the heck is going on here?'' You're not alone. It will probably take you two full sessions of the game to understand the story's complexity. The villain is not a sort big terrible beast pure evil sort of person. You might end up feeling sorry for him/her/it (and no, I'm not going to tell you which one the villain really is). Besides the main villains, don't expect a lot of character development; the game expects you to have seen the series, that's where you'll find the heroes' character development (this is why the game was only released in Japan). At the risk of revealing too much here's the story in a nutshell: In the 30th century, a meteor, filled with a concentration of evil power, appears over Crystal Tokyo. Somehow, the meteor is creating a nexus in time. A gang of anti-inner senshi travel into the past to retrieve the Imperial Silver Crystal (sorry, I can't spell the Japanese name) for their master. To facilitate this, they revive many of Sailor Moon's previously defeated enemies. The senshi must figure out where the threat is really coming from, and defeat it. If you think that's confusing, wait till you actually play the game!
Sound:
Your usual rpg sounds. Nothing to write home about. Still, everything sounds good. The senshi say the names of some of their attacks in voice samples. The music is better. In the second part of the game, the inner senshi go to different parts of the world. Each location has a different theme, which is generally very atmospheric. I especially love the music for the Moon Kingdom. It makes you want to cry. Very good.
Control:
There's really not much to say here. Everything moves very smoothly. Again, very good.
Replay:
If you liked the game, you will want to play it at least once more to iron out some of the plot. There is really only one side quest, which is to complete a puzzle (literal puzzle), so you can get the best ''armor'' in the game. Other than that, the game is really too long and difficult to offer much replay value.
Closing remarks:
If you have seen the entire SM series, you won't have any problems understanding who this character or that monster is. SM and Really Hard RPG fans should love this game. I know I did. If you're o the lookout for a nice hard, long rpg whose story will make your head spin, Sailor Moon: Another Story is the game for you.
Reviewer:
Dominus
Dominus's original review can be found on Gamefaqs.com at http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/snes/review/R9630.html
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