First of all, no, this is not a hack, I had this game as a child (a gift, along with « Tiny Toons : Buster Busts Loose » which is a very good game), « Sailor Moon » aka « Bish?jo Senshi Sailor Moon » in Japan had only been released in Japan and in Europe, and in Europe the only version available was … the French one, which is not a problem for me (except some translations errors), there was a genesis (megadrive) version too but I didn't try it, apparently with more content.

This game is a classic beat them all, first good point, two persons can play it together so it makes the game a lot easier in this mode (as there is no noticeable change, no double boss like in « Streets of Rage »), 3 difficulty modes : easy normal hard, but the easy mode is a joke … or a practice mode for very young children, the mobs are REALLY easy to beat and there is only two levels. We can choose the number of continues we'll have (3 lives for 1 continue) from 1 to 5.

First, the game begins by the choice of the sailor, there are 5 of them, with different stats (invisible in the game, but in the manual) like more or less speed/reach/defense/strength but 1 of these girls is really different, she has a chain whip ! And as we'll see next, because of collision/hitbox problems this sailor (sailor Venus, strangely called Mathilde here) is the most efficient of the 5, keeping mobs at great distance.

Let's talk about the gameplay, it's a classic side scroller from left to right, you have to fight and defeat all the mobs (called « Youma » in Sailor Moon) to be able to go next, there are sometimes 2 or 3 parts in the level and it ends with a boss. The 5 sailors have multiple kinds of attack : punch (or kick, of the chain whip), the charge beam (not friendly to use, you can't move while charging and you can only shoot straight in front of you) the special attack (that does a lot of damage to everyone around you, but consuming some of your life bar), an attack combo when you hold the mob, which ends by a projection (it's only a projection for Sailor Venus), and a simple projection. Unlike a lot of beat them all there are no weapons here (except a special and hidden thing if you use Sailor Moon, I never searched it and never found it). The items you find of the floor are mostly pastries (or fruits) to regain health, and there are a few other items that represent a 1-up (I remember a VHS tape, or maybe it was a game cartridge).

The game is not really hard, the mobs are stupid … most of them literally walk into your fist, but it's very easy to get stuck, as the cadence of the mobs attacks are not fair, you often can't even move while being hit again and again (the fourth boss … throws a projectile that knock you off and when you stand up again you receive another one right on your face ...), don't try to fight back, move away (vertically, not horizontally, as the mobs reach is often bigger than yours) and if you're sandwiched between two or more guys, pray or use the special attack, you can get rid of your life bar very easily in this. So, keep your opponents on one side and at great distance (that explains why the game is easier in 2 player mode or with the chain whip). Some mobs are a pain if you don't know their pattern, or if you don't react quickly like the clown with a slipping low kick or the hideous troll that rolls like a ball over the screen while being invulnerable. There is not a lot of different enemies, the game is clearly abusing the swap color (like a lot of another beat them all), different color = stronger attacks and more HP.

There are 2 big problems in this game :

First : There are a lot of collision/hitbox problems, really often while attacking a mob in front of you, it doesn't work (particularly frustrating with the charge beam) so the mob quickly grabs you and ouch ! The first boss is very annoying, most of the time when you attack him, you don't damage him and if you try to grab him, YOU receive damages (while being unable to move), and kinda all the bosses have hitbox problems (but there is a very lame boss, if you keep it in a corner while attacking it, it can't even move).

Second : This game is slow ! The sailors walk very slowly, it takes an eternity for a mob to come back when you knock him off the screen, some of them have a huge life bar, there is only 5 levels but it takes 10 minutes (and more) for each of them, after a moment you almost always use the strong projections (for a shorter and less boring ride), never mind if it's risky. It takes around 1h15 to complete the game.

The graphics are great and kawai, and the sprites are huge, it's very colorful, the areas are classic but varied : town, amusement park, strange factory, ice palace, shadow palace, as I'm not very friendly with the anime/manga I couldn't say if they're from them (but the mobs are from them). The graphics are great but … too bad, the animation is lame, and sometimes ridiculous (a 2 frames animation for a punch … ) .

The musics are fair I guess, not unbearable but they won't stick in your mind for a long time, the voices are great (in japan) we are very far from the inaudible voice samples from the NES. The music of the title screen is the real theme song from the TV anime.

There are a few text problems in this game, some of the names are wrong (like Mathilde for Sailor Venus, instead of Minako), in the score report between 2 levels (depending on time, damages etc...) if you get « average », on the game you get « moyene » (in french it's « moyenne » ) and the story at the end is full of non-sense.

About the end, I never completed the game with the Sailor Moon, so it ends by « à bientôt » (= « see you soon » ) and I read that you could get the real ending if you play with her (with her lover, … under a wrong name haha! ), it maybe be in hard difficulty though. The story is basic, a demon queen that want to rules universe … whatever (and you only know about it at the end, or in the manual).

The replay value is bad, unless you want the real ending with Sailor Moon because, and it's the case in most of these games, it's fully scripted. It's a kawai game, great to watch, but boring to play.