365//365: Day 171 – Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker (GEN)

Back in the days, it was rare to see a video game named after a celebrity. It was even more rare to see that celebrity as the main character. Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker was one of the most famous collaborations between video games and Hollywood back in the late 80′s and early 90′s. While Mike Tyson served as the end game for a boxing game named after him, Michael Jackson was the star throughout his game. But was this a Thriller, or was this just Bad?

Watching MJ and his enemies break out into dance is pretty fun to watch. It's a shame that you're better off defeating each enemy one by one and not in a dancing exhibition.

Right off the bat, you notice the music. What interactive Michael Jackson experience wouldn’t be complete without some of his signature tunes? Moonwalker has some strong replications of his various tunes, all quite good for the early 16 bit generation. Various MJ sounds appear as well, ranging from yells to howls….all typical things you’d hear MJ do in his prime. Some of the other things you hear sound recycled, like MJ’s magic faerie dust kick. Overall though, Moonwalker has the sound of a Michael Jackson world done quite well.

The problem with Moonwalker has to do with its redundant gameplay. Search, search, search, with a little bit of dancing here and there. You’re going to be looking through every door, spinning open every bush and opening every car trunk in order to find every kid throughout each stage, just so you can move on to the next stage. If you skip by one bush or one door, chances are that you just unknowingly skipped the last child you’ll need, setting up a witch hunt through each and every location, just because you missed one spot. This reduces most of your experience from an almost “hide and seek” gameplay, to a long, drawn out search that will make you seek out the power button long before you find the last child.

While Moonwalker does have some notable features, such as an amazing soundtrack for an early Sega Genesis title (hell, for a Sega Genesis game period) and some snazzy animations, the core gameplay is what silences the songs of Michael Jackson, and makes Moonwalker a bigger chore than it should be. It’s a shame that his cinematic and video gaming opus were both mediocre, and didn’t properly show off the king of pop in all his glory.

This is creepy on so many levels.

Rating: 5.4