Koy's
Sailor Moon
Playstation FAQ
September 16, 1996
(Whoops! I had the wrong addresses here!)
Available at:
http://www.utdallas.edu/~koyn/smoon/smpsxfaq.txt
-=> Visit my pages at:
http://www.utdallas.edu/~koyn/
email at: koyn@utdallas.edu
koyn@main.com
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Table of Contents
-----------------
* Denotes new items/updated information
1. Questions that still need answering
2. Territory related questions
3. Real world issues (cost, availability, etc.)
4. General game questions
5. Misc. questions
6. Need more?
Before I actually begin, I'd like to say a little bit here. The
reason I made this FAQ is that my page devoted to the game created a
lot of email. I didn't have a problem with this, but I noticed that
several of the same questions kept coming up. Therefore, I created
this FAQ. Why do I devote this kind of time to the game? Well, I
like it. I'm a major Sailor Moon fan and enjoy playing the game.
NOTICE!
I now am in college and have an account on the UTD server. The pages
and this FAQ have officially moved. If you try to access one of the
old pages, it should automatically reference you to the new one(s).
I'm still checking my old email box every once in a while, but save
yourself (and me) some trouble and email to my new address
(koyn@utdallas.edu) if you want to email me.
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1. Questions that still need answering
-----------------------------------
- What's the plot?! In other words, why exactly are the scouts fighting?
Is it a tournament of some sort?
- Are there any "easter eggs"? For example, can you play other characters
after beating them (like in Toshinden)?
- What do the four main menu options actually say in Japanese? For that
matter, what does everything else in Japanese say? The two things I'm
most interested in are the main menu options and the ability customize
system.
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2. Territory related questions
---------------------------
Q I hear you have to have a converter to play foreign games on your
Playstation. Is this true?
A Yes and no. I've heard of "converters" that defeat the territory
protection on the Playstation, however, I've been unable to find any.
Personally, I use a "swap trick" to basically trick the Playstation into
thinking I'm playing a local CD.
---
* - Updated (September 16, 1996)
Q What's a "swap trick"?
A Simply put, a swap trick is a way to trick your Playstation into
thinking you're playing a local CD. The details of how to perform any
of the swap tricks can be found at
!! This is a different Web address than before, I checked the old
one and it didn't work anymore.
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/5150/psxswap.txt
or on the newsgroups at
alt.games.video.sony-playstation -and- rec.games.video.sony
---
Q Is the game available in North America?
Q Will the game be coming to North America soon?
A The simple answer to both these questions is no. As for whether or
not the game will be coming to North America soon, I'm not sure.
However, I doubt it since the series is being cancelled in the United
States. The possibility exists, however, and the far future looks
promising; but I wouldn't hold my breath.
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3. Real world issues (cost, availability, etc.)
-----------------
* - Updated (September 7, 1996)
Q Where can I get it?
A Japan is the best place, but that's not real convenient. There are
several mail order businesses that deal in and/or specialize in
foreign games. Two of the best are:
Tronix
- http://www.tronixweb.com/
National Console Support
- http://www.ncsx.com/
Note: Tronix has changed to a new location. However, you can
connect to it again now.
Here are a few others that I've heard about on the web. Mind you,
I've never dealt with these guys:
Tuskins Games
- Phone # : (213)728-2785
email : tuskins@ix.netcom.com
Jmac Systems
- Phone/Fax : (617)646-1333
email : JmacSystems@aol.com
JMacSySII@aol.com
snail mail: ATTN: H. Morita
39 Thorndike St.
Arlington, MA 02174
Northedge International
- Phone # : +81-80-467-9848
Fax # : +81-725-41-9173
email : nedge@osk.threewebnet.or.jp
---
Q So, how much does it cost?
A At the above two locations the game will cost about $70 (US). This
includes all the tariffs and such that are associated with buying
foreign games. However, it does not include shipping and handling.
That can run anywhere from $5 to $25 depending on how you want it
sent and how soon you want to get it.
---
Q How long does it take to arrive via mail-order?
A Well, when I bought it I had it sent 2 day priority mail by the
US Postal Service. It ended up taking around 2 and a half weeks,
but considering the time it took my check to get to them, them to
process it, and then mail it, I'd say that was extremely fast.
---
Q Is it available for system?
Q What systems is the game available for?
A From the SAILOR MOON FAQ, by: Ken Arromdee
email address: arromdee@jyusenkyou.cs.jhu.edu and karromde@nyx.nyx.net
http://www.cs.jhu.edu/~arromdee
" There are Japanese video games for just about every system. The games ex-
ist in the arcade and for the PC Engine Duo (TG-16), Super Famicom (SNES),
Gameboy, Mega Drive (Genesis), Game Gear, 3DO, Playdia (a Japan-only system),
and Playstation. There is an upcoming Saturn one. The Duo, Gameboy, Game
Gear, and 3DO ones are compatible with American systems. The Super Famicom
and Mega Drive ones are compatible if you remove the plastic that keeps the
games from fitting in some machines. Saturn requires an adaptor or hardware
modification, and Playstation requires a hardware modification (or _may_ play
with disk swapping on early machines). "
---
* - New (September 7, 1996)
Q How do I get the Super Famicom game to work in my Super Nintendo?
A Well, I wasn't going to address this question since it doesn't really
have anything to do with the Playstation game; however I've gotten
several emails about it and decided to add a section here.
Perhaps first I should state a warning: I've never done this, and I
can't be held responsible for anything that happens to your system
if you try this. Anyway, I've heard that the Super Famicom games
will work in a Super Nintendo without any modification if you can
get the game to fit into the slot (the Super Nintendo cart-slot is
smaller than the Super Famicom one). Supposedly, if you cut a
larger hole in your Super Nintendo so the game can fit inside it
will work. Like I said, I've never tried it.
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4. General game questions
----------------------
Q Is the opening animation any good?
A YES! The rendering is beautiful, and the sequence is wonderful. It
shows each of the scouts doing their signature move (from the series)
and plays the (Japanese) theme music in the background.
---
Q What sort of game is it?
A It is a Street Fighter like fighting game. Two players, or one
player vs the computer, fight by jumping, kicking, punching, and
throwing cool-looking special moves at each other. The game uses the
same view as the Street Fighter games, and many of the moves are
actually the same.
---
Q Are the graphics any good?
Q Are the backgrounds any good?
A Yes, but you have to expect that from a CD game. There are 10
backgrounds available. Plus, the backgrounds seem to have something
to do with who is fighting (ie, if Mars is defending, she is outside
the temple, if she's attacking, they're inside).
---
Q Is the music any good?
Q Is the music from the series or is it original?
Q Does the music have lyrics?
A I think the first is a very important question. However, it is also an
opinion. I like the music. Plus, it tends to have something to do
with what's going on on the screen. I'm not sure if the music is
from the series, because I haven't seen any of the newer Japanese
episodes ( :[ ). However, the music that plays during the intro is the
Japanese theme music. The intro music is the only music that features
lyrics, but this is an advantage, since a bunch of singing would confuse
any human players that were fighting.
---
Q Is it hard?
Q I hear the AI is weak.
A Let me start with the second "question". Where did you hear that?!
True, the AI is predictable, but at times it seems the computer simply
doesn't believe in punching and kicking. Often, all you get is a stream
of special moves and/or "chump" moves (continual sweeps so you don't get
a chance to fight). The latter is Chibi Moon's favorite tactic.
The game is not terribly hard, you can beat several of the scouts with
little to no trouble. However, the game overall, and some of the scouts
individually, is hard. If you want to beat it and actually see the end
of the game it will take some practice. But, it's not impossible.. I'm
really not very good at fighting games, and I beat it (eventually).
---
Q I hear it's lame.
A Ouch. Well, that's probabally from people who are comparing it to
Toshinden and/or Tekken. Granted, it doesn't do the cool things they
do, and as a fighting game, it may be a little sub-standard when compared
to the mega-hits like Stree Fighter or Darkstalkers; but hey, look at it
from a fan's perspective, and it's absolutely awesome!
---
* - Updated (September 9, 1996)
Q What do the buttons do?
A Well, in the menus and such, "circle" will choose things and "select"
will back you out a step. "Start" seems to cancel any actions such
as the intro animation or demos.
In the game, the default buttons are:
"Square" : weak punch
"Triangle" : strong punch
"X" : weak kick
"Circle" : strong kick
"L1" : See below
"L2" : See below
"R1" : See below
"R2" : See below
And, the direction pad works just like any other fighting game.
After you choose your scout and before you fight you will see some
Japanese text. Some of the text is green and some of it is red.
If you choose the green text, you have to do the special moves on
your own. If you choose the red text, the top four buttons do them
for you according to this table:
"L1 + weak or strong punch" : Special move A
"L2 + weak or strong punch" : Special move B
"R1 + weak or strong punch" : Special move C
"R2 + strong punch" : "Super" Special move
I've now beaten the game several times using the "easy specials" mode.
As far as I can tell, choosing the red text has absolutely no effect
on the game except for making it easier on you.
Note: when you're in the training mode you keep fighting until you
press "select".
---
Q What do all those menu options mean?
A At the moment, I can't translate them into English. However, I have
figured out what most of them do.
Main Menu:
Option 1 : 1 Player game
Option 2 : 2 Player game
Option 3 : Training mode
Option 4 : Options screen
2 Player:
Option 1 : Human vs Human
Option 2 : Human vs Computer
Options screen:
Button 1 : Game settings
Button 2 : Sound/Music options
Button 3 : Buttons
Game settings screen:
Difficulties : from easy (top) to very hard (bottom)
Round time : Infinite, 90 seconds, 60 seconds, 30 seconds
Sound/Music options screen:
Stereo/Mono select? (I'm not sure about this one)
Background Music test
Sound Effects test
Also, when you play anything but a practice (training) fight, you
will get an option that asks you to pick between some green Japanese
text and some red Japanese text. Before, I thought this let you
choose between auto-blocking and no specials or specials and you
do the blocking. However, I was wrong. There doesn't seem to be
an auto-blocking option. When you choose the red text, you can
access the special moves easier (see table in the "What do the
buttons do?" section above this question).
---
Q What is the difference on different difficulties?
A The only real difference I've noticed is how many points you get to
use on the Ability Customize System.
Easy : 30
Medium : 25
Hard : 20
Super-Hard : 15
Also, some of the scouts go a little easier on you with the special
moves if you're on an easier level. But, when you get to the outer-
senshi, you can forget them being easy on you.
---
* - Updated (September 7, 1996)
Q What is the Ability Customize System?
A This system allows you to add points to some of your scout's abilities.
Note: I got most of these translations from Herb Quiong off his page
at http://www.ucc.uconn.edu/~hlq94001/sampform.html .
First option : Punching damage
Second option : Kicking damage
Third option : Throwing damage
Fourth option : Defense
Fifth option : Hit points
Sixth option : Cuteness
Seventh option : Special moves damage
Eighth option : Super special move damage
Point pool
Continue (select to go on, even if all points are not allocated)
Most of these options are self-explanatory. However, the cuteness
one may be a bit confusing. It seems that the higher this option is
the more often the scout will stop and "pose". Personally, I find
this more annoying than anything else. When she poses you just
stand there vulnerable and your opponent can land several punches.
---
Q Are they the "Super" Senshi?
A Yes. They are even wearing the Super Senshi outfits, Serena has the
Moon wand (I'm not sure of its actual name since I haven't seen these
episodes :[ ), and they do the Super Senshi attacks in their special
moves.
---
Q Can you play as the "outer senshi"?
A Yes and no. In the training mode and in the two player game, you can
play as any one of the scouts. That includes: Sailor Moon, Sailor
Chibi Moon, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter, Sailor Venus,
Sailor Uranus, Sailor Neptune, Sailor Pluto, and Sailor Saturn.
However, in the one player game you can only play what is known as
the "inner senshi". These are: Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, Sailor
Mars, Sailor Jupiter, and Sailor Venus.
Why? I don't know. I suppose because they didn't want to program
10 different endings.
---
Q Is Darien and/or Tuxedo Mask in it?
A Darien is featured in the intro, some of the screens, and some of the
speech (sometimes, he will be the one to say "Ready... FIGHT!").
Unfortunately, you can't play as him. Personally, I'd like to be able
to play as him. Maybe if there's a sequel (considering the popularity
of the show in Japan, there probabally will be one).
---
Q I hear Sailor Uranus is hard.
A Yup.
---
* - Updated (September 16, 1996)
Q Why is that?
A Well, she is the last person in the game, and she's _fast_! Plus, even
though you can block most of the other scouts' special moves (all but
their super move) and only take a little damage, if you block Uranus's
moves, they only do a little less damage than they normally would. On
top of all that, every other move takes some time to do. You know, like
in the show, before they can do the cool move they have to spin in a
circle, wave there arms, and let you know it's coming. Well, Uranus's
moves just .. happen. She'll be standing there and then suddenly fly
towards you with a golden arc in front of her, then do a major uppercut
and put a serious hurt on you. She is tough, but, especially with the
investment of a few continues, you can beat her. I usually just forget
about specials when I go against her, and if I start to get really hurt,
I take a lesson from Chibi Moon and don't let her get off the floor.
I've gotten emails from several people to the effect of, "Sailor Uranus
isn't hard. Sailor is hard!" Ok, the fact of the
matter is, everyone has different fighting styles. Therefore, some
people don't have a hard time with Sailor A, but keep getting beat up
by Sailor B. However, from what I've seen and heard most people find
Sailor Uranus the hardest.
---
Q What are the moves?
A Oh, my. Well, these are VERY easy to find out once you buy the game.
All the moves are in the manual. Even if you lose the manual, go to
the training mode and press "start" to pause, a little screen pops
up telling you all the moves for that scout.
Moves according to each scout:
(at the moment I don't have names for all of these moves yet, so
I'll just call them moves A-C and the "Super" move)
U - Up U
UT - Up-Towards +-+
T - Towards UA| |UT
DT - Down-Towards +-+ +-+
D - Down A| * |T
DA - Down-Away +-+ +-+
A - Away DA| |DT
UA - Up-Away +-+
D
WP - Weak-Punch
SP - Strong-Punch
WK - Weak-Kick
SK - Strong-Kick
Super Sailor Moon:
A : D-DT-T + WP or SP
B : T-DT-D-DA-A + WK or SK
C : T-D-DT + SP or SP
Super : D-DT-T-A-T + SP
Super Sailor Chibi Moon:
A : T-A-T + WP or SP
B : D-DT-T + WP or SP
C : (while in the air) D + WK or SK
Super : D-DT-T-A-DA-D + SP
Sailor Mercury:
A : T-A-T + WP or SP
B : A-DA-D-DT-T + WP or SP
C : T-D-DA + WK or SK
Super : T-DT-D-DA-A-DA-D-DT-T + SP
Sailor Mars:
A : D-DT-T + WP or SP
B : A-DA-D-DT-T + WP or SP
C : A-D-DA + WK or SK
Super : T-DT-D-DA-A-T + SP
Sailor Jupiter:
A : T-A-T + WP or SP
B : A-DA-D-DT-T + WP or SP
C : T-D-DT + WK or SK
Super : A-T-DT-D-DA-A + SP
Sailor Venus:
A : D-DT-T + WP or SP
B : T-A-T + WP or SP
C : T-D-DT + WK or SK
Super : D-DA-A-DA-D-DT-T-DT-D + SP
Note: the following scouts are not available in the one player game
and only have 3 moves including their Super move.
Sailor Uranus:
A : T-DT-D + WP or SP
B : T-A-T + WP or SP
Super : T-A-DA-D-DT-T + SP
Sailor Neptune:
A : D-DA-A + WP or SP
B : T-D-DT + WP or SP
Super : A-DA-D-DT-T-DT-D-DA-A + SP
Sailor Pluto:
A : D-DT-T + WP or SP
B : T-A-T + WP or SP
Super : A-DA-D-DT-T-A + SP
Sailor Saturn:
A : A-DA-D-DT-T + WP or SP
B : A-D-DA + WP or SP
Super : A-T-DT-D-U + SP
---
Q What are the endings?
A I'm not going to tell you. But, I will say that they're neat. They
aren't spectacular with animations and such, but they're neat none the
less. Plus, it does neat "extra" things to the screens.
---
* - Updated (September 7, 1996)
Q What are they saying here?
Q What does that screen say?
A I dunno. At the moment, I can neither speak nor read Japanese. I'm
actually starting to learn some, but it's slow going. I'm trying to
learn it in my spare time, and I'm having less and less of that now
that I'm in college.
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5. Misc. questions
---------------
* - Updated (September 16, 1996)
Q Who are the voice actors/actresses?
Q Are the voice actors/actresses the same as the ones from the Japanese
series?
A Well, from what I've heard, many of the voice actors/actresses from
the Japanese series did do the voices on the game. Here are all the
voice contributors and (where I've been able to find out) who they
are in the game.
Kotono Mitsuishi Super Sailor Moon
Kae Araki Super Sailor Chibi Moon
Toru Huruya Tuxedo Mask
Michie Tmizawa Sailor Mars
Aya Hisakawa Sailor Mercury
Emi Shinohara Sailor Jupiter
Rika Fukami Sailor Venus
Keiko Han Luna
Yasuhiro Takato Artemis
Kumiko Nishihara * Diana
Megumi Ogata Sailor Uranus
Masako Katsuki Sailor Neptune
Chiuoko Kawashima Sailor Pluto
Yuko Minaguchi Sailor Saturn
* I actually haven't seen/heard Diana yet. I think the extent of
her inclusion is just another voice for the "Ready.. Fight!"
stuff.
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