is a

fighting game A fighting game, also known as a versus fighting game, is a video game genre, genre of video game that involves combat between two or more players. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as Blocking (martial arts), blocking, grappli ...

developed by Tose and published by Bandai exclusively for the

3DO Interactive Multiplayer The 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, also referred to as simply 3DO, is a home video game console developed by The 3DO Company. Conceived by entrepreneur and Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins, the 3DO was not a console manufactured by the company ...

in Japan on 17 March 1995. It is based upon

Naoko Takeuchi is a Japanese manga artist. She is best known as the author of ''Sailor Moon'', one of the most popular manga series of all time. She has won several awards, including the 1993 Kodansha Manga Award for ''Sailor Moon''. Takeuchi is married to ...

's ''

Sailor Moon is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoko Takeuchi. It was originally serialized in Kodansha's ''shōjo'' manga magazine ''Nakayoshi'' from 1991 to 1997; the 52 individual chapters were published in 18 volumes. The seri ...

'' shōjo manga and anime series, though its gameplay has been compared with other titles in the same genre such as

SNK is a Japanese video game hardware and software company. It is the successor to the company Shin Nihon Kikaku and presently owns the SNK video game brand and the Neo Geo video game platform. SNK's predecessor Shin Nihon Kikaku was founded in 1978 ...

's '' Samurai Shodown''. Loosely following the third season of the anime series, which adapted the third arc of the manga,Sailormoon Channel
Name of story arc given on the official website. the players control either one of the five original

Inner Senshi The ''Sailor Moon'' manga series features an extensive cast of characters created by Naoko Takeuchi. The series takes place in Tokyo, Japan, where the , a group of ten magical girls, are formed to combat an assortment of antagonists attempting t ...

or one of the three Outer Senshi as they enter a tournament to fight against each other and become the winning victor. Takeuchi supervised the production of the project and seiyūs from the anime series returned to reprise their roles. Despite being exclusive to Japan, ''Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon S'' garnered negative reception from critics who reviewed it as an import title since its release and although it was commended for the presentation, the animation and controls were heavily criticized.

Gameplay

As with the previously released ''Bishōjo Senshi Sailor Moon S: Jōgai Rantō!? Shuyaku Sōdatsusen'' on Super Famicom, ''Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon S'' is a fighting game similar to '' Street Fighter II: The World Warrior'' in which the player fights against other opponents in one-on-one matches and the fighter who manages to deplete the

health bar Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, Mental health, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World H ...

of the opponent wins the first bout and the first to win two bouts becomes the winner of the match.''Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon S'' manual (3DO Interactive Multiplayer, JP) Each round is timed, which can be adjusted or deactivated at the options menu screen and if both fighters still have health remaining when time is over, the one with more health wins that round. The game features various game modes and settings that can be selected on the menu screen. In the single-player mode, players can choose from nine playable Sailor Soldiers and fight against computer-controlled fighters across several locations from the series, although Sailor Saturn is not present in this title. Each Soldier has a set of special attacks, as well as their own special moves that can be performed by inputting a combination of directional and button-based commands. Similar to the ''Samurai Shodown'' franchise, the camera zooms in or out to maximize or minimize the level of graphical detail depending on character movement.

Development and release

''Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon S'' was developed by Tose for the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer and several people were involved in its creation. ''Sailor Moon'' author Naoko Takeuchi was involved during the production as supervisor and seiyūs from the anime series returned to reprise their respective roles. The game was released for the 3DO exclusively in Japan by Bandai on 17 March 1995. Early previews prior to release showcased minimal differences compared to the final version.

Reception

According to '' Famitsu'', ''Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon S'' on 3DO sold over 11,005 copies in its first week on the market. The game sold approximately 19,075 copies during its lifetime in Japan. ''

Next Generation Next Generation or Next-Generation may refer to: Publications and literature * ''Next Generation'' (magazine), video game magazine that was made by the now defunct Imagine Media publishing company * Next Generation poets (2004), list of young ...

'' reviewed the game, rating it two stars out of five, and stated that "While the premise is interesting, the animation is stilted, and the controls aren't as smooth as they could be. Overall, this game is of interest to fighting game collectors only." Christophe Delpierre of French magazine ''Player One'' reviewed the game and gave a score of 25%. However, Spanish magazine ''GamesTech'' regarded the title as the best fighting game in the ''Sailor Moon'' franchise. Argentinian website ''Malditos Nerds'' ranked it as number four on their top ''Sailor Moon'' games.

Notes

References

External links

''Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon S''
at

GameFAQs GameFAQs is a website that hosts FAQs and walkthroughs for video games. It was created in November 1995 by Jeff Veasey and was bought by CNET Networks in May 2003. It is currently owned by Fandom, Inc. since October 2022. The site has a databa ...

''Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon S''
at Giant Bomb {{Portal bar, 1990s, Japan, Video games 1995 video games 3DO Interactive Multiplayer games 3DO Interactive Multiplayer-only games Bandai games Fighting games Japan-exclusive video games Multiplayer and single-player video games Sailor Moon games Tose (company) games Video games developed in Japan