Collecting Sailor Moon Video Games for the Super Famicom

I’m a collector of many things, and among my collection is a few Super Famicom (SFC) Sailor Moon games. When I was younger I emulated the games and played them a lot (terrible I know! but they weren’t available in North America). So for nostalgic reasons I began purchasing the physical games, so today I’m posting about my experience buying these games as well as giving some advice on how to pick them up for yourself! I also have a trick involving the region lock on North American & European Super Nintendo games that can be undone so you don’t have to pick up a Japanese console to play these awesome games!

I’ve picked up 3 SFC games through Ebay, and they’re among some of my favourites from the roster of Sailor Moon games available. Above is Sailor Moon SuperS: Fuwa Fuwa Panic, a balloon popping puzzle game that feels like a cross between Bust a Move and Bejeweled. You pop balloons of similar colour and send over unpoppable gray balloons in a sort of backwards tetris. Intermixed with it is the Sailor Scouts who have different special attacks that can help your board or hinder your enemy’s board. The sprites are colourful and the game is a lot of fun to play through, whether solo or against friends. See gameplay of it here. There’s also Sailor Moon Sailor Stars: Fuwa Fuwa Panic 2 which is the same thing but much more difficult to play solo. It is also hard to find, and probably expensive to purchase if you do. Check out its gameplay here. Both games are fun so if you see either for a decent price then pick them up! Any puzzle game fan would have tons of fun playing these games.

Kodansha's Sailor Moon Manga Re-Release

If you’re the around josei age like myself (young 20’s) then you’ll probably remember growing up watching Sailor Moon. I remember fondly being completely obsessed with this show (arguably I still am). So when to my delight I got to my local bookstore to see Sailor Moon Volume 1 sitting on the shelf for sale I snagged it so quickly I left a trail of moon dust in my wake. That was over a year ago, and all volumes have been released. For those who haven’t watched Sailor Moon, or for Sailor Moon fans this is a must pick up, and any shoujo fan as well.


This manga is being released right in time for the re-release of the Sailor Moon anime which is getting totally redone for this summer anime season (It’s been re-scheduled to 2014, I have shed many tears over this). This time around the anime is supposed to follow the manga more closely, and if you are anything like myself, growing up you did not know how different the manga truly is when compared to the anime (especially the North American dub). The manga has a more serious tone, and even alludes to sex and the like. I would really recommend this manga to young adults over children. That’s what made the anime so different in contrast to the manga I’ve been reading. They’re two different experiences entirely (and the manga is far more enjoyable in comparison). The anime also stretched a 12 volume series into 200 episodes along with 3 movies, making it a huge franchise. The anime had a lot of formulaic episodes whereas the manga gets to the point; there isn’t that repetitious plot of Monster appears-oh no!-transform-destroy monster-repeat. The main villains are defeated within at least a volume and a half, with the end of each volume ending of a cliffhanger. Intermixed is the main story about the Moon Princess, the clash of future and past, and ultimately the survival of the Sailor Guardians and the Moon Kingdom. Even if you feel like you know the anime well the manga offers something fresh and more appropriate for those who grew up watching the show. There is a boxset of 1-6 already, so save yourself some money and pick it that up, as well as the 7-12 boxset scheduled for October of this year. Or if you’re like myself and can’t wait, all the manga is out and purchasable at Chapters or Amazon.