No, God, when did that happen? Moonwalker turned 35, so 35 years from the actual day this classic was brought out for Sega Genesis and MegaDrive. It’s not a lie; it still remains truly one of the most uniquely interesting licensed games ever created.
In a nostalgic fashion, The Game Awards account tweeted about this memory earlier today, and the replies burst with gamers sharing their departure viewpoints and some very “interesting” remarks about its legacy. One user, in fact, said, “gaming history right there,” and if I should be honest with you, I am far from disagreeing.
So, why was Moonwalker so special? For one, the music was from MJ’s albums, which somehow was quite a rarity back then. Just that vibe, you know, classic Jackson feel. And gameplay? Bruh, you could transform into a robot. A ROBOT. Or you just dance your enemies away, and no other game in 1989 could have even dreamt of giving you such an option. You just can’t.
Now about the thing that’s giving us butterflies today- the demand for a remaster is REAL. Many comments were begging Sega, Nintendo, Xbox, PlayStation… really anyone would do… to revive this gem; one tagged Limited Run Games and Super Rare Games to do a physical release for this title, and another straight up asked for it to be on Nintendo Switch Online. The people have spoken; will anyone listen?
Another problem saddling the elephant in the room all alone. In the dream remaster discussion, some comments went on to mention the Jackson allegations; one commenter said, “It feels a bit creepy now considering the allegations.” While other commenters sprang to Michael’s defense citing documentaries that supposedly refute those allegations. It’s messy. And that’s why Moonwalker might be stuck in licensing hell forever.
Speaking of licensing nightmares, a user gave an explanation for why we haven’t had a remaster: “If Nightdive Studios remastered this, they will deal with a lot of licensing nightmare from the Jackson’s estate.” He might have a point; music rights, image rights, and whatever else might’ve been laid down concerning MJ’s legacy? That is a legal minefield no one seems willing to walk through.
That being said, let’s get back to the game. Multiple users shared their experiences with Moonwalker. One mentioned it was their “first no death run in a video game.” Another still has the physical complete release with cart, box, and instructions (jealous!). Then there’s the poor soul who said, “every time we got to the end the game froze.” Oof. Classic gaming frustration!
The topic then veered toward other games Michael contributed to. Someone brought up Sonic 3 and how good it’d be to get that game with the original Michael Jackson music, which he and Brad Buxer composed. Apparently, it even has a prototype version for MJ’s Stranger in Moscow. That’s news to me!
Following that, we got somewhat questionable… takes. One declared the computer game was “about saving children from rich old creeps,” which is… certainly one way to look at it. Another just said “okey like T_T … xD like!” which, honestly, summarizes the entire vibe of trying to grok the fact that this game has now been around for 35 years.
…Wait, where was I? Ah yes, the legacy. Moonwalker is still a fascinating chapter in the annals of video game history, arguably with all the controversies and licensing issues. It was ambitious, it was weird, and unlike anything at the time. The fact that people are still talking about it after 35 years, begging for remasters and ports, tells you pretty much everything about its impact.
Happy Birthday, Moonwalker. Hopefully, we will someday see it on a modern platform, now-well-actually-hell-bent-licensing-nightmares-be-damned. Meanwhile, we’ll have to keep emulating or looking for those old Genesis consoles in our attics.
