Almost Worth Knowing: Moonwalker

A few days ago, in A Life Not Quite Black or White, I challenged all my readers (probably just Brett) to name 5 Michael Jackson songs, not including the 7 or 8 that I previously mentioned. Bad Ass Yates was the only person to respond, listing "Jam," Ben," "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough," "The Way You Make Me Feel," and "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" amongst his responses. Not only did Brett answer correctly, but he also mocked me for making the challenge too easy. Too easy, Brett? Well, I don't see you answering my OTHER challenge!

My second challenge was for any reader to name the Michael Jackson video game that was often found in arcades in the 90's. This game was none other than Michael Jackson's Moonwalker, the video game based on the movie comprised of a number of music videos featuring songs from the Michael Jackson album, Bad.

I remember the game pretty well actually. It came out in 1990, following the movie's release in 1989, and was a staple at one of the theaters I often went to as a kid. My recollection of the gameplay is even quite accurate; the game is played from a 3/4 perspective, and follows Michael Jackson, wearing his suit from Smooth Criminal, as he tries to rescue children and fight off gangsters or other bad guys using dance moves and dance magic attacks. At certain points in the game, Jackson can activate his super-powered Dance Magic attack and cause all the enemies on-screen to dance with him until they can no longer keep up and die. Curiously, and I do remember this, at certain points in each stage, Jackson can find his real-life pet chimpanzee, Bubbles, activating a power-up that turns him into a robot that can shoot missiles and lasers. Furthermore, the game can be played with up to three players at once, with each player controlling Jackson in a different colored suit.

Interestingly, and I did not know this, the game also came out for Sega Master System and Sega Genesis with different gameplay. For more information on both games, check out the Wikipedia Article and gameplay footage below.