Michael Jackson's Moonwalker is the name of several video games based on the 1988 Michael Jackson film, Moonwalker. U.S. Gold published various games for home computers, released in 1989, whilst Sega developed two similarly themed beat 'em up video games in 1990; one released for arcades and another released for the Sega Genesis and Sega Master System. Each of the games' stories loosely follow the story of the film, in which Michael Jackson must rescue kidnapped children from the evil Mr. Big, and incorporate synthesized versions of the musician's hits, such as Beat It and Smooth Criminal. The games, particularly the Genesis adaptation, have achieved cult status.
The gameplay is focused on finding children, all of whom resemble Katie from the movie, which are scattered throughout the level, some behind certain objects such as doors. Most of the objects are empty or contain enemies. In contrast to the arcade version, Michael's moves more closely resemble his trademark dancing moves. For example, the standard attack is a stylized high kick that is commonly incorporated into his dance routines. If the player continues to hold the kick button, and moves Michael backwards, he performs Michael's signature Moonwalk dance move. The player has combination health/ability bar. One button will allow Michael to spin, being invulnerable in the process. However, this spin move will slowly lose health. If the spin is held for more than two seconds, Michael will throw his hat in a fashion of a boomerang which will destroy most enemies. The longer the spin move is held, the wider distance that the fedora will cover. If held down long enough, a dance magic scene similar to the arcade version would play, featuring dance moves taken from the film clips of whatever song is playing in the background. Michael can also use the magic to slide down banisters and eliminate multiple enemies in the process. In certain levels, a shooting star may appear which temporarily transforms Michael into a cyborg that can attack enemies with various artillery, though cannot collect children. Almost every stage has three levels, designated in Super Mario Bros. fashion as X-1, X-2, X-3. However, the final level of the Mega Drive/Sega Genesis version was a first person "flight sim" type battle between Michael (now transformed into a space ship) and Mr. Big's ship.
Critical reviews were mixed. Your Sinclair compared the Spectrum version of the game to Gauntlet and Operation Wolf, saying it was well animated and "a surprising amount of fun". MegaTech said that the Megadrive version was an addictive platform game that had "excellent graphics". Mega magazine placed the game at number 91 in their list of the best Megadrive games of all time, saying it was average.
