Sailor Moon: Another Dimension (Version 6)
A Review by Fenrir-Lunaris
Download here

I'm very often reminded of the fact that I don't play many OHR games anymore, and I think this has more to do with the fact that so many of them go unfinished, or lack a certain degree of polish given what the engine can produce now. Is it too much to ask for sound effects, or decent graphics, or a game that's not so horribly imbalanced that I put it down ten minutes into playing it? I mean, even OLD games don't get that sort of treatment!

Oh hello, what's this?

Say, I remember playing this game back in the days of Operation: OHR, along with Monterey Penguin, Arfenhouse 3, and Legend of the Saiyans. See, back then, we were damn lucky to have plotscripting, let alone any of these fancy features newcomers to the OHRRPGCE have come to expect in games, like running it in a window or renaming heroes, or having more than 99 palettes. Well, let's see if anything's changed since those times, shall we?

You can usually tell how much polish a game is going to have by the opening sequence, and this game is no exception. The character graphics don't seem particularly detailed, and the bad guys' lair seems to have borrowed that detestable carpet from Lord Hasim's place in Wandering Hamster. I'm not even sure if those are walls I'm looking at. The introduction gets the general message across that the evil queen (whatever her name is) is some sinister, overbearing witch who's more adept at scaring and tormenting her own minions than she is at defeating 5 teenagers with out-of-proportion legs and no breasts. Fabulous. There's plenty of animation though, what with various minions running away in terror during the opening scenes. Later on we get introduced to the main character as well, with plenty of NPCs running about, carrying on with their general business. Sure, it's not pretty to look at - everything lacks some kind of border so sprites blend into the background FAR too easily, but there's a lot of motion going on to keep my attention so that's probably a good sign.

The rest of the game generally follows this same graphical format, though it generally improves as the game progresses through each area. There's enough variety in the towns and dungeons to keep the player interested in exploring, and the game is heavily focused on investigating every apparent "dead end" to warrant it. The only major problem is that the maps are HUGE and filled with large black spaces that don't have anything in them - so it's easy to get lost in the villages at least. For the most part, the game doesn't have too many instances of backtracking though, which is rare considering most OHR games made during the days this one came out are usually filled with "fetch quests" that provide little or no reward. None of the characters have a dark border or outline around them though, and most are too bright to make out any details.

Battles in this game are there to teach the player two very important facts. Firstly, leveling up only serves as a mechanism for aquiring newer spells and abilities - half of which miss, and the others are so vital as to make needless level grinding a mandatory chore. The second fact is that equipment only slightly improves each character's vital statistics, and then usually in such small quantaties that they're all but useless there. For those people who like games that make battles a snap with certain spells - this is for you. Otherwise, you'll end up fighting every encounter with the spacebar held down, and heal only when needed.

For better or worse, this game has sound effects added in at key points - such as when pulling a lever you'll hear a sound of rock moving as the screen shakes. For the most part, they're either taken from the Sailor Moon show, or use menu sounds not found in the default OHR package. Scrolling through the menu with the tinny bleeps and noises even gives the game it's own special feel.

Granted, the game has its own unique charm to it, with a graphic style and audio feel that's all its own. I couldn't bear to finish it though - a man can only take so many magical girls, princesses, and powdery fluff-balls before he begins to question his masculinity (and the boss battles become VERY hard after a point). It's a memorable experience though, and for an OHR fangame, it isn't that bad of one. For everyone else though, stay away.