Evolution of Michael Jackson's Moonwalker Games | Amiga, ST, C64, CPC, DOS, Arcade, Genesis and more

✅ Several video games based on Michael Jackson's Moonwalker movie were published in 1988 and 1989. They had very different mechanics so we decided not to make a traditional version comparison video but an evolution of all the games and versions based on the film license.
Decide which is the DEFINITIVE VERSION of Michael Jackson's Moonwalker / マイケル ジャクソンズ ムーンウォーカー.
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👉 Check out all our comparisons: • Evolution of Michael J...
00:00 Intro (1989)
00:15 Amiga (1989)
02:39 Atari ST (1989)
04:41 PC DOS / MS-DOS (CGA) (1989)
06:26 PC DOS / MS-DOS (EGA) (1989)
08:07 Commodore 64 / C64 (1989)
09:47 Amstrad CPC (1989)
12:25 ZX Spectrum 48K (1989)
14:15 ZX Spectrum 128K (1989)
16:23 MSX (1989)
19:51 Arcade (1990)
21:08 Sega Genesis / Mega Drive (1990)
23:04 Arcade (Mega-Tech) (1990)
24:58 Master System / Sega Mark III (1990)
26:29 J2ME / Java Mobile (200X)
Which are your favorite ports or conversions?
#retrogaming #retrogames #oldgames

[@VitalikNerdChannel]

In my opinion, Michael Jackson on the Sega Genesis and Arcade versions are just amazing!!!! 2:39 And here is the Ghostbusters theme in Michael Jackson on the Atari ST

[@retrosutra]

I thought the same thing about ghostbusters, haha.

[@federicocatelli8785]

Never really liked the arcade but the mega drive port is not bad (for being an early game) even if it's kinda different

[@GCSoundArtifacts]

The "Bad" theme was better used on Atari ST than on Amiga!

[@carn9507]

GhostBadders :P

[@disasterincarnate]

even after all these years, i still like this old mashup of MJ + Ghostbusters. kzbin.info/www/bejne/anazgJyaZs6Vjqc

[@Imgema]

Holy shit that 4 seconds music loop on the Amiga. That would drive me insane after a few minutes. One of the few instances i prefer the Atari ST version's music.

[@federicocatelli8785]

I'd prefer being deaf😉

[@iXien]

I was just thinking the same. From 1990, musicians begun to know how to correctly use Paula sound chip on Amiga. But before, they were usually 8 bit chiptune specialized and when publishers begun to ask them to make use of the PCM feature of Paula from 1986, we feel that they did what they could with few skills. As a result, we ended up with a kind of mixture between PCM and soundchip sounds, and sometimes even with samples looping ad infinitum until destroying the player's ears. I love so much my Amiga I bought some years after my 520STf, but for games between 1986 and 1989, music is usually far better on ST, with nice chiptunes rather then awful samples 😁

[@iwanttocomplain]

It would be better if the loop didn’t pause after each repeat, ruining the timing.

[@GCSoundArtifacts]

I agree totally with you! But C64 deserves the best recognition of the bunch...! Even the Amstrad CPC has some stereo sound spacing!

[@carn9507]

Yeah, everything else did the actual tune and the Amiga there stuck on a short loop. I had to go check out if it was doing the same in other people's videos of that version and yeah. It does. And for every level. Level 2 has a short clip of Speed Demon on loop. Level 3 has Smooth Criminal clip on loop. Level 4 has Speed Demon again. I mean, they're iconic lil loops but them never actually getting to the main song is infuriating. :P

[@f.k.b.16]

1989 : "Oh my ears! Is this the best the world can offer on home system 🤢? 2022 : "I have perfect digital quality songs in my pocket but man oh man... my ears love this chiptune remake!"

[@f.k.b.16]

But don't take my comment wrong... I wasn't a huge Michael Jackson fan but even back in the day I was totally blown away by the Genesis versions graphics and music! The game play was solid too. I didn't even know until today those other non-SEGA versions existed and I'm kind of glad lol!

[@sweetpataterz8738]

I don’t think many were complaining about the sound quality of the Genesis version in 1989 lmao

[@SoBloxRetroDS-UA]

@@sweetpataterz8738 Michael Jackson himself was complaining

[@leeboy2k1]

The arcade version was on the mighty SEGA system 18 arcade hardware, the others never stood a chance, although I did enjoy the MD version growing up also. The Java version has nice music, but the enemy sprites are ripped from other games, those firebats are from Capcom's 'Ghouls n Ghosts' and Thriller replaces smooth criminal for some reason lol. Fun fact: the BETA version of Genesis/MD Moonwalker has Thriller in the graveyard, unlike the release version which had another part of me.

[@Leeki85]

Actually arcade port looks like average VGA + Adlib PC DOS game. Single background layer, not so many sprites and FM music. Even though SEGA system 18 was powerful for its time, this game wasn't using its capabilities. Home computer port is just a low cost port designed to be easily ported to all popular platforms. Such games were designed for Atari ST, because if you had a game running on ST it would easily port to much more powerful Amiga and PC.

[@MrMaxArgentino]

Thriller> variety

[@AutoFirePad]

Great memories of the arcade. Thanks for the video!!!

[@faenethlorhalien]

Man, the Master system version looks really good.

[@marconobrega]

It does look really good. The animations are on par with the Genesis version and overall graphically is really good. I played both versions and if you look at both, the Master System plays faster, but very smoothly too. Taking in account the technical differences between both machines, my favourite version is the Master System.

[@jasonlee7816]

the Moonwalker Sega Master System game didn’t or doesn’t feel, look, sound on par with the Moonwalker Sega Genesis/Mega-Drive game

[@iwanttocomplain]

Seeing this game in a tv ad convinced me I needed a Master System.

[@carn9507]

It's a far more admirable port of a 16-bit game onto the 8-bit Master System than many other 16-bit game ports for sure.

[@jasonlee7816]

@@Random_Person.you already told me about console limitations once then twice 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

[@julesgamergourmand]

My favorite version is that of the Master system. It's the easiest, you get lost less. I can't finish the hard Megadrive version.

[@joveaaron-real]

ZX Spectrum 48K sounds like a Geiger counter

[@BrianFan7650]

this is great! michael jackson is awesome!

[@teddym2808]

Isometric arcade version will always be my favourite. I would like to forget about the PC versions indefinitely.

[@user-vg5rv5xf4u]

That amiga looping 😂

[@karlphillips6834]

Do you remember when me and you used to play this together, we must have buggered each other stupidly 👍

[@defektfilms]

Just played the Amiga version at that time... it was soooo bad, and that music loop out of tempo was the cherry on the top.

[@f.k.b.16]

I didn't know that Alien Syndrome was remade as a crappy Michael Jackson game 🥴

[@carn9507]

21:58 they even have the black cat! :O (the one from the music video where it plinky-plonks along the piano). I didn't know that. I haven't played the game enough to have seen that. :P

[@iwanttocomplain]

The first 20 minutes of that maze game made riveting viewing.

[@yousefslimani99]

Our favorite moonwalking dancer!🥰🥰

[@retro3188]

I love Moonwalker!

[@kevincalizaya9958]

Considero que las versiones de arcade y la de génesis son por mucho las mejores que hubo y que para mí es de mis favoritas

[@fradd182]

You know something is wrong with the game when Ms-DOS version runs smoothly and Amiga is choppy and awful. Arcade version is totally different from the home computers. At least c64 looks and runs fine.

[@bullyclub3778]

The best of all that moonwalker i ever played was the one on arcade

[@ag9hj]

Somehow Michael moves like Frogger in esp. the speccies..

[@cessnaace]

SEGA did a much better job with the license than did US Gold. I own the Genesis and Master System versions. If Blaze Entertainment could swing it I'd love to see the SEGA arcade version on the Evercade. They've already released other arcade games from the same era, so the Evercade could handle it.

[@BassGoesBoom1]

we played the master system version, great game

[@colinthomson7518]

Genesis and the master system is good. the arcade version is just amazing

[@carn9507]

Was that Java one official? It seems to be a bit of a mash up of different sources of assets like a fan-game or something?

[@yousefslimani99]

That sound is familiar! 21:33

[@LeakyHoleEntertainmentOfficial]

Sonic?

[@yousefslimani99]

@@LeakyHoleEntertainmentOfficial I think so!

[@PiroKUSS]

@@yousefslimani99 Yep, it's Sonic's ring sound.

[@retrosutra]

My son also noticed that when we watched the video, haha.

[@sig_natural]

zx spectrum micheal looks like a junji ito monster

[@carn9507]

Oh my god. The Amiga is supposed to have great music. But it kept playing that intro bit of Bad again and again and again. Milhouse: "When are we going to get to the fireworks factory?!" but replace "fireworks factory" to "actual melody of this song?" All the other home computer versions doing beep chip tunes but actually do the whole tune! Surely the Amiga's samples didn't use up all the memory?

[@federicocatelli8785]

Usual Us Gold production for home computers.... at least music (for Amiga) is not bad

[@Games-bw5ee]

The intro loop is poorly synced though. The start and end points are not aligned right, throwing the tempo off.

[@carn9507]

It's weird how nostalgic that US Gold logo is even though most of their output was junk.

[@Nao_ms]

26:29-26:52 michael jackson el de java es increíble siempre quería escucharlo ya son 11 años

[@RafaelPereira-dc9ir]

Arcade and Mega Drive/ Genisis ALL THE WAY !!! However I kinda felt disappointed those versions didn’t have MJ walking before the game title appears

[@gromitaardman339]

El arcade de Sega y sus consolas estaban muy bien.

[@AnimationMaster167]

Oh yeah, It's Michael Jackson!

[@BrianFan7650]

did you mean michael jackson?

[@AnimationMaster167]

Yeah, sorry @@BrianFan7650... I kept mistaking the word Michael.

[@BrianFan7650]

also how do i get the j2me version of michael jackson's moonwalker?

[@pollyisagoodbird]

Seems like it's Chinese; the characters on the title screen look too complex to be Japanese. Either way it might be difficult, you'll probably have to go to some shady non-English websites to get it.

[@retrosutra]

Search moonwalker java on Google

[@gamingzonepk]

Weldone

[@Ttox229]

I still don't understand why Emerald Software put more effort into the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum versions, although they all play poorly

[@luisonl1563]

recuerdo q ni lo probé en spectrum, ya q tenía el arcade cerca de casa, y viendo en microhobby el truño de juego q hicieron, ni lo ví. Por cierto, salió en el numero 194 siendo portada, quitando protagonismo a juegos mucho mas rompedores y trascendentales, como viaje al centro de la tierra, o ghouls and ghost, pero es que michael, era mucho maikel. Por cierto, las versiones de 8bits, otra vez mas , commodore, porque en amstrad, el personaje parece roto Xd. un saludo crack.

[@GCSoundArtifacts]

The Arcade game is everything that the (crappy) computer games tried to be, but couldn't at all, giving a better sense of reality to a maze game with more action and dynamics. It's the best game of the bunch here. (It's curious for me to note, though, that the Sega games replaced the computer games' items that are pieces of a spaceship to kids...) But, of course, the Mega Drive and Master System are the dearest ones in my remembrances. However, the SMS has one single advantage to both MD and Arcade: the limitation of not having the kids voicing out the name of Michael... P.S.: The C64 soundtrack deserves an A.

[@Shadow-wb7kb]

Excellent bro 😏👉👉. I still have the moonwalker game cartridge in my sega genesis in good condition and it works without problems🙂. Michael Jackson Forever 😁🤟.

[@lucasrosario7982]

Michael Jackson 🌚 moonwalk

[@beerbaron9802]

La de arcade la mejor.

[@mleolv426]

I feel robbed. No c64 twinkle toes intro shown 😫 The megadrive walking animation always disappointed me. The rest of the animations are great.

[@jasonlee7816]

how (why) did the MD walking animation disappoint you? if you want better quality animation they might or would need to use a bigger (larger) cartridge than 4 or 5 megabits are you happy to pay more?

[@mleolv426]

@@jasonlee7816 It is poor animation for a main character, very stiff with few frames of animation. His animation is also inconsistent, when he spins or kicks out his leg it is super smooth but a lot of his jumps look like 2 frames of animation.

[@diskyboy1990]

I always thought it started out in the arcade and the home computer versions just went their own directions due to system limitations. Turn out the home computers came first and the games are unrelated. Most of the computer versions are pretty trash as to be expected. The Amiga version has really good sound quality, until you realize it's just a 4 second loop, over and over again. For that alone, the ST is my pick though it's a little faster too. Best of all computer versions though would be the C64. It's smooth, has the largest playing field and some great music, just a shame it's still just the same crappy game. The arcade game is really something else, it's sort of a cross between the computer and console versions but way better than both. An underrated arcade gem from Sega for sure! With that said, the Mega drive adaption is okay. It works well enough as a 2D platformer and some music tracks were reaccreted well. When no home systems were up to par it was the best you could get, but really it's not great these days. Those dark basic graphics are underwhelming, even for the hardware but for an early release, it could be worse. Honestly though, I'm more impressed by the SMS! The colors and brighter, the music is still good, it's a little cutback in places but what do you expect? It's an amazingly accurate port for what it's worthy and hey the kids no longer scream when Michael rescues them which might have seen like a drawback back in the day, but nowadays it's definitely a change to appreciate.

[@retrosutra]

Thanks for this detailed review!

[@diskyboy1990]

​@@retrosutra no problem dude

[@Wagoo]

They didn't even get the timing right on that music loop on the Amiga, drives you nuts 😂

[@diskyboy1990]

@@Wagoo despite this, I still hear Amiga fans swearing that their port has incredible sound quality. it does in fact, but the song and how the handled it was godawful.

[@araujo8128]

Sabia que existia versão java não.

[@MegaTheAnimatorAndGamer421]

nem eu

[@celinesenden4142]

He died 13 years ago

[@carn9507]

Yeah the arcade wins for being higher quality is all regards and being 3 player. Mega Drive game best home game. Master System does an admirable job of trying to fit all that 16-bit into 8-bit. Home computer versions were a crap game. I still have the Amstrad CPC version I was given for a birthday back then even though I wasn't a big fan of Jackson at the time. I am now since having researched the false allegations after watching a certain debunked 'documentary' a few years ago.

[@Corsa15DT]

I hate it on my c64, but the amiga version was just as bad. Amiga should have been able to reproduce the arcade

[@wishusknight3009]

Well, its starts out with the amiga, good sound, ok if a little slugish controls, some interesting artwork in the cutscenes, non-existant game plot, aaaaaand pretty much goes down hill from there... I thought it would bottom out at the Spectrum... but nope... we had the MSX.. Then, in 1990 we had a new hope! A new year, a new batch of ports and ........ wtf is this? its... a game, i think?.... designed by a 6 year old describing to a developer his own idea of transformers...i mean..... ok.... i guess.... But, thankfully the Megadrive came through with a pretty good game. Though given the historical context some elements of it now have not aged well. But its otherwise a fun and decent playing on the whole. I will say however the "wtf is this?" arcade port does absolutely capture the theme of what MJ had for his road show at the time. Which as a 12 year old boy going to see it in person was one heck of an experience. I never saw that game as a kid, and had I seen it in the arcade i may have played it for hours. A concert of a life time that I have never forgotten. And NGL, im going to load that rom into my cab next time Im home...

[@noaht2005]

I didn’t know about all those shitty pc games

[@deathcold_longplaysua4846]

Arcade and Sega versions are the best. Everything else are not.

[@captaincrook1582]

Having all those kids saying "Michael!" when he touches them, seems kinda creepy in retrospect.

[@danyoutube7491]

Yeah, Michael Jackson being the saviour of all these distressed kids is ironic!

[@iwanttocomplain]

You know, he was never charged with anything. It was settled out of court. So if the US justice system thinks it’s fine to allow a potential serious criminal to continue going around committing crimes without a complete trial with a jury verdict then who’s the monster?

[@carn9507]

@@iwanttocomplain Actually it was the civil trial wrongly coming before the criminal trial in 1993. Jackson was forced to pay the civil trial because he WANTED the criminal trial to happen. California law was later amended so that civil cases would always come after criminal cases because of how this had violated Jackson's rights for defense. Unfortunately dodgy dentist Evan Chandler who started the scam in the first place just took the money and ran. There was nothing in the settlement that prevented the Chandlers from continuing to a criminal case but Evan didn't want that as he knew Jackson would win. Because facts and evidence were always on Jackson's side. But the media misreporting of that case is what led to other scammers trying their luck. The Arvizos actually got exposed in the 2005 criminal trial (they had a history of similar scams and Janet Arvizo was later charged with perjury, welfare fraud and had made their kids accuse their dad of abuse) and the LN frauds change their stories every time it fails to get them money and their most recent attempts don't even match what they said in their 2019 'documentary'. The only accuser to ever go to the police and not straight to civil lawyers was a kid in canada... who never actually met Jackson and was coached on what to say by perv Rodney Allen who had ties to Victor Gutierrez who wrote the fictional book that LN copies most of it's narrative from.

[@carn9507]

@@danyoutube7491 He actually did save kids though. Look up the stories of those who are adults now who he helped find new organs and paid for all their hospital treatments. Look up Dave Dave (whose body was almost completely covered with burns) or how he helped Ryan White (a kid with AIDS that nobody would go near). Jackson kept in touch with White's mother for decades after White passed away. Not the actions of a child molester. But then those who accused Mike were proven to be frauds anyways. All the court transcripts, the FBI file on Jackson and the masses of evidence exposing the allegations have been public for years. Tabloids don't much care to talk about them though. They'd been dragging Jackson since 1985 (8 years before any allegations). The UK media really hated him buying the catalogue that included all the Beatles music then. Couldn't have a black american owning white british heroes music. They also don't like to talk about the multiple paternity allegations like that of Michelle Flowers as it goes against their narrative.

[@carn9507]

By the way the kids in Moonwalker all support Jackson to this day. The girl who played Katie (Kelley Parker) got hounded off Twitter after so many trolls started harassing her a few years ago when the debunked LN (directed by a man who insists kids can ENJOY 'being with' an adult) was broadcast. They even tried to say she had been molested herself which she has never claimed... and if she had...why bully her? It's like LN claiming Macaulay Culkin and Brett Barnes were molested when they have always supported Jackson. Neither Barnes or Culkin were even contacted before being mentioned in LN. Once Barnes heard about it he sent a legal letter to the producers who remove his name from it. They ignored him. Meanwhile the 'stars' of LN, Robson and Safechuck started harassing another guy who was a kid that Jackson knew back then, Jonathan Spence, into joining their scam with them, but he refused and instead went against them and their lawyer had to pay sanctions money to him and other people they had been harassing to lie about Jackson. Interesting trivia about the white boy in Moonwalker. That's Sean Lennon. John Lennon's son from his marriage to Yoko Ono (whereas Julian Lennon is the son that John ignored from his marriage to Cynthia that John hit)

[@mexicankurls7470]

Hee hee

[@benjaminlopezvita194]

The msx version is the best port on the theme BAD

[@mastersproutgamer9327]

26:33 A great song for Halloween, but a pure rip-off to Castlevania.

[@mortenera2294]

Man, all of the computer versions are shit...

[@rosemarysandcastle]

c64 sid chip slaps

[@rosemarysandcastle]

atari st the best

[@jasonlee7816]

Do you like the way it looks, moves, sounds?

[@kevincalizaya9958]

En mí opinión la versión hecha para arcade y de la consola génesis son sin dudas al final la mejores versiones del cantante Michael Jackson