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Thread: Moonwalker Mystery

  1. #1
    Cherry (Level 1) Retronick's Avatar
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    Default Moonwalker Mystery

    I've got a fun little mystery to kick off your week.

    Back in 2009 RIGHT after Michael Jackson died, my wife gave me a copy of Moonwalker for the Genesis. Rather, she gave me a copy of Moonwalker that is unlike any copy I've seen anyplace else. The cover has the familiar slick feel of any other Genesis or Megadrive game, but there is no logo to be seen anywhere on the box, or on the enclosed cart.

    The cart looks like a Megadrive cartridge, but the label has "MOONWALKER" in yellow instead of the signature platinum. There are no Sega logos anywhere on the box, and the cartridge does not fit in a North American Genesis, but, I've found that removing the top of my 32X gives it ample room to fit through the slot, and the game will run. There is also Japanese kana all over the box and the back of the cart.

    I'm assuming what I have is a cheap asian knockoff, but I wanted to run it by the community and get your 2 cents since the label quality on the cart itself was so well done. The print quality of the box art is low res, which is what raises the bootleg flag for me (that and the lack of logos).

    Thanks for your insight!

    http://www.retronick.com/wp-content/...0/IMG_7403.jpg
    http://www.retronick.com/wp-content/...0/IMG_7401.jpg
    http://www.retronick.com/wp-content/...0/IMG_7402.jpg
    http://www.retronick.com/wp-content/...4658250345.jpg
    http://www.retronick.com/wp-content/...4658280845.jpg
    http://www.retronick.com/wp-content/...4658312596.jpg
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  2. #2
    Alex (Level 15) Custom rank graphic
    Gameguy's Avatar
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    Default

    That is a bootleg, no doubt about it.

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    Cherry (Level 1) Retronick's Avatar
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Gameguy View Post
    That is a bootleg, no doubt about it.
    Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking, but I wanted a second opinion. Interesting specimen no doubt, but difficult to appraise when cataloging for insurance purposes.

    Might just leave that one off the books.
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    The pics aren't even loading on my phone but just based off what you've described I'd say it's a boot.

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    Does it have Thriller on it?

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    Pretzel (Level 4)
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    Quote Originally Posted by Darkwing View Post
    Does it have Thriller on it?
    Most older MD boots are based on Rev 0 ROMs, so there's a good likelihood it does. This often has Thriller and Revenge of Shinobi has all the cut goodies left in it, even if they're on mult-carts.

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    Cherry (Level 1) Retronick's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Az View Post
    Most older MD boots are based on Rev 0 ROMs, so there's a good likelihood it does. This often has Thriller and Revenge of Shinobi has all the cut goodies left in it, even if they're on mult-carts.
    If it does it's not obvious. I only ever played Moonwalker on the cart.
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    Pretzel (Level 4)
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    Quote Originally Posted by Retronick View Post
    If it does it's not obvious. I only ever played Moonwalker on the cart.
    Easiest way to tell is use the stage select code and go to the one graveyard stage (3-2 maybe?) then hold the special button to make all the zombies dance. Rev 0 plays Thriller, all others play something else.

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    Cherry (Level 1) Retronick's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Az View Post
    Easiest way to tell is use the stage select code and go to the one graveyard stage (3-2 maybe?) then hold the special button to make all the zombies dance. Rev 0 plays Thriller, all others play something else.
    I'll try it and let you know what I come up with
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    Cherry (Level 1) Retronick's Avatar
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    Ok! So, perhaps more interestingly, the level select code does not work. That said, I can confirm that it has Thriller . Sorry, it's been years since I've played the damn thing and I utterly forgot XD. So, I guess this is REV00. The code not working is pretty perplexing...
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    Is it just me or does this game feel unfinished? I was playing it the other day and there's nothing to find in any of the objects you open other than kids and bombs. No power-ups, anything to collect...the only secrets are when you turn into super/metal Michael. The game world feels empty, like they were planning for something more.

    Not to mention, the zombies are cheap as hell.

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    Cherry (Level 1) Retronick's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Graham Mitchell View Post
    Is it just me or does this game feel unfinished? I was playing it the other day and there's nothing to find in any of the objects you open other than kids and bombs. No power-ups, anything to collect...the only secrets are when you turn into super/metal Michael. The game world feels empty, like they were planning for something more.

    Not to mention, the zombies are cheap as hell.
    When I first got this cart, I thought the game looked "unfinished", which is also made me think it was a bootleg, but came to find out it's just sort of spartan all around XD. My only exposure when it was new was at a friend's house and insanely limited as she was a bit overprotective of her Genesis... Forget that I had a TurboGrafx-16, but, whatever. To your point, it does look sort of half done now that you mention it.
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    Pretzel (Level 4)
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    Never understood why Sega went with these completely different (worse) console versions rather than attempting ports of the arcade Moonwalker and Ghostbusters games.

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    http://www.aliexpress.com/store/prod...345687636.html

    don't know what they were thinking with that cart label on yours....

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    Quote Originally Posted by Az View Post
    Never understood why Sega went with these completely different (worse) console versions rather than attempting ports of the arcade Moonwalker and Ghostbusters games.
    So that you'd keep playing the arcade game after you bought the home version. The death of the arcade started with the Dreamcast, because the hardware was identical to the Naomi system.

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