Michael Jackson's Moonwalker began in 1988, when Michael Jackson contacted Sega about a game built around his stage persona; he also advised the designers during development. Sega released the Genesis version in North America on 24 August 1990 and the Mega Drive version in Japan a day later, followed by Europe in February 1991.
Jackson rescues kidnapped children from Mr. Big. Holding the special button makes every enemy on screen dance, which hurts or defeats them, and rescuing a certain child before catching a falling comet turns Jackson into a robot. The soundtrack draws on the Bad and Thriller albums, including "Smooth Criminal", "Beat It" and "Billie Jean", and Round 6 switches to a 3D shooting stage aboard a spaceship.
The name is shared by different games: Sega's 1990 arcade Moonwalker is an isometric beat 'em up, and U.S. Gold's 1989 home-computer game is another title altogether. The cartridge itself went through several revisions that changed music and fixed bugs.12
Names and releases
| Region | Title on the box | Platform | Date | Publisher | Src |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NA | Michael Jackson's Moonwalker | Genesis | Aug 24, 1990 | Sega | 3 |
| JP | マイケル・ジャクソンズ ムーンウォーカーMega Drive; Japanese Wikipedia says the arcade and Mega Drive games came out at about the same time | Genesis | Aug 25, 1990 | Sega | 2 |
| BR | Moonwalker | Genesis | 1990 | Tec Toy | 3 |
| EU | Michael Jackson's MoonwalkerMega Drive | Genesis | February 1991 | Sega | 3 |
Also known as: マイケル・ジャクソンズ ムーンウォーカー JP2Moonwalker BR3
Box art by region
NA Michael Jackson's Moonwalker 
EU Michael Jackson's Moonwalker 
JP マイケル・ジャクソンズ ムーンウォーカー
Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: libretro-thumbnails.
Version differences
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GameplayArcadeMega Drive/Genesis
Sega's arcade game, an isometric beat 'em up for up to three players, plays nothing like the Mega Drive/Genesis game, which is a side-scrolling action game closer to Shinobi.1
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AudioMega Drive rev. 0Mega Drive rev. 1
The first print plays snippets of "Thriller" during Dance Attacks in Rounds 3 and 5-3; Revision 1 replaces them with "Another Part of Me", plus a reused "Billie Jean" clip in Round 3-3.3
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AudioMega Drive prototype
A prototype used "Thriller" as the graveyard music in Round 3. It was swapped out at the last minute because only songs written by Jackson himself could be licensed, and "Thriller" was written by Rod Temperton.3
Reception
The Mega Drive version did well with the UK press (Sega Power 90%, MegaTech 85%); Mega ranked it 91st among Mega Drive games, and GameSpot included the Genesis version in its 2004 greatest games list. The separate arcade game was the top-grossing new video game on the RePlay charts in September 1990.1
Sources
Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13
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