Michael Jackson remembered in Moonwalker video game

At Michael Jackson’s death, the admired and troubled career of the pop star will be remembered for many things. His music, theatrics and vanity are among them. Some fans may also remember his video games.

In 1990, Jackson co-developed the Sega game Moonwalker featuring his persona as the playable character. Moonwalker, based on the film of the same name, allowed the player to guide Jackson's persona through quests involving Jackson’s music and dance themes to save children from the evil “Mr. Big.”

Although the game never achieved as much popularity as Jackson’s music, it still has some cult status and could mark a change in the singer’s career from the “Thriller” moment to the “Bad” character.

An arcade version of the game was made for the ill-fated Sega System 18. A console version was developed for the Genesis system, where fans probably have more success playing it. Conceivably, smart fans could download the Genesis version and play it on a PC with an emulator, but be careful of copyright rules.

Software companies other than Sega developed versions of the game for the PC in 8-bit and 16-bit formats. Since those companies went out of business, it is possible to find websites to download the versions, provided copyright rules are not violated. This writer was unable to find a reliable free site for downloading and playing a PC version of Moonwalker on a free emulator.

Jackson also had cameos in Sega’s Space Channel 5 and Space Channel 5: Part 2. His music is part of some games for Dreamcast and PlayStation 2.

This year, the singer sold his entire collection of video games and consoles, and he gave up all interest in games, but his legacy in video games will be remembered.

For further information: Wikipedia, MobyGames