Dead Moon (USA)
Dead Moon (USA): TG16 Shooter
Dead Moon is a side-scrolling shooter released for the NEC TurboGrafx-16 in 1992. It was developed and published by Natsume, a studio known for a handful of solid action games on the system. This is the North American release, so menus and text are in English from the start.
You pilot a spacecraft through six distinct stages, blasting waves of alien enemies and dodging their attacks. The game scrolls automatically from left to right, and each level culminates in a boss encounter. Power-ups appear as you destroy certain enemies, granting upgrades to your weapon or adding options for extra firepower. The goal is simply to survive and destroy the alien threat by the end of the final stage.
Dead Moon is not one of the TurboGrafx-16's most famous shooters, but it is a competent and challenging entry in the library. It shares DNA with other horizontal shooters of the era, offering straightforward action that rewards pattern recognition and quick reflexes. If you enjoy titles like R-Type or Gradius and want to explore something a bit more obscure, this is worth a few credits.
How to Play Dead Moon (USA) Online
Getting started: When you launch the game, you will see a title screen. Press Enter to start. The game begins immediately with your ship at the left side of the screen, and enemies start appearing from the right. Use the arrow keys to move your ship around and the S key to fire your main weapon.
The core loop is simple: shoot everything that moves while avoiding enemy bullets and collisions. As you destroy certain enemies, they drop icons that upgrade your weapon or add small orbiting ships called options. Collecting these makes surviving easier. Each stage has a boss at the end that requires learning its attack pattern.
New players should focus on staying alive rather than rushing. Knowing when to dodge is more important than constant shooting. There is no continues by default, so practice to get further. If you die, you restart from the beginning of the current stage, but any weapon upgrades are lost.
Dead Moon (USA) Keyboard Controls
Controls
- Arrow Keys: D-Pad / Movement
- X: I button
- S: II button
- Enter: Run / Start
- V: Select
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