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Moon Cresta (ムーンクレスタ)

Released in 1980

Developer: Nichibutsu
Manufacturer: Nichibutsu
Distributor: Nichibutsu

(3 total votes)

game marquee

Game Summary

Space - Shoot the aliens, dock the ships

Hardware Info

Controls: 3 Buttons
Vertical-mounted Raster monitor
224 x 256 Resolution
Colors: 97 Color

Additional Hardware Info (from Mame)

Z80 cpu @ 3 Mhz
Custom audio

Hardware Platform

Galaxian hardware

Mame ROMs

mooncrst, Moon Cresta (Nichibutsu)
eagle, Eagle (set 1)
eagle2, Eagle (set 2)
fantazia, Fantazia
mooncrgx, Moon Cresta (bootleg on Galaxian hardware)
mooncrs2, Moon Cresta (bootleg set 2)
mooncrsb, Moon Cresta (bootleg set 1)
mooncrsg, Moon Cresta (Gremlin)
smooncrs, Super Moon Cresta

Game Details

Moon Cresta would have been a rather unmemorable game were it not for the docking sequences that punctuate the blasting action. Unlike most shoot-em-ups, that have a number of seperate lives, Moon Cresta had three stages of the one ship. The first stage could only fire a single shot, but after 2 waves of Cold Eyes, and 2 waves of Super Flies, the first stage can dock with the second stage to give greater firepower. After waves of Four-Ds and meteors, the third stage can be docked with, to give the player a maximum of five shots at one time. All three docked stages were commonly called the "Christmas Tree". Despite the increase in firepower, the three stage Moon Cresta ship is cumbersome, and makes avoiding aliens and bullets a bit difficult. Often found in cocktail tabletop form.

control panel

cabinet photo

title screen

gameplay screen

promotional flyer

Coinop.org Member Ratings / Comments

by SpacedInvader69. Comment: "Moon Cresta is the Most Intense Shoot Em Up Game of the 80's. The game is best in the later levels when one shot is all you have to make it through the onslaught of aliens. No patterns like Pac-Man, no unlimited extra lives like Asteroids. Just you against the universe..................High Score 250,500 " 2003-02-27 01:08:47Z

by videodan. Comment: "I remember finding MC in an arcade in the late 80s and thinking 'What?! This is just like Eagle!' It was the only time I saw/played an actual MC, then I found it in an Ultra-Cade machine a year ago. Great game!" 2005-11-25 10:37:02Z

by MoonCresta. Comment: "I recently purchased a cocktail version of Moon Cresta. I remember playing this game as a kid and I really enjoyed it. I like the graphics and the audio. One question I have about the game play relates to a generally square shaped graphic that appears on the screen during the docking sequence. Can anybody tell me what this graphic is for?" 2007-04-13 11:52:02Z

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This game page was created 8/3/1998 12:00:00 AM and last updated 6/26/2000 2:02:22 PM