The story, which is taken from the Moonwalker film, follows Michael, using various music and dance related abilities, on a quest to save kidnapped children from the hands of the evil "Mr. Big". The games incorporated synthesized versions of the musician's hits, such as "Beat It" and "Smooth Criminal". With completely different gameplay to the home computer versions, Moonwalker was developed into an arcade video game by Sega (programming) and Triumph International (audiovisuals), with the help of Jackson which was released on the Sega System 18 hardware.
The game is essentially a beat-em-up, although Jackson attacks with magic powers instead of physical contact, and has the ability to shoot magic power at enemies instead of getting close enough for a melee attack. A map of the stage is shown before it begins, and after which, Jackson must get from the start to the end without losing all his health, rescuing all the children and defeating all the enemies along the way.
The game can also be played multiplayer; if the cabinet supports it, up to three people can play simultaneously. All three players play as Jackson, dressed in his suit from the "Smooth Criminal" music video. The first player wears a white suit and hat, with a blue shirt; the second player's character dons a scarlet outfit with a white shirt; the third player's character is dressed in black, with a red shirt. The characters all have armbands: blue for white outfit, white for red outfit, and red for black outfit.
Source: Wikipedia, "Michael Jackson's Moonwalker", available under the CC-BY-SA License.