Alex Kidd in Miracle World
System: SMS
Release Date: December 1986
Developer: Sega
Publisher: Sega
Genre: Platformer
Alex Kidd was Sega’s first shot at a real platformer game to compete against Super Mario Bros. It’s a good game, but I don’t think it’s as good as Mario. Alex Kidd is a master of the martial art Shellcore, which allows him to break rocks scattered around the land. Janken the Great has taken over the land and seeks to rule the beautiful city of Radactian forever. Janken got his moniker by being the master of the game of the same name, which is rock, paper, scissor in our parlance. You’ll get to play it a few times through the course of Alex’s adventure.
Alex jumps with the 1 button and punches with the 2 button. He also has items that he’s able to use if he’s in possession of them. The first one you find is the powerful bracelet, which allows you to shoot a shocking wave of destruction. Throughout the levels, there are star blocks which Alex can break to unveil bags of money, which you can use in shops to buy other powerups. You can buy a cane of flight, which allows you to fly for a short period of time. A couple capsules, one which summons friends to help you destroy your enemies and another which grants you temporary immunity to enemy attacks.
Some levels allow you to purchase a motorcycle, which allows you to move through repetitive levels more quickly. You have to be careful, though, as crashing into certain blocks will destroy the motorcycle and force you to run the rest of the level on foot. You also have access to the Peticopter on some levels. This vehicle allows you to fly through the air, but if you ascend into blocks, you’ll lose your copter and once again be forced to finish the level on foot.
Alex has a strong punch which he uses to break blocks and defeat enemies. Most enemies, who are not bosses, are defeated with one punch. After defeating Janken’s henchmen in rock, paper, scissor a couple times, you’ll have to fight them. Three punches to their head will defeat them in short order. There are also end level battles against strong enemies such as an ox and a bear. You have to punch them several times to defeat them. At the end of each level is a rice ball, which signals the end of the level.
Alex must collect the Sun Stone and Moonlight Stone Medallions in order to unlock the Gold Crown. Once in the vault of the crown, there is a puzzle that must be solved to unlock it. Using the Hirotta Stone will show you the combination of puzzle pieces that must be touched in order to complete the final level and win the game.
Graphics: 3.0
I’ll say that these graphics are nice. The colors are bright and crisp. The sprites are detailed enough to be better than most competitors.
Sound: 3.0
The songs are good, as well as the sound effects.
Gameplay: 2.5
I may be in the minority, but Alex moves too quickly, and the jumps feel very uncontrollable. Otherwise, it controls very well.
Difficulty: 3.0
I think the game is fair in how it works for the most part. If you dive in headlong, you’ll die, but if you take your time, you should get through without much problem.
Fun Factor: 2.5
I enjoyed it. I admit to cheating on the rock, paper, scissor portions, because those are dumb when not playing against real people.
Overall Grade: 2.8
Alex Kidd earns a B- and that’s just right in my mind. There’s plenty of room for growth in the next title, which we’ll see in about a year and a half of releases. It’s definitely the best Master System game so far.