Prior to Sonic The Hedgehog, Sega never really had an official mascot. They did however have a few characters strongly identified with the company like Opa Opa of the Fantasy Zone games, Wonder Boy and Alex Kidd. Frogacuda already made excellent threads on Fantasy Zone and Wonder Boy/Monster World a long time ago. I figured Alex could use a thread too since it's an important series in Sega history although less consistent than the aforementioned ones.
The series began in 1986 with Alex Kidd in Miracle World for the Sega Master System. This was one of the most varied platformers out at the time as it had vertical and horizontal scrolling and various vehicles(motorbike, pedicopter, speedboat). Oddly some enemies were fought with paper, rock, scissors matches.
When Sega released the first Sega Master System II model in 1990, Miracle World was built into the machine.
Next came Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars which was released in the arcades in 1986 and then on SMS in 1988. The versions are similar but the home one isn't an exact port. I'm not a fan of The Lost Stars games at all. I don't like the look and I think the gameplay is purely mediocre.
Arcade
SMS
BMX Trial Alex Kidd(Mark III, 1987) was the only AK game to be left in Japan. It was a racing game done in the same art style as Miracle World and it was packaged with a paddle controller for more accurate steering. I have only played this one through emulation and I can't control it properly with a mouse but the game seems really cool. I imagine with the correct control it would be addictive.
In 1989 SMS releases were getting slim with Sega's development shift to the new Genesis machine. This is probably why at this time they chose to take a previously import-only SMS game, Anmitsu Hime, and convert it into an Alex Kidd game for the Western market. Anmitsu Hime was an adventure game based on an anime. Sega replaced the princess with Alex and her quest(which was to go to some cake shop it looks like from pics I have seen) with a quest to go to an arcade. The result was a game called Alex Kidd in High Tech World.
Before
After
Opinions seem pretty mixed on High Tech World but I enjoyed it back then. There wasn't really anything else on the market that felt like it. The first part of the game was puzzle based adventuring and later on there were platform/action parts.
Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle was released for the Genesis shortly after its launch in 1989. Unlike the past few games Enchanted Castle was a direct sequel to Miracle World. The graphics were amazing at the time but I felt it wasn't quite as good a game as Miracle World. I could never pinpoint why though.
1990 saw the last game in the series, Alex Kidd in Shinobi World for the SMS. The more I play this game, the more I realize it's my favorite game in the series. Miracle World was the most groundbreaking and had the biggest impact on me but Shinobi World is the one I enjoy replaying. Shinobi World is loosely based on the first Shinobi game and shares some of the same bosses and music although in very remixed form. I would say this game would appeal more to Shinobi fans than Alex Kidd fans as it hardly resembles past Alex Kidd games. The game's way too short and easy though.
Alex Kidd has had cameo appearances in other Sega games:
-He's in a hidden screen in Double Target(Mark III version of Quartet)
-His head appears in the background of the SMS game Kenseiden
-He's a capsule toy in Shenmue
Alex Kidd also had a board game and a pencil case in Japan.
Why did Sega abandon one of their biggest series while continuing most of their others? Who knows but maybe they felt it was necessary to completely phase out Alex with Sonic's arrival. Alex Kidd is supposed to get a budget Sega Ages remake but there still haven't been any pics shown.
Your thoughts on the series?
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Originally Posted by Jeremy
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