In 1989, Alex Kidd was in desperate need of a resurgence. In the wake of Miracle World from 1986, the series was barely kept on life support with the poor Arcade platformer Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars in 1987 and a weird biking spinoff in Alex Kidd BMX Trial released the same year. The latter title was only released in Japan, and one of only four games to require an obscure Master System paddle control for it to even be playable. To stay relevant, the mascot needed an actual main series sequel. And then came the Mega Drive.
This was a golden opportunity. With a poor Arcade-port of Thunder Blade and a mediocre console-only follow up to Space Harrier as launch titles, Sega could use a system selling 2D-platformer more than ever. And what better way for Alex Kidd to develop as a series than to have the new entry developed for 16-bit hardware? Said and done, in early 1989, Alex Kidd in the enchanted castle was released. But instead of rising like a phoenix, the titular hero sealed his own fate with this extremely underwhelming game.
The thing is, a lot had happened in the three years since Alex Kidd in Miracle World was released. In 1986, all gaming companies were coping with the impact of Super Mario Bros, and tried to apply their own vision to the winning formula. In that context Alex Kidd was fresh, and some of its rough edges more excusable - It's not like Castlevania 1 or Metroid were without their faults either. But in the advent of the fourth generation of video game consoles, the genre had matured - a lot. Capcom had released their first two Mega Man-outings, Konami reached new heights of finesse with Castlevania III, and most importantly, Super Mario Bros 3 had set a completely new standard for what sidecrollers could be in 1988. The world was moving rapidly, but Alex Kidd had actually gone backwards.
The awkward truth about Alex Kidd in the enchanted castle is that it is not only disturbingly complacent in it's utter lack of care for iterating or evolving the gameplay core of its predecessor, but also unable to even maintain the level of refinement achieved on their first try. Simply put, Alex Kidd in Miracle World for the Master System surpasses this later instalment in every imaginable aspect - the movement was smoother, gameplay more balanced and presentation more charming.
Enchanted Castle-Alex cannot jump and punch. Instead he has an awkward midair-kick that is a mess to utilise successfully. Movement is both slower and clunkier, combined with a level design that allows for a lot less freedom due to malicious enemy placements. The sequel maintain the one-hit deaths from the original, but instead of respawning close to your demise, levels for the most part shoves you back to the beginning. This quickly becomes extremely irritating and tedious, and incentivises you as a player to move extremely slow and cautiously, removing much of the excitement found in Alex's first adventure.
Rock, paper, scissor-battles was one of the worst parts of the original, but instead of ditching the concept, it has been expanded to include BOTH bosses and shop owners. You have to bet money on a game of rock, paper, scissors for every single item shop in the entire game. Even the planet the game takes place on is named Paperock - they really love the concept of game design being luck-based instead of skill-based.
I also find it embarrassing just how ugly the game looks and sounds. The music is bland, and in some instances borderline maddening (just look up the helicopter song from the soundtrack). Graphics are technically more impressive than the 8-bit hardware of the time I guess, but aesthetically unpleasing. Just compare this with the same-year release Revenge of Shinobi and you'll understand the difference in expressiveness.
I'm sad to say that this is probably one of the worst of Sega's first party titles for the Mega Drive, and one of the least entertaining platformers of the 16-bit era. In the same year we got Golden Axe and Super Hang-on, both relatively faithful arcade-ports that really showcases what the console was capable of in terms of both technical prowess and immersion. It is not hard to see why Sega chose to find a new mascot after this fiasco.
When Sonic was born in 1991, Alex Kidd would become nothing more than a sad memory of unfulfilled potential. But before the final nail in the coffin, Sega wanted to squeeze out the last bit of profit people were willing to throw at the poor little monk from planet Aries - by putting him in a anime license video game...
