Status Reset_Tears Apr 28, 2020
I've had a tough time getting the appeal of the Alex Kidd games. Miracle World generally seems to be the best-loved, but I just didn't find it that enjoyable. I think it has some good points -- the game felt pretty lengthy for a platformer of that era, and the graphics were certainly nice and colorful (again, for a 1986 …
I've had a tough time getting the appeal of the Alex Kidd games. Miracle World generally seems to be the best-loved, but I just didn't find it that enjoyable. I think it has some good points -- the game felt pretty lengthy for a platformer of that era, and the graphics were certainly nice and colorful (again, for a 1986 title). I also really liked that there was a purpose to collecting money, since you can use it to buy special items as well as vehicles! Namely, a speedy motorcycle, and a... helicopter you pedal? It's great.
The game falls flat in every other respect, however. The most egregious issue is the game's controls. Alex's jump is terrible; I couldn't believe how slippery it was. Walk the speed of a turtle and jump, and you'll go flying way past wherever it was you were hoping to land. I am also not a fan of Alex's main attack: a punch. You gotta get directly next to enemies, and again... you've got bars of soap tied to your feet. You're gonna die a lot. On top of all this, the game famously/infamously includes janken boss battles... meaning you're playing rock-paper-scissors with them. If you lose, you die. May the odds be ever in your favor! A valuable life lesson for kids, I suppose. Even if you get really good at something, you can still have terrible luck and fail at everything anyways.
Sorry Alex Kidd, but I think the true MVP of the Master System is Wonder Boy. Hence why the latter is the one getting remakes (Dragon's Trap) and sequels (Cursed Kingdom), methinks.