Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars

Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars is a 1986 platform game, developed by Sega. Originally an arcade game, it was later ported to the Master System in 1988 world wide.

Plot
Alex Kidd notices the star constellations around Planet Aries have gone missing. Travelling to Mount Eternal for clues, Alex finds the wizard Daleda atop his home who informs him that an evil creature called Ziggurat once stole the same stars from Aries skyline five thousand years ago until Alex Kidd's ancestor; Halifax Kidd, traveled beyond the realm of space and time to put a stop to Ziggurat.

Before it's defeat Ziggurat swore it would return to finish what it had started. Daleda opens a portal to the realm between space, and Alex Kidd sets off to retrieve the six Miracle Balls in order to restore the constellations.

Gameplay
Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars is a side scrolling platformer, in which Alex must navigate six worlds; Toy World, Machine World, World of Make Believe, Water World, Monster World and a final world located in the depths of a Giant's body.

Unlike other titles in the Alex Kidd series Alex and Stella have no means of attacking outside the rare power up which allows them to shoot a blast shaped like their body into enemies and must dodge, weave and avoid enemies and obstacles. Alex dies in a single hit however so this is no easy task. This includes the bosses in the Master System version, in which Alex's goal isn't to defeat them but simply get past them.

The Master System version affords Alex multiple lives, but he is on a set timer to reach the Miracle Ball at the end, and running out of time means Alex loses a life.

Trivia

 * The Arcade version is notable for having two player co-op, making it the only Alex Kidd title to do so.
 * The Arcade version is also the only game in the Alex Kidd series to feature Stella.
 * The arcade title is one of the many games available on the Astro City Mini console released in 2020. This is the first time it has been released outside of Japan.
 * One of the Miracle Balls is hidden inside Opa-Opa.
 * The Arcade version despite having the same plot as the Master System version never has Alex or Stella face off with Ziggurat or any of the extra bosses. Instead they enter his Pyramid and the constellations are returned.