Alex Kidd in Miracle World

Alex Kidd in Miracle World is a platform game for the 8-bit Sega Master System video game console. It was first released in Japan on November 1, 1986. It became arguably the most recognised game in the Alex Kidd series, partly due to it being built into most Master System consoles.

A remake by British developer Merge Games (the same developers of Streets of Rage 4) and Spain-based Jankenteam, titled Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX, is currently in development.

Plot
Alex Kidd had spent the past seven years atop Mount Eternal learning to master an ancient martial art known as 'Shellcore'; an ability that allows him to expand the size of his fists in order to shatter rocks with his bare hands.

On the day Alex was finally done with his training, he began to descend the mountain when he came across a dying man. The man with his dying breath told Alex that the Kingdom of Radaxian was no longer safe, handing him both the Sun Stone Medallion and a map of Aries. Alex gave the man a burial and set down the mountain to discover the tyrant Janken the Great had invaded Radaxian, was turning the civilians into stone and had the royal family taken hostage. After clashing with Janken's minion, Gooseka the Slippery a man who's head is shaped like a closed fist, Alex reaches St. Nurari who explains to him that he was kidnapped as a young boy by evil men and is in actual fact a prince of Radaxian. Nurari explains that Janken has taken over the country, and sets Alex the task of saving his kingdom as his final task from him.

Gameplay
Throughout Alex Kidd in Miracle World, Alex Kidd faces many monsters through sixteen stages, plus the three henchmen of Janken the Great, before facing Janken.

His main ability is punching, which he can use to attack enemies and break open blocks to access new areas and collect money. Breaking or stepping on certain blocks releases an evil spirit that will try and kill Alex. Any money he collects can be used to purchase items such as motorbikes and helicopters. At the end of certain levels, Alex will have to face one of Janken's henchmen in a game of Janken (rock paper scissors).

Alex can take only one hit before he dies. Alex Kidd in Miracle World does not have a battery save option or password system, meaning that when all of Alex's lives run out the game is over. However, the game did have an un-documented continue feature, where the player could continue the game with three lives from the beginning of the level they died on, by holding the up direction and pressing button 2 eight times during the GAME OVER screen. This would cost the player 400 Baums (the in-game currency).

The game is notorious for its difficulty, and was built directly into the Sega Master System II, enabling play right out of the box without the need to plug in any cartridge.

Reception
Alex Kidd in Miracle World did considerably better in Europe and Brazil than it did in other regions, in no small part thanks to the Master System's bigger attach rate in these areas. Members of Jankenteam, the team behind Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX have stated in an interview that some of them even preferred Alex Kidd as a mascot to Sonic.

The game has been critically acclaimed since its release. In 1987, the French magazine Génération 4 gave the game a 99% score. In 1991, Sega Pro magazine gave the game a 95% score, stating that, with "so much to do and so many different ways of doing it, this is one of those games you will keep coming back to even when you have finished it completely." Computer and Video Games magazine in 1991 gave it an 86% score, describing the game as "Sega's answer to Mario" and concluding that the "absorbing gameplay will have you glued to your screen for hours on end."

In a 2008 retro review, IGN gave Alex Kidd a score of 9 out of 10 and an "Editor's Choice" award, calling it "an exceptional platformer with loads of action and some great puzzle-solving challenges" that "still holds up remarkably well." IGN also gave the Wii Virtual Console release a score of 9 out of 10.

Trivia

 * This game originally started development as a Dragon Ball licensed game. SEGA lost the license during development and proceeded to remake the assets as their own original title.
 * The Japanese and early western versions have Alex chowing down on a rice ball at the end of each level, whilst the later western releases have him eating a hamburger.

Alex Kidd in Miracle World