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Memories of SEGA: Alex Kidd In Miracle World

Join Awinnerwasyou as he travels back to the 1990s and remembers his first experiences with a classic SEGA title: Alex Kidd In Miracle World.

I’ve been a gamer for nearly 22 years now. Over that period, I’ve played many games and owned many consoles. And I have a lot of love for all of them. However, if there’s one company that has always meant the most to me, it’s SEGA. Sure, Nintendo may have started my interest in video games, but it was SEGA who truly made the most impact on my life. My memories of the games and the consoles are many, and it is those memories that have made life worth living. In this series, I intend to review some of the games that made my childhood, as well as recounting my fondest memories of them. This, I hope, will give some insight into what it was like growing up with these classic games. I also intend to take a look at the classics I missed first time around as well.

So, let’s take our first trip down memory lane, and I can’t think of a better game to start with than the very first game I ever owned- Alex Kidd In Miracle World!

 

It was early 1992 when I got my first ever console- the model 2 version of the Master System. Unfortunately, I had to wait until my granddad had hooked it up to my TV before I could play it- which he couldn’t get around to doing for a few days. So in the meantime, I found myself reading the instruction manual for the game that came built into the console. That game was Alex Kidd In Miracle World. Reading about the game got me very excited about playing it- it sounded awesome! I couldn’t wait for my console to be set up so I could finally play it. But was I in for a treat, or a disappointment?

 

The first stage was a good indication of how varied the gameplay was.

 

The story put you in the shoes of the titular Alex, who was on a mission to save his homeland from the evil Janken the Great. Along the way, he learns about his past and his true heritage, which he must also fight to restore. Though the game was a platformer, there was plenty of variety in there. The first level alone moved vertically, with Alex making his way downwards through many hazards, before landing in a pool of water for a horizontally scrolling underwater section. Later levels have you flying in a helicopter, exploring castles and even riding in a speedboat! This game certainly had plenty to keep you occupied. 

Another smart aspect of it were the boss battles with Janken’s henchmen. Instead of a typical fight, you were challenged to a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors. Win, and you could move on. Lose, and you lost a life. To make life easier, you could purchase a power up that would show what your opponent was planning, thus making it easier to win. Later on though, the bosses would attack you after being beaten, meaning you still had your standard boss fights to contend with.

 

Janken’s henchmen were all modelled after the “Rock, Paper< Scissors” game.

 

The other power ups were plentiful as well. These were mostly purchased from shops, and included things like the Power Bracelet, which enabled you to shoot projectiles, Invisibility Powder than made you invincible for a brief moment, and the Cane of Flight, which unsurprisingly let you fly for a short while. I still remember the first time I found a shop in the game, but couldn’t figure out how to enter. After a while, I figured out I had to push up on the D-Pad to do this. I know. I was a noob back then, but in my defence, this was the first time playing a video game properly. I still had much to learn…

The graphics were merely functional, but they did their job, and they were certainly colourful. Not that it really mattered that much, since I only had a black & white TV at the time! The music was instantly addictive, with a catchy main theme, along with several more memorable tracks. The swimming theme in particular, once heard, would never be forgotten.  As for the gameplay- it was good, though the control could be quite slippery. Considering some sections needed precision platforming, this could get annoying at times. And this game was hard enough as it was. Especially stage 8.
 
 
 
I hated this level so much.
 
 
Oh god, stage 8! That level was the bane of my life for months. Taking place in a forest, it involved some very tricky jumps where one wrong move would drop you onto the nearby spikes. Then there were the monkeys at the top of the screen that threw projectiles at you. Which were almost entirely out of your reach. Not even buying the motorbike from the shop helped- you were more likely to crash and die due to the fact you couldn’t stop moving! Make it through all that, and you had one more showdown with a samurai monster that took several hits to beat, and could only be hit when its sword was raised. Very nasty. This level annoyed me so much back in the day that I gave up on the game for several months. Only when I showed the game to a friend one day did I finally complete that blasted level, and it was probably one of the first times I felt genuine satisfaction playing a game.
 
So, the game certainly wasn’t easy. Though while the later levels posed a challenge, I didn’t struggle with them quite as much as I did with that forest. And while it was tough- not helped by the slippery controls- that made it all the more worthwhile when I finally got to the climax. This part didn’t involve a final boss- that happened in the previous stage- but instead saw you solving a puzzle by stepping on a series of tiles in the right order. A stone tablet given to you earlier in the game showed you the solution, but I’ll admit I used a magazine to get the right order myself. With that done, it was just a few tricky jumps away from the end of the game! The ending wasn’t great- just a wall of text- but I felt a great sense of accomplishment in finally beating this game.
 
 
The swimming sections were tricky, but fun.
 
 
Alex Kidd In Miracle World is far from a perfect game, but it has a real charm to it. It manages to be both varied and entertaining, as well as very challenging. This was a game that I feel very proud to have beaten, and being the first game I ever owned makes it all the more special. Unfortunately, the game is very hard to track down in its original form. The cartridge itself is rare, and most Master System 2 consoles you find tend to have Sonic the Hedgehog built in instead. However, you can still find it on the Virtual Console on the Wii, as well as on the PS3, and on the SEGA Vintage Collection- Alex Kidd & Friends compilation on Xbox Live Arcade- along with Revenge of Shinobi and Super Hang-On. It still proves to be a fun game after all these years- although my skills on it have greatly diminished.
 
Well, that’s all I have to say about the game that started my games collection- even though it was built in. As for my first actual physical game cartridge… Well, that’s a story for another time…

3rd February, 2014 - 23:56 GMT KC Article viewed 2422 times 0 Comments

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