I feel like this game is a step up from most of what's been released up to this point, but it's still very flawed and kind of hard to enjoy at points. My biggest issue is how slippery controlling Alex can be. Precise platforming is extremely difficult to do, compared to something like Super Mario Bros, where it's much easier to make precise jumps. I just feel like I have much less control over where Alex is going, and I always slip off edges when I do land. Another issue that really bothers me is the Janken matches. I just think it's a terrible idea to make rock paper scissors be many of your boss fights. It hardly feels like I'm expressing any sort of skill when I win, and I usually lose out of pure unluckiness rather than lack of skill. Of course, having Alex die after the match is also pretty confusing and frustrating. I have a lot of smaller, more level-specific or mechanic-specific gripes, but those are the two most bothersome in my opinion, as they affect the game as a whole.

Besides those issues, I should commend the game for basically being the Super Mario Bros. of the console at this time. I just haven't really seen anything like this yet on the console and I really think Sega did well trying to make something similar to Mario (yet different in its own ways of course, just replicating the main gameplay). Overall I'd say I think this game is ok. It has it's moments but has plenty of flaws holding it back form being truly excellent in any way.

Before Sega became a powerhouse and a force to be reckoned with in the 90s, they were just a humble company with their own console in the 80s, the Sega Master System. And of course, if they had their own console, they needed their own mascot, and for a while, this mascot would be Alex Kidd, a weird monkey-like boy thing who got his own series of games from the mid 80s till the early 90s, where he would then swiftly be replaced by Sonic, and maybe brought back like 30 years later for a remake.

I myself am not as familiar with Alex Kidd as I am with Sonic, so I decided to give his first game, Alex Kidd in Miracle World, a shot, and after playing through it again, I thought it was... ok. It doesn't really do too much to stand out, aside from being weird in numerous ways, but it still manages to be ok enough for me.

The story is what you would expect for a video game around that time, with the little pictures in between levels being pretty nice to look at, the graphics are pretty nice looking, especially compared to what else was out in 1986 on something like the NES, the music (and by that, I mean like the three songs in the game) are ok, nothing really too special, the control is fine, although movement and jumping can be pretty weird, and the gameplay is serviceable, being your typical platformer where you punch things, get money, buy items, and conquer levels.

Of course, I wouldn't say that my time with the game was that noteworthy or memorable, with several issues I have to point out, such as the boss fights. Most of the time, you are forced to play rock paper scissors with these hand guardians or whatever, and while there is nothing wrong with it, it's still rock paper scissors, and there is nothing really exciting about it. The other times there actually are boss fights, they are WAY too easy, where most of the time you can just stand there and continuously keep punching towards the enemy until they die.

Alongside that, and this just may be my own personal feelings, but this game feels really weird to play. Something about the way you punch around through blocks, how the stages are built, how traps are used to stop you in your tracks, and again, the weird as hell jumping, doesn't really make it all too desirable to me. Maybe I would've liked it better if I played this much earlier in my life, but as it stands, it just didn't leave too much impact on me.

Overall, while I appreciate it for being a solid jumping point for Sega back in the day, the original Alex Kidd isn't really all that special in my eyes. Yes, it can be enjoyable, and the variety with different vehicles and fights is nice to see, but none of that helped keep my attention for too long.

Game #54

This game was one of those, that I played as a child, and just replaying it basically right before this review, I don't think I've ever beaten that one before, 'cause boy is this game unforgiving.
The hit boxes are sometimes totally weird and then there are these cool "?"-Boxes, that whenever you break them either have a cool power up.... Or a miniature death that is chasing you and will get you 99% of the time to insta kill you. Which is btw. everything in this game. Every thing insta kills you. Unlike Mario games or Sonic games, there is no way to withstand a single hit by an enemy.

I liked the Level design at first... But then the last levels came around. Suddenly you have to do annoying types of jumps (for example the one upwards, where you have to break blocks first) and suddenly there are rooms where you have to instantly react or die (for example the flooding room) and the last puzzle was just like... What??? And doing a single mistake (even by mistake) spawns one of those miniature deaths in. Nice!
It doesn't help, that the ending really feels unsatisfying after going through these last levels, as it is just a wall of text, telling you how Alex saved everyone. Not even a little cutscene showing this.

Nostalgia and first levels save the game, but the ending is just meh.

A completely medicore platformer that visually reminds me a lot of Fantasy Zone, released in arcades earlier the same year, but as a side-scrolling platformer released after Super Mario Bros. it falls completely short.

The movement feels overly floaty, the level design feels unmemorable and uninteresting to navigate, the music feels like it endlessly repeats itself and I found it really irritating, and the boss fights being complete random chance with their rock, paper, scissors gimmick feels repetitive and would be 10 times more annoying if not for save states on emulators.

I'd say skip this one, but if your really interested in SEGA's history before Sonic: sure, go for it but I dont think anyone would blame you for for stopping after a couple levels.