The Master System was popular here in Australia. A couple of my friends and family had the Master System II, and the cool thing was that it had Alex Kidd in Miracle World built into the console itself, so while I never owned a Master System, I still have great memories playing this game at their homes. Also imagine if Alex Kidd was in Smash Bros? He obviously would punch as his standard attack, but maybe the rock-paper-scissors element could play a part, and he could change costumes to take on the roles he played in games like Shinobi World and such.
Ultra CNC calm your tits, I didn't say I disliked the Yakuza franchise, only gripe about the games themselves is the story getting in the way of my next mini-game, brawl or locker to open. Hell, even the Yakuza/FotNS clone was fun. But goddamn, can they put something else out that's decent once in a while?
I read in an interview with a former sega developer that Sega's model worked like this: team comes up with new original IP that looks great, executives force them to shove Sonic into it do you think Sonic Unleashed's night levels started life as anything other than a new Ristar game?
"I'm Sega Lord X. Thank you guys for watching, and I WILL catch you next time." **Sega Lord X runs triumphantly down a dark alleyway in slow mo with his cape blowing in the wind.**
Did anyone else hear the Danny Elfman Batman theme in the back of their head when they read that? Just me? Well you WILL *raises a hood over my face and does a somersault down the alleyway, trying to catch up to Sega Lord X*
@thomaselers7416 Sonic was cut from the cloth of SMB 1 as like a branched evolution of what Mario could have become while it was experimenting until it found its footing with SMB 3, so a Sonic fan enjoying Murphy is no big surprise.
When I finally played Alex Kidd years later, I couldn't get over the floaty jumps & bad hit detection. THIS was the thing 8-bit Sega fans had been hanging their hats on? It's charming & cute, but I don't think it would have rated in the top 50 NES games.
The remake of Miracle World is gonna be lit! I really want to play that one someday but instead, I can at least play these hacks of it. There's some good stuff on SMS Power and man that community really loves the Master System.
Well the Wonderboy/Monsterboy remakes are already shooting up in price. I'll be keeping an eye on the Alex Kidd remake and snatching up a copy when it's done.
The video title isn't wrong. Fantasy Zone and Alex Kidd were released weeks apart in most European countries. And it was Alex Kidd that was heavily advertised and the face of Sega, and would even built in with the system. There's no comparison. Alex Kidd was Sega's mascot on a far grander scale worldwide.
Yeah I had it as a kid as well. I remember when I got to the forest/swamp area and ran into an enemy what was basically a naked punk with a Mohawk that was mooning the screen and would, for lack of a better term, crap out skull turds that rolled at Alex like a bowling ball. That was a real WTF moment for me as a kid. lol
Sega had Shinobi. Ninjas were a big thing in the late 80's and NES kids venerated Ninja Gaiden a lot. But most of those NES ninja fans were aware of Shinobi and seriously respected the game.
My first game ever was Alex Kidd in Miracle Word and it was in built from my Master System II memory. Whenever there was no cartridge it would pop out this game. I could never beat it, those hand-paper-rock games made it even more difficult
Just played on my Master System last week, after 15 years, Alex Kidd in Miracle World, the Lost Stars and in Shinobi World. After all that time I think that only the first and third games aged well enough to play in 2020. The Lost Stars is too repetitive. My only complaint regarding Shinobi World is that it's too short... Anyway, it was nice to revisit those games from my childhood.
@@orderofmagnitude-TPATP slice of life anime surrounding 3 girls enrolled in the illustrious SeHaGaga Academy. They go into worlds based on various Sega properties to learn (?) stuff. One scene has them walking alongside and in pace with Ulala from Space Channel 5, for instance
The rock paper scissors was very unique at the time and personally I loved it. (as a child) I think you were a bit harsh on the megadrive game but I see where you're coming from. It's all personal opinion after all.
I’m from Brazil and had much more fun with Alex Kidd, Sonic, Mickey and Donald, Asterix, Tasmania and other great platforms that made me more happy than any Mario game in the Nes ...
Cutie & Friends Adventures you don’t know ? We had an army of official console clones that Nintendo sold the license. Google for Phantom System, Turbo Game, Dynavision etc. it was way cheaper to play Nes games
It’s also false that they never sold in Brazil. They had distribution through other companies but their products were available on all malls , after the NES time. I personally had a SNES sold there through Playtronic , who distributed the console there ...
Huh .... I loved my Master System, but I still had more fun with Mario 3 at my friend's houses, I can't pretend any different. Sure, Mario is the lamest mascot, a racially biased stereotypical Italian plumber with a pudgy frame. I don't know WHAT Nintendo was thinking making a boring-ass mascot like that. Even creepy Alex was more interesting than some dumb plumbers.
I feel like they really struggled to deliver that refined "next level" follow-up to Miracle World; something that would be like the SMB3 of the series. It just sort of never materialized.
Alex Kidd in Shinobi world was Dope. Other games called alex Kidd in the west weren't A.K games but other franchises rebranded "Alek kidd". Mega Drive version was trash but because developpers began working on computers even not having a clue on what would be the hardware in wich the game will run on.. :/
@@michaelromeo9567 It's fine, but in all honesty, it would have been just as fine under its original development title Shinobi Kid. Adding Alex didn't really elevate it any way.
Pretty much the only reason Alex Kid did well in Europe was because Nintendo completely neglected other parts of the world next to Japan and the USA. I mean, we didn't even see Super Mario Bros 3 until 1991, pretty much at the same time as Sega released Sonic here. We did get the Mario Bros movie on TV and VHS, and the Super Mario Bros Super Show, but other than that kids didn't know who Mario was until Super Mario Land on the Game Boy in 1991, and for most of them, Super Mario 64 in 1997. No one I knew knew that Super Mario World existed and Super Mario All-Stars didn't get a release until 1995. Hell, it wasn't until the Wii that Nintendo got ahead in console sales in comparison to it's competition over here. Their portables did always sell great, though. So yeah, we had Alex Kid in the early days, and Commander Keen.
I played the first “Alex Kidd” game and never understood and got bored.You explained a lot for me with this video and I definitly like to try the good “Alex Kidd” games.Thanks and have a Nice day
When you got to the port of the lost stars on the master system and said it was hard I remember renting it as a child and beating in in an afternoon thinking it was too easy because it was so straightforward. Personally Sega had no clue what to do with Alex Kidd and seemed to think sticking him in random games with limited quality was the way to go. The one good game outside of the original wasn't even supposed to be an Alex Kidd game and just Sinobi Kid so it is like the Mario 2 of the series.
To be fair, the NES box art in the west was also very simple and literal, portraying the exact sprite graphics you see in the game. The trend of minimalistic box art eventually came to Japan in late 90's and early 00's when the western covers were going in the opposite direction with progressively more and more busy packaging artworks (compare Silent Hill 1/2 and Kirby Super Star boxes across regions, or look at Seaman for a Sega example). Japan's versions were still better since they weren't just lacking, they were tasteful.
I wonder if the North American box minimal art on the master system was in response to Nintendo's black box games earlier in the NES life, where they had bare minimum graphics and maybe some pixel character or two, swapping the black for white.
Back in the Days, my mother loves Sonic and buys an Master System with the In Build-Version, but at home ... she remarks, she has the console with Alex Kidd. One Rage later, she goes to the Shop again and buys another Master System with the right Game! xD
I never knew much about Alex Kidd aside from having some games in the Master System, but yeah, he was Sega's mascot before Sonic, but he's unsuccessful. Sonic the Hedgehog (game) saved the company.
The Alex Kidd that mattered in that time were Miracle and Shinobi World, which were great games. Nobody cared for the others ... and yes , I think they were more challenging and less repetitive than Mario games. Mario 3 though is a master piece
Excellent video! I learn a lot about the history of video games with you! I would sugest a video about the Sonic games for the Master System or one about the importance of Sonic for Sega when he first showed up on the Mega Drive. And how do you feel about Sonic? Are his games among your favourites for the Mega Drive? Cheers from Brazil
Alex Kidd is what truly got me into video games, and the Master System was my very first Japanese console. Some of my absolute best childhood memories were spending all summer long playing my Master System. Wonder Boy, Quartet, The Ninja, Hang-On, Kenseiden, Black Belt, and countless others made sure Sega will always have a special place in my heart.
Alexx kid in shinobi world was the first game of the series I played. I downloaded it from the wii virtual console and I enjoyed it a lot. I downloaded Miracle world and I thought it was boring. Although the DX remake looks awesome. Great video as always.
Alex Kidd really represents SEGA trying waaaaaaay too hard to emulate Mario's rise to popularity - thinking that having a smiling face with quirky stuff surrounding him will automatically make him a star. Toss in the character riding motorbikes, hopping on a pogo, and playing Rock, Paper, Scissors - and _surely_ Alex Kidd will stand out, right!? ...Obviously, no. What SEGA completely missed when designing Alex Kidd is that it wasn't Mario's character or antics that made people fall in love with him and made Nintendo into a juggernaut - it was Mario's _gameplay._ Nintendo both introduced and perfected concepts in their games that revolutionized the industry. Mario himself was designed in a very utilitarian way as both a visual aid during gameplay and as a character Nintendo could easily copy & paste into other games. That Mario became so embraced as a character by the public was almost entirely an accident. It's a similar story with other big franchises on the NES - their characters were built around their killer gameplay. Compared to the NES' offerings, Alex Kidd's gameplay is godawful - and the constant pandering to make the character "cool" just makes things worse. Nothing except AK In Shinobi World gels, and that game itself is just a parody of Shinobi. SEGA learned the right lessons from AK's failure, though. They hit a home run with Sonic - not only building the character naturally around the gameplay, but also attacking the areas where Mario was weak.
SEGA and their lack of personalities is an excellent point. I feel like that’s one of the major reasons Tekken remains successful, while Virtua Fighter has been gone for a while. VF has incredible gameplay, but the characters lack personality. A compelling story was never a priority, and in my opinion, that makes it harder for players to care.
Ditch the rock paper scissors crap Alex Kidd might make for a decent Super Mario 64 clone...why the hell didn't Sega do that for the Saturn or Dreamcast!?
To me, Alex Kidd will always be the "Oswald" of Sega Game (Unless ya wanna count the fan-game "Sonic Overtune" that serves as a prequel to Sonic 1) but with his brand new game In the work, Alex will truly raise up again and totally win back his title back.
If there's something "The Lost Stars" is better known for, is the scream Alex Kidd (or Stella for 2-player co-op in the arcade version) lets out whenever dies, falls into a pit or loses all of his time. There were plans to have more voices for Alex Kidd and Stella, but was scrapped for reasons unknown. The infamous scream was the remains of the original plan to add more voices for them.
I played Alex Kidd in Shinobi World for the first time less than a year ago, and it somehow evokes a massive sense of nostalgia for me. I think it’s the music.
I sincerely liked Alex Kidd for the Mega Drive back in 1991, when I was a kid. And today, I still look this with the same eyes. I don't understand why internet painted it as a bad game. Now, I play it on my sega genesis mini.
Thank you for making this and I don't nothing about a remake and after seeing this it was 😍. This game is important for me and I'm happy that I have (like you) seen the (r)evolution of games from pixels to polygons... on different platforms. Have a lot of fun and happy days 'Sega Lord X' and everyone too 🕹👋😀
That Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX looks cool as hell. So many fond memories with that game. Was nice to have it build into the SMS II. Only played 3 Alex Kidd games: In miracle world, in Shinobi World and High Tech World. Never liked that last one... never even got out of the house. Once almost and right then the game chose to crash. I hated that there was on flight of stairs that if you would try to go down, you were "dead" and had to start over. That got me frustrated, because the castle was a maze and you didn't know untill it was too late. Going to keep an eye on on that updated version for sure. I like these classic games getting a new coat of paint, yet retaining what they were.
Yeaah i remember why i never liked Alexx Kidd.... You really have to grow up with this one to appreciate it. Didn't knew Shinobi World was good though, it's good to know.
Hime is pronounced Hee-MAY. I totally disagree with you on the Alex Kidd game on the Genesis. i used a special invincibility trick and played through the whole game to finish and for me it was pretty damn fun
I owned Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle and I _hated_ it... ended up trading it with a school friend for Mortal Kombat 2, which also bypassed my mother's insistence that I own no violent games (even Streets of Rage and Golden Axe were forbidden). On the other hand... can Mario punch a car and make it explode? It's not entirely without charm 😊
I’m from Brazil and played many Alex Kidd titles, but my favorite was the Shinobi World, I had this cartridge and played it in all possible ways. It was a really good game
As someone who wasn’t alive during the shift to the 16-bit generation, I actually really like Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle. I enjoy the slower-paced platforming and the world just feels really vibrant 🙂
If we really wanna go back in time, Professor Hasbin was the very first Sega mascot, though he was only in the manuals for the SG-1000 games, then being later replaced Dr. Games, Captain Commando is the only thing similar to them.
I never knew anyone with an NES growing up (in the UK) and hadn't heard of Mario until the 90s - but my best friend has a Master System II with Alex Kidd in Miracle World built in, and we played it a lot. Stupidly hard difficulty, but amazing graphics and diverse enemy designs for the time - it was one of my first video games and, compared to things like games on the BBC Micro, far superior. To me, Mario's World 1-1 is a catchy tune I first heard in 2008, but the Alex Kidd theme IS childhood.
The single biggest reason I ignored the MD Alex Kidd game was the horrific (American) box art. That box art was incredibly unpleasant, and back before the Internet, box art judgement was a thing. The second thing was with that box art, I was not gonna ask the clerk if I could look at the back of the box, because the art made it look like it was for babies. Babies who liked bad art. And since I never had played the Master System Kidd games, I missed the entire series. Say what you want about the plain MS box art, yeah it was minimalistic, but it didn't look nearly as bad as the Alex Kidd in Miracle World box art. Look up that game box art (American version) if you need a new sleep paralysis demon \ nightmare fuel. Disgusting. Creepy.
Alex Kidd in High-Tech World , wow I remember renting this as a kid in the early 90s from Blockbuster in the UK . I got confused , but enjoyed it nevertheless . Wow , sorry its just triggered an very old memory out of nowhere . Thanks for bringing this one up .
Let's get this straight. Nintendo blocked 3rd parties from being on Sega. Really any other hardware but still it affected Sega the most. That and the chip shortage that Nintendo caused is the Major reason for some of those faces not being on SMS.
Another great video😃 Funny how different we are. I personally think Alex Kidd: The Lost World is way to easy. Maybe a video of the classic 2D Sonic the Hedgehog games next time?
Someone at Sega that doesn't get much spotlight is Rieko Kodama. She is the creator of Alex Kidd and had a hand in the Phantasy Star series and "Skies of Arcadia." Much like Amy Hennig (Legacy of Kain, Uncharted), many probably do not know who she is, but appreciate her work.
I always thought Alex Kidd was kind of a cheesy mascot, never hated him but just not that cool. I think the only game that played was the Sega Genesis one and I don't recall it being all that good.
Another great video! Here in Brazil miracle world is a much beloved game due, in part, to the fact that the master system was so ubiquitous and very few homes had a NES (the games I played, at that time, were in NES clones). But couldn't agree more with your point: the sonic games were just better all around and a much more fitting proposal for that era.
Alex Kidd was never Sega`s mascot. This is a common misconception. Back in the Master System and even the Genesis era, Sega used to develop games to compensate for the lack of third party support, they were meant to be alternative options to famous NES games. For example, Phantasy Star was created to compete with Dragon Quest, Master of Darkness was created to compete with Castlevania. Alex Kidd was created to be an alternative to Mario, but he was never designed or designated to be the mascot of the company. People that naturally associated Alex Kidd with being Sega's mascot. I don't agree with your opinion about Alex Kidd Enchanted Castle. I think the game looks and sounds great. It has its flaws, but I think it's a decent product. The sprites are colorful and well animated and the game is a decent enough sucessor to the original.
