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Today we’re playing Alex Kidd and The Lost Stars which dropped on arcades in 86 and was later ported to Master Console in 88. The second generation of master console actually had the game built in. A version is also available on the Wii virtual console if you’re interested.
Alex is looking for the 12 stars that represent the zodiac signs so he runs through 12 levels that are each based on one of the 12 zodiac signs. The weird thing is he just runs and jumps. Alex doesn’t have any weapon to combat the enemies that plague the field. There’s also no boss fights so that’s nice. But I really brought you hear to talk about Alex Kidd who is constantly overlooked despite his master grip on Sega for a 5 year period
In 1986 Sega was looking for a mascot that could go toe to toe with the juggernaut that was Nintendo’s new mascot, Mario. Instead of Alex Kidd they went with the space ship opa-opa from its series of Fantasy Zone games. But as I’ve said before in episodes of The Cabinet. NOBODY LIKES SPACE SHOOTERS. Instead people were craving platformers and gravitated to Alex Kidd in Miracle World.
For a while people liked Alex more than Mario. At the time Mario was just stomping creatures to death but Alex was driving vehicles and truly platforming with some of the first levels going upwards and downwards instead of just left or right. Even with all that, Alex still couldn’t get the title as Sega’s official mascot.
But hey, at least they continued his game series. Which brings us to lost stars which is what I’m playing today. It dropped in 86 the same year as miracle world. People weren’t as happy about this game for a few reasons. The game was actually designed with combating enemies in mind. In Miracle World Alex had his signature stone punch to take on enemies. The game was so rushed they forgot to add it to the code. Players are forced to simply jump over enemies. Then they dropped Alex Kidd BMX Trials which was a bike racing game, but only for Japan. For America we got Alex Kidd in High Tech World. Unlike previous platformers and racers this was a puzzle game.
When the Sega Genesis was released a launch game called Alex Kidd Enchanted Castle. This game had everything that people loved from previous game. Mostly platforming, but with some puzzles, vehicles returned and in addition to his signature punch he received a new kick attack. While the game was a financial success people complained because it just wasn’t miracle world.
Alex Kid in Shinobi World was the last game in the series. Based on the Shinobi Game I played a while ago in The Cabinet. The game wasn’t originally for Alex but he was still popular so they tossed him in. The fans Alex had when this game launched were gone after. The game was priced at $30 which was standard in 1990 but was 8 bit as opposed to the previous 16 bit game. The worst part was the game only featured 4 short stages.
You could say I’m crazy but I think Sega purposely tried to kill off Alex Kidd’s popularity. It can’t be any coincidence that Sonic who received the stamp of official mascot debuted less than a full year later. On top of that, Eggman looks like an adult Alex. He wears the same clothes and shares the same hair color. He’s just older, fatter and angry at Sonic. It fits. Angry at Sonic an older Alex takes on the name Eggman and swears for revenge. But just a theory. A GAME THORY. Please don’t sue me Matt. Mr. Patrick. I was joking. I don’t have any money. Make sure to like this video if you enjoyed and subscribe for other great content like Life is Strange and PS All Stars because that’s just ridiculous fun. Sorry this episode ran long. I’ll stop talking now. Bye.
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