Alex Kidd
Alex Kidd is the eponymous video game character a computer game series of the game manufacturer Sega and former mascot of the company. It is an invention of Kotaro Hayashida (also known as Ossale Kohta ), who developed games for Sega since 1983.
History
In the early 1980s, the video game world has been hit by a global crash. Many companies in the industry had to file for bankruptcy 1983-1984. Others, such as Atari were on the verge of ruin. The American conglomerate Gulf Western, Sega was in his hand since 1969, sold the U.S. branch of the Bally Manufacturing Corporation, a company for pinball and slot machines. The Japanese subsidiary was sold for 38 million U.S. dollars to several investors, including David Rosen, chairman of the American subsidiary and the Japanese entrepreneur Hayao Nakayama, who was also a principal in Japan. A year later, both sites of CSK were bought and the new Sega Enterprises Ltd. '. During this time, the number of published video games stagnated worldwide. The manufacturers who had survived the time with a black eye, working on new products and Sega had many plans after the restructuring. This also included a new mascot for the company, Alex Kidd. He had his first appearance in Alex Kidd in Miracle World, which was released on 1 November 1986 in Japan for the Sega Master System.
Only a few months previously appeared on Nintendo's Super Mario Bros. competition Console Nintendo Entertainment System. Between the two games were clear parallels: as both characters were the mascots of their respective company and both acted in jump- 'n' -run games.
Despite consistently positive reviews but was none of the six published (see below) keep the games Alex Kidd series with the success of Super Mario. This is usually less associated with the character, even in conjunction, but rather with the much better sales of the Nintendo consoles. At the same time is often criticized that the individual games differ very significantly from one another in terms of gameplay. While Super Mario still saves along with his brother Luigi Princess Toadstool, Kidd games changed in the Alex always the opponents and game environments.
After 1990, Alex Kidd was replaced as mascot Sonic the Hedgehog. Since then he has had several small appearances in video games. In the 2001 Japan released for the Dreamcast Segagaga he appears as a video game seller and philosophizes about how he first had to compete against Nintendo and Super Mario and was then replaced and forgotten by Sonic.
Character
Alex Kidd lives on the planet Aries. Particularly striking are his big ears, his red overalls and his long sideburns. For seven years he studied at Mt Eternal ShellCore, an art that allows a man to smash rocks.
Games with Alex Kidd
Alex Kidd in Miracle World
Alex Kidd in Miracle World (Japaneseアレックス キッド の ミラクル ワールド) was published in 1986 in Japan. Alex learns of a dying man that the city " Radaxian " is in danger and give you a map and a medallion from him. He finds out that he must first defeat " Janken the Great" who rules over the planet " Janbarik ". The name is derived from " Janken " (Japaneseじゃんけん), in the German-speaking area known as rock-paper- scissors. In this game, he has to hold also when he met a servant of " Janken ". Alex Kidd moves in this game, walking, swimming or with different means of locomotion as his motorcycle " Sukopako motorcycle " and the helicopter " Peticopter ". In a total of eleven levels he has to prevail against birds, bats and other animals and each find a bag of money with which he can buy additional equipment. There are two different versions of the game, however, which differ only in the scene, which can be seen after the successful completion of a level. In Europe and America Alex Kidd eaten a hamburger in Asia rice balls. The game received 1990 again a significant boost in popularity since it was already integrated into the Sega Master System 2. Not least because of this circumstance is Alex Kidd in Miracle World, the best-selling game for the console.
A new edition of the game was announced in 2002 as part of the Sega Ages series for the PlayStation 2. It never appeared, in contrast to many other Sega classics though.
Since 13 June 2008 the game in Germany for the Nintendo Wii Virtual Console is available and since June 2012 also on the PlayStation Store for the PlayStation 3
Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars (Japaneseアレックス キッド ザ·ロスト スターズ) was published in 1986 as the sole title of the series as an arcade game. It was the real debut of the character, but found little attention until a little later " Alex Kidd in Miracle World " was released. Only two years later, in 1988, was " Alex Kidd and the Lost Stars" also available for the Master System. In this part, Alex goes as Crown Prince of Aries on the search for 12 Zodiac, which have disappeared from the sky. He goes to the Mount Eternal, where he learns that the star once before, many years ago of " Ziggurat " ( in some versions as " Jiggurat " ) were stolen. Towards this he travels through 14 levels, which, however, in principle, consist of only seven. After the seventh level they repeat themselves in a more difficult version. A level playing in the body of a human or the player is attacked by dogs whose barking can fly in the form of letters to Alex Kidd and inflict this damage. In the cutscenes, the main character of the Fantasy Zone series, Opa- Opa, a cameo appearance and it is one of the few Master System games with voice output.
In particular, through the colorful level design and very easy opponents, it had a reputation as a children's game. In addition, the spongy control has been criticized.
Alex Kidd BMX Trial
Alex Kidd BMX Trial (Japaneseアレックス キッドBMXトライアル) was published on 15 November 1987 in Japan. Alex Kidd must be controlled by a special controller here on a BMX bike, which was produced and sold specifically for this game. Unlike the other games, it is a pure sports game.
Alex Kidd in High - Tech World
Alex Kidd in High - Tech World, also known as Alex Kidd III, was released on January 23, 1989 for the Master System. Alex goes here in search of the eight parts of a map. He fights in the forest against ninjas and other creatures that traveled through a town and need to fight for a passport. Many events are time- based, which means that, for example, some enemies appear only at a specific time. To win, he must have up to 17 clock reaches its destination.
For a Jump'n'run Alex Kidd in High - Tech World contains a special feature: the player may return to his original score with a password.
The game is based on an older game called " Anmitsu Hime ", which was created for the Anmitsu - Hime anime and manga known in Japan. The main character, who was a Japanese princess in the original game, was replaced here by Alex Kidd. In addition, the screen text and the story has been adapted accordingly. This leads to some contradictions occur in the flow of play. This includes, for example, that Alex 's father can be seen in the opening credits, but in this short time later appeared Alex Kidd and the Enchanted Castle as missing. Although in High - Tech World Alex Kidd is the direct successor of Alex Kidd in Miracle World and Alex Kidd and the Lost Stars, changed to the gameplay so much that many supporters of the first two parts were disappointed. The focus is now on puzzles and jigsaw puzzles. The entire game consists of only four levels.
Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle
Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle was published in 1989 for the Sega Mega Drive. Alex learns in this game that his missing father is still alive and sets out to search for him.
The game is very similar to the first part of the Alex Kidd series. Alex has to prevail against similar opponents, dominated the fighting techniques from " Alex Kidd in Miracle World" and also plays back " rock, paper, scissors ". In the original Japanese version, defeating opponents lose their clothes. This was in the American version replaced by a down falling on the opponent weight. " Alex Kidd and the Enchanted Castle " was released on February 2, 2007 in the Sega Mega Drive Collection ( Sega Genesis Collection also in the USA) - a collection of games with old games for the Sega Mega Drive, which for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable was published. Nintendo has also announced a release on the Virtual Console.
Alex Kidd in Shinobi World
Alex Kidd in Shinobi World on the master system 1990 was the date last official appearance as the title character. The developers of the criticism of Alex Kidd in High - Tech World took to heart and reduced the to be overcome puzzles and puzzle again significantly.
It is a parody of the Sega game Shinobi and contains as many game music remixes of Shinobi soundtracks. Rumor has it that Alex Kidd also should still occur in many other parodies, development, however due to the success of the new Sega mascot Sonic has been set. It was also often assumed that Alex Kidd, similar to " Alex Kidd in High - Tech World ," was not the original main character for which the game was developed. This is confirmed by an announcement that appeared in an American magazine Sega 1990. There, the complete game content is described under the name " Shinobi Kid". Is interesting to note in particular the mentioned boss of the first level, " Mari -Oh ", which is described as a dig at Nintendo's Super heroes. In the final published version of this boss is called " Kabuto ", but has very similar to Super Mario.
Remake
The Frenchman Xavier Darmon published in 2007 a remake of the classic Alex Kidd in Miracle World. It can free download from its website and offers the player the opportunity to design level itself.
Sega Superstars Tennis
In the current Sega game Sega Superstars Tennis Alex Kidd is emerging as one of the unlockable characters.
Merchandise
Between 1986 and 1990, many Fan of Alex Kidd appeared especially in Japan. Including plastic and plush figures, a board game, comics and many other things.