Alex Kidd in Miracle World

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Alex Kidd in Miracle World

Developer(s)	Sega
Publisher(s)	Sega
Designer(s)	"Ossale Kohta" (Kotaro Hayashida)
Series	Alex Kidd series
Release date(s)	1986
Genre(s)	Platform
Mode(s)	Single player
Platform(s)	Sega Master System
Media	Cartridge

Alex Kidd in Miracle World is a platform game for the 8-bit Sega Master System video game console. It was first released in Japan on November 1, 1986. Due to the mass distribution of the version bundled with and built into some versions of the Sega Master System console, it became the most recognised game in the Alex Kidd series. The story is that of Alex Kidd, who is looking for his lost brother, Egle (sometimes referred to as "Igul"), captured by the evil villain Janken the Great (Janken is romanized Japanese for the game Rock, Paper, Scissors, which plays an important part in the games boss fights). Throughout the game he has to face many different monsters, including the three henchmen of Janken the Great, through sixteen stages before he can face the evil villain.

Alex Kidd in Miracle World

Alex Kidd in Miracle World was initially available as a cartridge. From 1990 onwards, the game was built into certain revisions of the Sega Master System hardware, including some US, Australian and European versions of the Master System 2, and some European and Australian versions of the Master System 1. The later "built-in" version differs slightly from the cartridge edition - this can be identified by Alex's meal on the map screen between levels. In the original cartridge version, Alex is consuming a rice ball; in the built-in version, Alex is eating a hamburger. The other major difference is the controls - the cartridge version uses button 2 to punch and button 1 to jump. These controls felt unnatural to many people, and were swapped over for the built-in version. There were false rumors of a version in which Alex is drinking root beer on the loading screen. It is possible that this myth stems from westerners that are unfamiliar with the rice ball and thus saw the rice ball as root beer.

A distinctive aspect of this game was the playing of a "best 2 out of 3" match of "Rock, Paper, Scissors" to defeat Janken's three henchmen, "Rock Head", "Paper Head" and "Scissor Head" instead of a more traditional physical boss fight in which winning depended on the players skill. This meant that upon meeting such a boss, Alex had a one-in-three chance of losing a round. Towards the end of the game, all three of Janken's previously defeated henchmen return, and resort to a more conventional battle in addition to having a "Rock, Paper, Scissors" battle.

Alex Kidd in Miracle World did not have a battery save option nor a password system, meaning that when all of Alex's lives and money ran out the game was over. However, all Janken matches throughout the game used a preset sequence, meaning that it was easy to remember the sequence from a previous play and act accordingly. This sequence however, remains intact only if the player never loses a single round. If and when the player loses one round at any time, the rest of the game's sequence will change unpredictably. In this case, it is advised to pick up one of the game's two "Telepathy Balls", which will from then on allow you to see your opponent's hand as it cycles through the Rock, Paper and Scissors options, giving the player the opportunity to pick the right outcome. Even when the player resorts to using this, the match remains no cakewalk; a boss could change his decision at the very last second, making quick reflexive thinking necessary.

The game featured an un-documented continue feature, where the player could continue the game with three lives from the beginning of the level they died on by holding the up direction and quickly pressing button 2 during the "Game Over" screen. This would cost the player 400 of the in game currency.