Alex Kidd BMX Trial (ＢＭＸトライアル アレックスキッド) - Mark III (1987)

Japanese Mark III Cover

Alex Kidd BMX Trial

Alex Kidd BMX Trial

Kids love bikes, right? Sega desperately needed something to sell its paddle controller with, so they made an overhead racing game with their mascot. It's similar to the Master System port of Enduro Racer, except it uses an overhead perspective. You jump over lakes, you dodge other bikers, and you pop wheelies on the appropriately marked spaces. It moves a bit too quickly, and Game Overs are all too common. It never left Japan, and it's a huge collector's item, but it's also a pretty lousy game.

Alex Kidd BMX Trial

Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle / Alex Kidd Tenkuu Majou (アレックスキッド 天空魔城) - Genesis / Playstation 2 / PSP / Playstation 3 / Xbox 360 (1989)

American Cover

Japanese Cover

Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle

After so many departures, Alex's first (and only) Genesis outing went back to its roots, with gameplay much more similar to Miracle World. The graphics are more colorful, although since this was a launch title for the Genesis, it's still not too impressive. As it turns out, Alex's father Thor has been found alive on the planet of Paperrock, so Alex attempts to save him from the evil Ashra. There are only eleven levels, compared to the seventeen in Miracle World, but most of them are a bit more expansive, allowing you to find alternate routes in the sky, or in hidden underground areas. The types of levels are similar to the original game, although there are a few Egyptian influenced stages. Most of the items and vehicles are the same, although you can now find a pogo stick. Unlike the original, which required that you use items as soon as you bought them, you can now access an inventory screen to use them whenever you want. Also, when you punch blocks hovering in mid-air, it won't automatically destroy them. Rather, it'll send them flying across the screen, which will squash anything in its path. If the blocks are next to a solid wall, they'll break like normal. Most of these improvements are for the better, if it weren't for some very niggling flaws. You can't just walk into stores and buy things - you need to play rock-paper-scissors with them to buy anything, in addition to paying money. What's more, you can't see the other character's moves unless you have a special item, which proves most annoying in boss battles, when your life depends on it. Even more grating are the controls - they've even more slippery and awkward than they were in the original. Not only are Alex's punches rather slow, but you can't punch in midair. Rather, you'll automatically jump kick after reaching the apex of your jump, and you need to position him so his foot makes contact with the enemy. Trying to hit anything with these awkward attacks without inadvertantly getting killed is extremely frustrating. It's kind of a shame, because Enchanted Castle ends up being a substantially worse game than its predecessor. An emulated version of this game is also included on the Sega Genesis Collection for the PS2 and PSP, and Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection for the PS3 and Xbox 360. There's a bit of weird censorship in the English versions of Enchanted Castle. Losing a rock-paper-scissors battle in the English version will simply cause a large weight to fall on your head. However, in the Japanese version, the loser is stripped of their clothes, with a little fig leaf (or, in the case of Alex, a tiny elephant) covering their naughty bits. Apparently the naked skull-crapping rocker in The Lost Stars was okay but stripping preteen boys of their clothes was going just a bit too far.

Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle

Screenshot Comparisons

American	Japanese

Alex Kidd in Shinobi World - Sega Master System (1990)

American SMS Cover

Alex Kidd in Shinobi World

Alex Kidd in Shinobi World

For Alex's last adventure, Sega tossed him back to the 8-bit Master System and decided to fuse him with one of their other franchises - Shinobi. This game was only released in North America and PAL territories (with the former release being quite rare) and was never released in Japan. In an opening that seems suspiciously reminiscent of Sega's Dynamite Dux, Alex's girlfriend is kidnapped by some demon, and Alex himself is turned into a ninja by some deity to go save her. Several of the stages are reminiscent of levels from Shinobi, and the bosses take vague inspiration from them too. Even the main theme music is derived from Shinobi, just played at a faster tempo. However, some aspects from the Alex Kidd games remain, like the destructable blocks, the slippery controls and the swimming stages. Even though it draws from both franchises, it's very much its own game. Alex attacks with a sword, which can be stregthened with a certain power-up. You can also find ninja knives to attack foes at a distance, and can also find ninja magic to temporarily turn into a whirlwind. You can climb up ropes, bounce off walls Ninja Gaiden-style, or grapple onto pipes and spin until you become a fireball, flinging yourself at foes. This is the only game in the series where you have a life meter. You can take three hits, but there are numerous health restoration items, so it's not too difficult. You only get a single continue, but there are only eight brief stages (plus four boss battles) so it's a pretty short game. Like most later Master System games, Alex Kidd in Shinobi World was only released in American and PAL terrories. An early magazine reveals an early version of the game titled Shinobi Kid, starring some generic boy instead of Alex Kidd. It also reveals that the first boss was meant to be named "Mari-Oh", to make fun of Nintendo's famous mascot. (He resembles the first boss of Shinobi, named "Ken-Oh".) Even though the sprite was slightly redrawn for the released game, it's easy to see the resemblance - he shoots fireballs that bounce like they do in Super Mario Bros, and once you deplete his life meter, he shrinks and continues to attack. Pretty clever.

Alex Kidd in Shinobi World Alex Kidd in Shinobi World Alex Kidd in Shinobi World Alex Kidd in Shinobi World

View all "Alex Kidd Shinobi World" items on eBay

Cameos Segagaga is a brilliant Dreamcast game where you get to take control of Sega to help it win the video game war. (Naturally, this was before they bowed out of the console race back in 2001.) At one point, you run into Alex Kidd, who relates his sob story of how he used to be the mascot of Sega, but was demoted in favor of Sonic the Hedgehog. Instead of starring in video games, he's now forced to work retail at one of Sega's shops. A very sad, but hilariously tongue-in-cheek look at Alex Kidd, and his only recent appearance of any kind.

Segagaga

Sega Superstars Tennis, released in 2008 for a variety of platforms, contains a number of famous Sega characters, including Sonic and Shadows the Hedgehogs, Ulala and Pudding from Space Channel 5, Beat and Gum from Jet Set Radio, Amigo from Samba de Amigo, and a bunch of other cameos. Sega was actually cool enough to stick Alex Kidd in there, complete with his own stage. Unfortunately, his character model looks devastatingly awful, and his presence just seems kinda embarassing in both games. Similarly, Alex Kidd is also featured in Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing in 2010, also released for many platforms. Here, he rides his Sukopako Motorcycle from Miracle World. His character model is much better than in Sega Superstars Tennis, at least. One of his voice clips even announces "I found the miracle ball!", a reference back to the voice clip from The Lost Stars.

Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing

Soundtrack: Alex Kidd Complete Album (2009)

In 2009, Wavemaster published a 2 CD compilation filled with music from the Alex Kidd series. It includes the full soundtracks to all of the Alex Kidd games, including Alex Kidd in High Tech World and Alex Kidd in Shinobi World, neither of which were technically released in Japan. It also includes three versions of the Lost Stars soundtrack - the FM and PSG versions of the Master System release, and the original arcade version. There's also an image song with lyrics, a goofy anime-style theme to the melody of the Miracle World theme song, performed by Sega composer Takenobu Mitsuyoshi. As a bonus, it also includes the entire soundtrack to Fushigi no Oshiro Pit-Pot, which was also composed by Tokuhiko Uwabo, and sounds similar to Alex Kidd music, though there are only a few tracks in total. The cover art includes Alex, of course, along with Stella (from The Lost Stars) and Princess Lora from Miracle World, as well as Sega-san, an original character from a four-panel gag manga P.S. Surii-san, which is drawn by the album cover's illustrator Ikao Haneda. She seems to appear on the cover because she also shares Alex Kidd's affection for onigiri. The manga is about moe personifcations of various video game companies and consoles - other characters include Three-san (PlayStation 3), Wii-San, Famicom-obasama, Dreamcas-san, and even 32X-senpai. More info at the VGMDB.

Soundtrack Cover

While not the most illustrious game series, Alex Kidd was featured in his share of enjoyable titles. At one point, Alex Kidd was going to be resurrected as part of the Sega Ages line for the Playstation 2, but those plans fell through the floor. Thanks to Guru Larry for the heads-up about Shinobi Kid, and Johnny2x4 for the info on the Alex Kidd Complete Album artist.. Links Alex Kidd: The Shellcore Master in Red Overalls Fan site for the first Alex Kidd game Memorial Album Official Japanese site with an interview with the developer. VGMuseum The usual assortment of scans. SMS Power A whole boatload of scans, including the Japanese ones found above.

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Page 1: Introduction Alex Kidd in Miracle World Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars Alex Kidd: High Tech World/Anmitsu Hime

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