SMS - Alex Kidd In Miracle World

[+Trebor]

First time playing this one all the way through and I am very impressed. There’s a lot of variety including three different modes of transportation and subtle RPG elements. Moving vertically along with the typical horizontal traversing of a level is a nice change up too.

A great action/adventure platformer to experience and is captured below, including hyperlinked bookmarks at the source site.

Title = 00:07
Mt. Eternal = 00:18
Travel to Lake Fathom = 03:54
Lake Fathom = 05:30
Island of St. Nurari = 09:05
Travel to Village of Namui = 10:25
Village of Namui = 11:39
Mt. Kave = 13:48
Blakwoods = 16:48
Travel to Bingoo Lowland = 17:19
Bingoo Lowland = 17:54
Radaxian Castle = 20:46
City of Radaxian = 27:41
Travel to Kingdom of Nibana = 30:50
Kingdom of Nibana = 32:01
Travel to Janken's Castle = 32:33
Janken's Castle = 36:00
Cragg Lake = 44:03
Ending = 45:25

[BydoEmpire]

The game that sold me a SMS! I got to play it at a friend of a friend's house one day. He was the only guy we knew who had a Master System, and I thought it was really cool once I got to sit down with it. I think I got one not too much later, and over the years I spent more time with the Master System than the NES. Haven't played it in 30 years though, so I'm not sure how well I'd enjoy it nowadays, but at least for nostalgic value it's great.

[+frankodragon]

It's interesting to note the version built into the SMS 2, instead of Alex eating a rice cake, it has been changed to a burger.

[Austin]

Fun game but I am not a fan of the Janken matches. Is there any rhythm or rhyme to these?

[+Trebor]

Fun game but I am not a fan of the Janken matches. Is there any rhythm or rhyme to these?

Per the manual: "The Telepathy Ball - This miraculous ball lets you know what other people are thinking. It is very valuable to you. Especially when you're playing the scissors/paper/stone game."

 

It's emphasized at the SegaRetro page for the game as well...

 

 

 

It's interesting to note the version built into the SMS 2, instead of Alex eating a rice cake, it has been changed to a burger.

Cool...I did not know that.

 

 

 

The game that sold me a SMS! I got to play it at a friend of a friend's house one day. He was the only guy we knew who had a Master System, and I thought it was really cool once I got to sit down with it. I think I got one not too much later, and over the years I spent more time with the Master System than the NES. Haven't played it in 30 years though, so I'm not sure how well I'd enjoy it nowadays, but at least for nostalgic value it's great.

I absolutely can see how this game sold you on the SMS. A kind of game that is typically not seen as a first wave/generation title for a console back in the day. Something like this game I would have expected 2-3 years later in the system's life, not right out of the gate. I was very pleasantly surprised.

[CatPix]

It's interesting to note the version built into the SMS 2, instead of Alex eating a rice cake, it has been changed to a burger.

It was changed for European and US releases of the games.

Also a lot of people associte Alex Kid with the SMS 2 but most (European, at least) SMS model 1 also have Alex Kidd built in.

[Austin]

Per the manual: "The Telepathy Ball - This miraculous ball lets you know what other people are thinking. It is very valuable to you. Especially when you're playing the scissors/paper/stone game."

 

Sure, but they still have a tendency more often than not of changing at the last second. Even with the ball it seems like a crapshoot.

[+Trebor]

Sure, but they still have a tendency more often than not of changing at the last second. Even with the ball it seems like a crapshoot.

 

There's enough time for the player to change their hand as well after seeing their opponent's selection.

 

If an opponent just held the same hand/choice for the round, or/and they gave an abundant amount of time for the player to make their selection after seeing the opponent's hand, what challenge/point would there be to it?

 

The crapshoot is when the player does not have a Telepathy Ball and the opponent's choice cannot be seen ahead of time.

 

Regardless, different strokes for different folks; my experience has been the rock(stone), paper, scissors, game is challenging on occasion, but nowhere near impossible or incredibly difficult. I found it to be another nice change up to just a typical boss battle (which does follow-up that game when played in later levels).

[Tanooki]

If you check gamefaqs there is a set pattern for the first guessing run of the hand in those janken matches. You can guess it out entirely correctly if you don't slip up once using the pattern listed online.

 

I used to love the game but I can not remember if I ever actually finished it. While I don't have a SMS anymore, due to that odd little know Blaze(UK)/ATGames(US) released Arcade Gamer Portable device I do have it as it's a neat closed 30 game system of entirely legit SMS+GG titles. Unlike their garbage Genesis handheld the audio and visuals do work right, and it runs on AAAs not some wonky mystery phone battery.

[Austin]

There's enough time for the player to change their hand as well after seeing their opponent's selection.

Uh.. not if they swap at close to the last frame, heh.

 

I checked GameFaqs per Tanooki's suggestion and it looks like there is indeed a set pattern to each of the Janken matches (as long as you do them correctly on the first try). I'll have to test these out as those matches are what has kept me from bothering to beat this game (them aside, I do think it's a fantastic title).

[Tanooki]

Same thing that stops me from playing it too are those stupid games of chance. If I am using that little handheld at my desk I'll pull up the cheat sheet or I just don't bother at all.

[+Trebor]

I checked GameFaqs per Tanooki's suggestion and it looks like there is indeed a set pattern to each of the Janken matches (as long as you do them correctly on the first try). I'll have to test these out as those matches are what has kept me from bothering to beat this game (them aside, I do think it's a fantastic title).

 

Same thing that stops me from playing it too are those stupid games of chance. If I am using that little handheld at my desk I'll pull up the cheat sheet or I just don't bother at all.

 

Understood... A game guide/walkthrough/cheat sheet for one particular rough patch or section that a player is experiencing definitely helps so as not to miss out on an overall great game.

[Cepp]

This was the first game I ever played, the whole rock/paper/scissor boss fight aspect is silly but I love it overall and always have a great time when I play it.

Edited March 12, 2018 by Cepp

[chuckwalla]

For SMS fans who are looking for manuals, this site has lots of them: https://segaretro.org/Category:Good_Master_System_US_manual_scans

[Azathoth]

I checked GameFaqs per Tanooki's suggestion and it looks like there is indeed a set pattern to each of the Janken matches (as long as you do them correctly on the first try).

I still have the first match burnt into my memory (rock, scissors) from 35+ years ago.

 

As mentioned the AI always picks the same answers. Defeat them once without picking a wrong answer and you'll never lose again.