I must admit that my view on this game may be severely skewed and biased as I used to play this religiously as a child.
The game purely captivated me. It's easy on the eyes and friendly looking enough, but deviously deceptive from time-to-time and can be quite evil in places.
For a game that is one month and one day older than I am, it's still a joy to play every now and again and can only wish that I will be able to enjoy it in many years to come and introduce others to it's simplistic charm.
Graphics 8
This scoring may be debatable when compared to lush HD games like Uncharted 2, but for it's time, this game would have looked quite the treat on its 8-bit system.
The landscapes were always colourful and well varied, the character sprites were sharp and well detailed, as were the backgrounds and items.
However, they don't hold up as well on modern equipment, I have my Master System hooked up to my 60" HDTV via ariel connector and the quality takes a dip as the system wasn't designed for such equipment. This affects all consoles that connect via ariel, they tend to give off a slightly fuzzy or furry image, but so do systems that run through scart.
Just for the sake of this, I had to dig out my SDTV and hook it up, and the level of quality in the image was vastly superior.
I must say that this game still looks as great and appealing to me now as it did when I first played it when I was the young age of 4
Gameplay 9
Yes, 9.
It's the simple style of play that gives it such a score. I love 2D platformers for that one reason, they are so easy to pick up and play yet they can be hard to master, levels are always fun and challenging and there are always many hidden nooks and crannies to be found.
Gameplay in Alexx Kidd in Miricle world consists of you playing as what I always considered to be a monkey and the aim is to get to the end of the level so you can chow down on a burger.
A basic level consists of navigated the many platforms, and punching the hell out of anything that gets in your way. Including destructible blocks.
Powerups exist within the game to allow such things as fireballs, invincibility etc, but the best are the levels in which you can obtain a motorbike or helicopter.
Items such as the bike or choppah can be obtained from shops placed at various points in some levels and are easilly affordable, though there are moments where you can find them in the game world itself.
Levels themselves are also quite varied, ranging from cliffs, underwater, marshes, jungles, volcanoes, castles and a couple of other places. Navigating through them is simple enough, but also challenging as there are always enemies ready to block your path.
There are also end of level bosses, but they are unique because they consist of a best 2 out of 3 "Janken" match (Basically it's a game of rock, paper, scissors)
These matches however can sometimes be rather tricky to win, but there is an object you can buy that will allow you to see what your opponent is thinking, though often it does little to help.
Sound 6
It's your standard early 8-bit fare. lots of bloops and crunches, the enemies make no noise, but that's ok.
The music however is brilliant, it's nowhere near memorable, but it's catchy as hell and won't piss you off while playing.
I said though that it's not memorable, yet I can always remember the music to the first castle stage. Maybe that's just me.
Story 3
Yeah, well what do you expect from an 8-bit game?
As far as I can remember, Alexx discovers an old man that tells him he is a long lost prince and his kingdom and family are in danger. He gives Alexx a map and a medallion and Alexx sets off with the intention of putting a stop to whatever has befouled newly, found kingdom.
To be honest I scored this low because that's really all there is, I can't remember any dialogue padding throughout the levels and to be honest, I've never finished the game so I don't know the ending. But the story is typical fairytale cliché
Overall 7
This truly is a wonderful little game, suitable for all ages and a game that's fun for kiddies wanting to play and for adults up for a challenge.
I am saddened however that a lot of today's gamers have no love for retro games and wouldn't think twice about something as simple and charming as this. But then again, 2.5D platformers seem to be making themselves quite popular, so who knows... Maybe they might be interested in the 2D platformers of old. Maybe some game companies will find the little gems like this, give them a polish and sell them through the Playstation Store or Xbox marketplace (This title is actually available for download on the Wii downloadable service)
It's safe to say though, this game will always have a special place in my heart.
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