"ALEX KIDD SHINOBI WORLD"（SMS） is not a good game

Even compared to SMB1, Miracle World is below average. I think most of you focus on it's superficial features like the vehicles and janken matches. My largest problems with Miracle World are the absolutely horrendous controls, physics and overall gameplay. There's no power-ups at the beginning, Alex dies with one hit, has an extremely limited reach with his fists and can't even jump on any enemies. On top of all that, he walks like he's on ice and the jumping tends to be unresponsive and delayed. Yes I'm playing it on a CRT with the original hardware. Super Mario Bros. side steps all those issues and is actually enjoyable. It may be bare bones, but at least it works properly. Miracle World is best compared to many of the horrible one life, one continue glut platformers in the NES's later years. The only thing in Miracle World's favor is that it was one of the first. That doesn't mean it's good though.

I tried Lost Stars. It thankfully took a SMB approach and did a few things right than do a pile of things badly, but it still felt terribly boring and average. The voice samples were obnoxious though, the last thing I want to hear is a kid screaming each time he gets hit, which happens a lot in Lost Stars.

The fact only Miracle World and Enchanted Castle are the only Alex Kidd games with the same gameplay is pretty telling that even Sega felt the series had no direction and anything they tried failed. He died off after Sega made a much better mascot, thank goodness for that.

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Originally Posted by Guntz

Even compared to SMB1, Miracle World is below average. I think most of you focus on it's superficial features like the vehicles and janken matches. My largest problems with Miracle World are the absolutely horrendous controls, physics and overall gameplay. There's no power-ups at the beginning, Alex dies with one hit, has an extremely limited reach with his fists and can't even jump on any enemies. On top of all that, he walks like he's on ice and the jumping tends to be unresponsive and delayed. Yes I'm playing it on a CRT with the original hardware. Super Mario Bros. side steps all those issues and is actually enjoyable. It may be bare bones, but at least it works properly. Miracle World is best compared to many of the horrible one life, one continue glut platformers in the NES's later years. The only thing in Miracle World's favor is that it was one of the first. That doesn't mean it's good though.

I tried Lost Stars. It thankfully took a SMB approach and did a few things right than do a pile of things badly, but it still felt terribly boring and average. The voice samples were obnoxious though, the last thing I want to hear is a kid screaming each time he gets hit, which happens a lot in Lost Stars.

The fact only Miracle World and Enchanted Castle are the only Alex Kidd games with the same gameplay is pretty telling that even Sega felt the series had no direction and anything they tried failed. He died off after Sega made a much better mascot, thank goodness for that.

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I said in my post that Alex Kidd in Miracle World is sub par to SMB1. SMB1 was the gold standard for that era, so beginning with "even compared to" is sort of disingenuous. You're comparing it to the best platformer on the market from that time period. What platformers from 1986 stand up to SMB1?

Did you play the arcade version of lost stars, or the SMS version? The SMS version is inferior for quite a few reasons beyond graphics.

I played the SMS version of Lost Stars.

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Originally Posted by soviet

I hate "SHINOBI"，Because ... a boss，The boss is a group of Hindu deities，if you played "SHINOBI", I guarantee you hate this boss and this game，like me

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You mean this boss, Mandara?

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2550/...3764e36065.jpg

That boss is challenging at first but once you learn how to win it's really fun. It's my favorite boss to fight in the game. I have a lot more difficulty defeating the level 1 boss.

Mandara is the ultimate pattern boss, you have to throw your shuriken and jump and throw at hte same speed or die. It is a great boss. Also, Alex Kidd in Shinobi World is probably my favorite Alex Kidd game.

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Originally Posted by soviet

The character is very clumsy and unreasonable difficulty

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It's the easiest game in both the Shinobi and Alex Kidd series'. I love Alex Kidd in Shinobi World but it needs to be longer and more difficult.

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Originally Posted by Guntz

There's no power-ups at the beginning, Alex dies with one hit, has an extremely limited reach with his fists and can't even jump on any enemies.

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You get the bracelet power up within the first few screens in Miracle World, sooner than you get the fire flower in SMB1, and by the second level you can buy the motorbike and invincibility powder. Dying with one hit and not being able to jump on enemies? That's a design decision, like not being able to melee enemies or having a life bar in Contra when comparing it to Shinobi.

I respect your opinion to dislike Miracle World for whatever reasons, but some of those reasons sound as if you went in expecting it to be just like SMB1. It's cool if you don't like hotdogs, but don't dislike hotdogs because they're not chocolate pudding.

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Originally Posted by Azathoth

You get the bracelet power up within the first few screens in Miracle World, sooner than you get the fire flower in SMB1, and by the second level you can buy the motorbike and invincibility powder. Dying with one hit and not being able to jump on enemies? That's a design decision, like not being able to melee enemies or having a life bar in Contra when comparing it to Shinobi.

I respect your opinion to dislike Miracle World for whatever reasons, but some of those reasons sound as if you went in expecting it to be just like SMB1. It's cool if you don't like hotdogs, but don't dislike hotdogs because they're not chocolate pudding.

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I was trying to expect a good game, I was wrong. No not like SMB, I've played lots of platformers unlike SMB. Some do it right, others suck, like Miracle World.

I had a feeling there are actually power-ups early on, but that leads me to two further complaints. One, the game never really makes it clear what's a power-up and what isn't. Two, there's too many damn blocks to punch and there's lots of death traps hidden among them. You have to collect money to buy stuff too, which are too expensive for a platformer.

As I've said before in past threads to different people, sure Miracle World innovated a lot of things, but it barely did any of them well. The real killers are the poor controls and physics though, they ruins the whole game.

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Originally Posted by Guntz

I played the SMS version of Lost Stars.

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Well give the Arcade version a go. If nothing else, it might change your "no good alex kidd games" stance. True to form for the series, it's completely different to every other game, even the SMS version. The SMS version is, at best, similar, but both games sport pretty different play mechanics. Think of it more like a 16-bit big brother. Personally, I love Shinobi World, but I also love Shinobi. I think it plays pretty similar to what I'd expect from a Chibi Shinobi game. But even beyond Shinobi World, I think the arcade version of Lost Stars is the best game in the series.

Like, for example, it's no longer timer based. Instead, you have lives. And if you play it without pumping in quarters, it's got a moderate difficulty - something most games in the series lack.

It's not the best platformer, even among Sega titles Wonderboy was much better. But it's not terrible, either, and there were tons and tons of worse platformers from that era.

Super Mario is too easy, lack of challenge

If Super Mario is a best action game in 1985，then the Alex Kidd is a best action game in 1986~

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Originally Posted by AlecRob

http://fall11ethnobotany.providence....840/barley.JPG

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Thanks for noticing and pointing out my typo. Your attention to detail is impeccable.:roll:

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Originally Posted by Guntz

One, the game never really makes it clear what's a power-up and what isn't. Two, there's too many damn blocks to punch and there's lots of death traps hidden among them. You have to collect money to buy stuff too, which are too expensive for a platformer.

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There's really only 3 types of blocks (money, skulls that immobilize you, and ?'s) all of which are labeled. The ?'s may have a death trap, but they always reveal the same order of items (power bracelet, death trap gopher, 1up) so their pattern never changes.

My only complaint about the power ups or item system was how you had to get up and press the pause button on the console to use them. When I first played the game I rented it and the rental store agreed to sell it to me, and because it didn't have a manual I played it for some time having no idea I could even use that stuff.

On a related note, after they gave me a manual, I kept looking for this secret rice ball thing that would "give me energy" and was worth a bunch of points. It wasn't until years after that when a friend bought a SMSII made a comment to me about Alex munching on a hamburger between levels that it dawned on me what the hell it was.

Miracle World is a great game with an amazing soundtrack. Holding its imperfections up to modern standards would also cancel out so many of the most celebrated NES games.

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Originally Posted by Black_Tiger

Miracle World is a great game with an amazing soundtrack. Holding its imperfections up to modern standards would also cancel out so many of the most celebrated NES games.

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Thank you for posting that. I could not agree more. :)