Paid Members BomberPat Posted June 22, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted June 22, 2021 my early birthday present of Alex Kidd In Miracle World DX arrived yesterday, big old collector's edition complete with soundtrack CD, art book, badges, all sorts of fun stuff. It's a game I've probably played, in its original form, more than any other. Love the remake so far - the art style is fun, and everything has been very lovingly recreated, every new tweak and addition is a real quality of life improvement that doesn't take away from the game. Being able to switch between classic and new graphics is helpful; I found in the first jungle level that where I was struggling in the "new" version, switching to retro mode helped me time the jumps a little better. I'm on the first desert/Ancient Egypt level now - having used copious continues - and it's hard as nails. I don't know how I ever finished this game back in the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merzbow Posted June 22, 2021 Share Posted June 22, 2021 (edited) I bloody hated the original, I didn't grow up with it as much as some because my Master System had Hang-On and that Duck Hunt rip-off built in. Kung Fu Kid was my mediocre platformer of choice until I got ahold of the MS Sonic. Edited June 22, 2021 by Merzbow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam O'Rourke Posted June 22, 2021 Share Posted June 22, 2021 (edited) I need to find a way to play Alex Kidd in Miracle World again. I have Steam, so will take a look at that... Edited June 22, 2021 by Liam O'Rourke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Arch Stanton Posted June 22, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted June 22, 2021 1 hour ago, BomberPat said: my early birthday present of Alex Kidd In Miracle World DX arrived yesterday, big old collector's edition complete with soundtrack CD, art book, badges, all sorts of fun stuff. It's a game I've probably played, in its original form, more than any other. Love the remake so far - the art style is fun, and everything has been very lovingly recreated, every new tweak and addition is a real quality of life improvement that doesn't take away from the game. Being able to switch between classic and new graphics is helpful; I found in the first jungle level that where I was struggling in the "new" version, switching to retro mode helped me time the jumps a little better. I'm on the first desert/Ancient Egypt level now - having used copious continues - and it's hard as nails. I don't know how I ever finished this game back in the day. I have such fond memories of the game as it was the first console game I ever played. I always thought it was rock solid, I never came close to completing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted June 22, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted June 22, 2021 I do wonder how I'd feel about the game if I didn't have a ton of nostalgia attached to it - I didn't play any of the other Alex Kidd games until years later, on other systems or through emulators, and have never got more than a few minutes in without giving up or just not feeling it, but I've played Miracle World on every console I've been able to ever since I first had it on the Master System as the built-in game. The first game I have any memory of playing was Rainbow Chaser on the C64, but Alex Kidd In Miracle World wasn't far behind it - my half-brothers had a Master System, at first they had to ask permission to get it set up on the living room TV, and then later got a black and white telly in their room and it was set up there. So it was a rare treat for me to able to play it until it became a bit of a hand-me-down, but Alex Kidd was always the game I wanted to play. I finished it once, and playing it again now I have no idea how I ever managed it. I still vividly remember the first time I got to the end of one of the castle levels, had to fight the Rock-headed guy at Janken again, and then died because he lobs his head at you after you've beaten him. It was my last life, and absolutely heartbreaking. The main thing that stands out to me now is that there are some really fun ideas for an 8-bit platformer. That the first level is downward scrolling rather than left-to-right is still really striking, and stuff like the helicopter and speedboat levels where getting hit doesn't kill you but makes you drop down into the underwater level feels really unusual and forward-thinking for the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members PunkStep Posted June 22, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted June 22, 2021 2 hours ago, Arch Stanton said: I have such fond memories of the game as it was the first console game I ever played. I always thought it was rock solid, I never came close to completing it. I managed it once if I recall. It was a bloody hard game though, the castles were a nightmare to get through. I have fond memories as it was the first console game I ever had, so played the fuck out of it along with Enduro Racer, until I got Sonic & Castle of Illusion for my birthday. It's ok, doesn't hold up compared to other platformers of its day (e.g. the Wonder Boy games, other than the original) but the music is still iconic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAREBEAR LUVVA Posted June 22, 2021 Share Posted June 22, 2021 The controls in this Alex Kidd remake don't feel good to me at all. It's somehow both floaty and loose but slow and syrupy at the same time. Trying to nail some of the jumps, even in the early levels, is massively frustrating. Was the original like that? The kid next door had a Master System but he was a bad meff and I assumed all the games he played were shite. Even in later life I never bothered going back to play any of the Alex Kidds, beyond a very brief attempt at (I think) Shinobi World which pretty much confirmed my childhood assumptions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Arch Stanton Posted June 22, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted June 22, 2021 1 hour ago, BomberPat said: I do wonder how I'd feel about the game if I didn't have a ton of nostalgia attached to it - I didn't play any of the other Alex Kidd games until years later, on other systems or through emulators, and have never got more than a few minutes in without giving up or just not feeling it I've tried playing some of the Alex Kidd games on those Mega Drive compilations you get for modern consoles, but like you, could never put up with them for more than a couple of minutes, the controls would always feel really weird and I'd just find it impossible to care. I'd be interested to know how this new Miracle World release plays in comparison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members PunkStep Posted June 22, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted June 22, 2021 46 minutes ago, CAREBEAR LUVVA said: Trying to nail some of the jumps, even in the early levels, is massively frustrating. Was the original like that? Yes, it was a right fucking chore at times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted June 22, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted June 22, 2021 I have found the timing a bit difficult on some jumps, though that might be as much an over-familiarity with the original as an issue with the new version - I was slipping up in really simple places on the first couple of levels that I never normally would. In the jungle level, as I said before, I actually found myself switching to the "Retro" mode because I found it made some of the jumps a little easier - whether because I had a better handle on the physics of it, or just that the old Master System blank background and chunky pixel bats made it easier to time jumps, I don't know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAREBEAR LUVVA Posted June 22, 2021 Share Posted June 22, 2021 It's not so much the timing as the actual physics of the movement while you're in the air. He never quite lands where you think he's going to and correcting yourself in mid-air is nigh-on impossible, neither of which really make for an enjoyable platform game. I got as far as the monkey boss(es) and gave up, just wasn't having fun playing it at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Thunderplex Posted June 23, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted June 23, 2021 Enjoying AC Valhalla, but sweet Jesus it’s buggy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kfogg1991 Posted June 23, 2021 Share Posted June 23, 2021 My missus bought me a second hand PS3 for my birthday and I looked up online how to soft mod it and it actually worked!!!! so I've been playing the tomb raider trilogy (currently playing anniversary) but I'm loving it tbh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Impact Posted June 23, 2021 Share Posted June 23, 2021 (edited) Ordered the Alex Kidd remake today. It was the very first game I played on the Master System I got for Christmas in 1991. I have so many memories of it. Managed to finish it too, but it took months (and someone to show how to get past certain bits). Resident Evil Village on the way too, it'll be interesting to contrast them. Edited June 23, 2021 by Mark Impact Can't spell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted June 24, 2021 Paid Members Share Posted June 24, 2021 I managed to get to the end of the Alex Kidd remake purely by playing on Infinite Lives mode. Annoyingly, the freedom of having Infinite Lives made be play so much more instinctively and recklessly that I actually got further than I had in my non-infinite lives attempt before I started losing any. As a kid I never really made much use of many of the items, beyond the mind-reading ball and the magic ring, but the bosses are so much harder on this version that I was using everything I could. I remembered my way around the first castle level pretty well, but then remembered pretty much nothing after the fact, so started to doubt if I ever really had finished this game - but then towards the end there was more stuff I remembered. I just haemorrhaged lives on the last three bosses, though, absolutely hard as nails. There are trophies for completing it on regular mode, and for completing the game without buying any items, and they both seem utterly impossible tasks. I also discovered, and apparently this was true in the original, so I'm learning something after the better part of 30 years of playing this game - if you punch one of the boxes that has a ghost in it, and managed to avoid said ghost, the next question mark block you open will always have an extra life in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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