Alex Kidd in Miracle World

1986 · Platform · Sega Master System

Overview

Alex Kidd in Miracle World (1986) is the Master System's signature platformer, in which Alex punches through 17 stages and plays rock-paper-scissors against Janken the Great's henchmen.

Deep Dive

Janken the Great has overthrown King Thunder of Radaxian and kidnapped Prince Egle and Princess Lora. Alex punches enemies and breakable rocks, collects money and spends it in shops on items and vehicles such as a motorbike and a helicopter. Many stages end with a game of rock-paper-scissors against one of Janken's three henchmen, and losing costs a life just as an enemy's touch does. Across 17 stages Alex learns that he is King Thunder's lost son, defeats Janken and recovers the crown.

Developer Story

Designed by Kotaro Hayashida, with art by Rieko Kodama, the game began in 1984 as a licensed Dragon Ball tie-in. When the licence expired, Sega president Hayao Nakayama had it restarted from scratch. It was released in Japan on 1 November 1986, and a remake, Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX, followed in 2021.

Did You Know?

The game was built into many Master System and Master System II consoles. The built-in version swaps the original's rice-ball map icon for a hamburger and inverts the buttons.
Entering a button code on the Game Over screen continues the game, at a cost of 400 Baums.