I refuse to show the box art, as it is an abomination to humankind.
I remember being a kid and finding this game around the trailor we used to live in and thinking, “Oh man look at the box art it’s so bad ass!! Wow!!” So I put it in the console and I immediately am drawn in by the music. It’s so bouncy and fun sounding, and then you hit start and whoa!!! you’re in this crazy world where there’s giant chests filled with goals and cars trying to run over you whoa!!!!!!! I figure I’m gonna drop kick this car! BAD ASS!!! Wait… huh? Alex turned into an angel and died… Maybe I did something wrong. OKAY I’M GONNA PUNCH THIS CAR YEAH!! Wait… his punch was too slow?
As great and fun as this game as, it’s a pain in the ass. It really is one of the hardest games I’ve ever played and beaten. You take one hit from an enemy, you’re dead. So you better plan out your attacks very well. There’s about 10 stages in all to get through. If you use save states like I did (Sonic Ultimate Genesis Collection), then you’ll get through it in 30 minutes, maybe even less. If you start all the way back over a million times like you would have had to back in 1989, well, it would take hours. I’m don’t want to compare this game to something like Super Mario Bros. where you have to start all over or Battletoads where the slightest mistake is your doom, but that’s basically what this game is. Mario + Battletoads = Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle. If you don’t mind starting over every now and then, you’ll be fine, but if you do, oh man, you are going to be one pissed off individual.
The main premise of the game is to find your father. To do this, you have to beat villains at rock-paper-scissors. Yeah, I don’t get that, either. When you enter a level there are usually buildings with doorways. You go in and
you… play rock-paper-scissors for an item. But you have to pay to play! The guy you fight is always this blue guy who looks like Dhalsim a little. Anyway, he asks you if you’re willing to risk your life. If you lose, you don’t die, though. So why is he asking me that? If you win, you get the item, but you need to look up on the internet what the hell it does or else you’ll be totally clueless. There’s no description or anything.
The final boss is this many armed creature who challenges you to rock-paper-scissors. You have to beat him twice, then he goes apeshit and starts launching his arms at you. It’s the easiest boss fight I’ve ever encountered in such a hard game. The ending is also really… bland. If I had not used save states or played this when I was a kid, I probably would have gotten satisfaction from the ending, butI just ended up thanking God this was over.
Verdict:
+ It’s got amazing music
+ Alex Kidd is one of the coolest designs ever
= Challenging, but kinda worth it
- Ending sucks
- - GOD the ending sucks
I like this game, I really do, but it does have it’s obvious flaws that really started to piss me off toward the end. Great to just play if you’re bored, though.
