Long before a certain blue hedgehog became the mascot for Sega, the title was held by Alex Kidd. Kidd was martial artist he had to rescue a prince from the clutches of Janken the Great. Alex Kidd in Miracle World was the first in a series to feature this hero in this platfomer adventure.
The game play was very simple. Kidd would punch his way past the many enemies that were trying to stop him. There was a collection element as well, but unlike Mario, the coins were used as currency. You could buy different vehicles in order to continue your journey. The game relied on skill, but the bosses had a completely different and unique game play style.
The bosses had to be defeated in a game of rock-paper-scissors. There was simple no other way to advance to the different levels. This was a simple game that had no way to determine what your opponent was going to choose. It was based simply on luck. If you lost, you would lose a life and like most games of this era, there were no way to continue. This made the game fun as there was real stakes in this rounds.
Kidd was sold as cartridge in the beginning, but later versions of the Mega System actually had the game preinstalled. You could play as soon as it was set up. This allowed Alex Kidd in Miracle World to get in front an insane amount of eyeballs. As a marketing strategy, it was brilliant as Sega allowed players to play the game even if they would have no desire to if the game was not free.
Kidd is rarely remembered nowadays. Much like how Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was replaced by Mickey Mouse, Kidd was tossed aside for Sonic the Hedgehog. He might not have been the mascot Sega was hopping for, but the game is a pretty good take on the platformer genre. Alex Kidd would have seven more, but none could match the first time he set out on his journey.
You can still find this game on virtual consoles. Kidd might have few years on him, but the game still has the charm when it was released in the early days of home consoles.
