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Alex Kidd In Miracle World DX is a significantly revamped version of the original Sega Master System game from 1986, which had 17 levels, while ‘DX’ has 21.
Having never played the original until checking it out for a time now, I’m not quite sure what was added and/or taken away, unless certain levels have been split up/extended etc. However, I’ll leave that for the AK veterans to duke out.
As you’ll see from my gameplay videos below (perhaps more a Playthrough than a Walkthrough of the whole game, since I died a great deal, and it’s all from my first play through), it looks a lot more modern whilst still retaining an element of the retro feel, and if you press the right trigger while playing, the game to the same point in the original version, and you can switch back and forth!
Some problems, though, I set the game to Infinite Lives from the main menu, and then had no way to undo that. I also tried to select 4K resolution, but even though you can press A on the control (or Enter on the keyboard) to select this, nothing happens. You only have a ‘back’ option that does anything, and that undoes the resolution changes. That’s madness.
I even tried uninstalling and reinstalling, but nothing!
Ah, but then I found I could get around the infinite lives problem by somehow going into the config file, I set HDR to ‘on’ (to attempt to change the resolution), but that it was still on 1080p, it at least somehow got me back to normal lives. However, because I’m a wuss, the game was still too hard and I went back to infinite lives. Sue me.
What was probably not intentional is that I came across a glitch where everyone disappeared! (see video playlist)
Another annoying problem came late in the game, in Janken’s Fortress when I died frequently on a screen, I needed to get across to the other side to punch a brick out of a wall that’s stopping me passing, and every time I respawned, the name of the level appears on big letters OVER the top of that wall, obscuring my view. Grrr!! (and relax)
But leaving this on a positive note, this is a fun platformer overall, and after completing Alex Kidd In Miracle World DX, you get access to Classic Mode from the very beginning – even though you can flick through to it on first playthrough – It’s just that this time, it’s windowed rather than being fullscreen, the same as playing the new version.
Also, there’s the Boss Rush mode: basically, replaying the boss fights, even though most of them are generally “scissors, paper, stone”, which really grates after a while.
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Score: 7/10
Alex Kidd In Miracle World DX is released today on PC/Steam, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One.
Important info:
- Developer: Merge Games, Jankenteam
- Publisher: Merge Games
- Players: single-player
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.