ALEX KIDD IN LOST STARS (MASTER SYSTEM)........ PÁG

from Revista SussuWorld N.º 24 - Inglês

CAPA: ECCO THE DOLPHIN (MEGA DRIVE) ................. PÁG

Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars is a platform game released by Sega for the Master System in 1988. It is the arcade port released in 1986, the game features Alex in six stages, trying to rescue the "miraculous spheres" that were all stolen by Ziggurat. Soon after saving the planet Aries from Janken, Alex explores the mysteries of the Miracle World and discovers that the stars of the Aries constellation have been stolen. Daleda, an old wizard who lives in Mount Eternal reveals to him that Ziggarat had stolen the stars over five thousand years ago. And Halifax Kidd, an ancestor of Alex, traveled through time and space to defeat Ziggarat and return the stars to the sky. Now Alex must follow in his footsteps to save the Ziggarat constellation once more.

The Master System Port brings several differences from the arcade version. We can start with the fact that the Arcade version is obviously better graphically speaking, and also the fact that you can play with Alex and Stella, his girlfriend. The player takes on the role of Alex and in the arcade version, the second player controls Stella during co-op. The game consists of six levels, each with a miracle ball to collect at the end. And after all the stages are completed we will have to play them all again, a second "loop" so to speak. Is there a lack of imagination? I consider this game to be one of Alex Kidd's weirdest games. He has no power, he can only jump or attack an enemy when he takes a specific capsule that appears flying on the screen, jumps with his legs open and what I find most weird: the enemies of the game. The weirdest thing is the naked Punk that throws a skull out of his ass (and it's no joke).

If you fail to get the 3 power pills early in the game, the boss will spawn and run away soon after. So the level will continue and if you pay close attention, you will see several tombstones with Stella's name and on the side a broken one with the name “ALEX”. And in Arcades, Lost Stars had a Co-op mode, which you played with Alex and his girlfriend Stella.

Could this easter egg be an omen of what Sega would do with our favorite little dude ?

This really is the strangest thing: Alex Kidd no longer has his ability to punch opponents, he now only limits himself to dodging them. When he touches an enemy or he takes damage he lets out a little digitized squeal, and that quickly becomes irritating because it's going to happen, a lot.

And another thing: No motorcycle, no helicopter, janken-po... Everything was taken out of the game, all the things that made the big-eared guy known and loved back in his debut game were simply eliminated in this game.

And another thing: the stages have time. Your life bar is at the same time a time bar. It decreases as time passes and when Alex takes damage. If the time runs out, the game ends, but at least the game's Continues are unlimited.

And that figure down there is the great villain Ziggurat. And for you to defeat him, you just have to run through him until the end of the level. Seriously ?