The GHZ Forum

It's seems Alex Kidd is the latest Sega franchise to get a revival with a remake of Miracle World.

I'm a little surprised. I figured Alex Kidd would be relegated to appearances in Sega crossover games and retro compilations.It looks similar to the Wonder Boy remake with updated graphics and the option to play it in a retro mode with the original graphics. It seems like this is another case of Sega licensing out the IP and not actually having much involvement with the game. It's been years since I've played the Alex Kidd games but I do remember Miracle World being the best of the bunch and a pretty good game. I'd be curious to see if it holds up and is actually as good as I remember.

Is there a reason they're remaking Miracle World specifically? I appreciate that (based on purely anecdotal evidence) it's the most popular instalment by a country mile, but surely the game will already be playable on most platforms where this is being released? It certainly is on Switch and PC through the AGES series, which introduces new features on its own. Are the two versions going be to competing with one another? This seems rather redundant.

If I were these guys, and I didn't want to remake any of the weird non-traditional sequels, I'd have gone for Enchanted Castle instead. There's plenty to update graphically, and it would have been a good chance to "fix" the issues people had with the original game. It certainly would have allowed them to produce more original content, too, with stuff like the vehicles and extra Genesis button to play around with.

I'm only being so needlessly pedantic because, honestly, I think this looks kind of like a cash-in. I'm sure the team is passionate about Alex Kidd (they must be to unearth the IP), but I can't quite see what exactly there is to be excited about from this trailer alone.

That Miracle World remake originally started out as a fan game, I remember seeing it years ago. So it started out as a passion project and somehow Sega supported it, I wonder who approached who?

Jingles wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 25, 2020 4:37 pm

Is there a reason they're remaking Miracle World specifically? I appreciate that (based on purely anecdotal evidence) it's the most popular instalment by a country mile, but surely the game will already be playable on most platforms where this is being released? It certainly is on Switch and PC through the AGES series, which introduces new features on its own. Are the two versions going be to competing with one another? This seems rather redundant.

<snip>

I'm only being so needlessly pedantic because, honestly, I think this looks kind of like a cash-in. I'm sure the team is passionate about Alex Kidd (they must be to unearth the IP), but I can't quite see what exactly there is to be excited about from this trailer alone.

I think anecdotal popularity is an incredibly powerful thing in the gaming world. Taking our boy Sonic, for example; I'd say most would agree that S3&K is the "better" game, but ask Joe Casual what he remembers about the classics and it'll most likely be getting stonewalled by Labyrinth, or gambling away your older brother's rings in Casino Night. You only have to look at the character design and art direction of Mania to see a move back to the stylised aesthetic of Sonics 1, 2 and CD - especially the former two, being pack-ins with the console in many regions.

And there's the rub! Miracle World was the inbuilt game for the Master System, and I imagine the de facto first experience for a lot of Sega console owners - hell, I was one of them. Miracle World was the first video game I ever played (shortly followed by Sonic, natch), so this particular cash grab is absolutely going to work on me. Honestly, as long as there's some sort of save feature, and perhaps a graphics toggle option like the recent C&C Remaster, I'll be on this like a seagull on chips.

Another thing to consider, perhaps, is the fairly recent trend of super-high difficulty as a selling point in retro-style platformers (Super Meat Boy, VVVVV, Celeste, god damn motherfucking Tiny Barbarian, et al) - combine that with the nostalgia angle and the neat hand-drawn aesthetic (which sets it apart from the more bare-bones emulated releases) and you're covering a lot of demographics, I reckon.

Cuckooguy wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 26, 2020 9:16 pm

That Miracle World remake originally started out as a fan game, I remember seeing it years ago. So it started out as a passion project and somehow Sega supported it, I wonder who approached who?

Are they on Twitter or anything? Maybe we could ask them! Enquiring minds, etc.

Alex Kidd in Miracle World has such a rich soundtrack. It seems really weird to me that they went with such a generic song for the trailer (isn't it the "Um, Actually" theme from the College Humor show?). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBVRvVM ... 2CActually