Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle is a side-scrolling platformer released on the Sega Genesis in
1989.
A year later, the entire franchise would essentially die, before Sonic the Hedgehog took over as
Sega’s mascot.
Having never played an Alex Kidd game before, this is my entry into the series, so, let’s
take a look.
The first thing you’ll notice when playing Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle are the
slippery controls.
Alex Kidd likes to carry his momentum and stopping or changing directions is a bit frustrating
at first.
After a few play throughs, I did find the controls to be predictable and precise, but
certainly not as tight as something like Sonic or Mario.
After coming to grips with the controls, the platforming is fairly straightforward.
Your main attack is a punch, which can take out most enemies in just a single hit.
You can also do a jump kick, which again takes down foes in just a single kick.
The hit detection can be a bit wonky at times, and more than a few deaths can be attributed
to this clumsy hit detection.
Thankfully, there are checkpoints and quite a few continues, so the issue never becomes
too frustrating.
There are also plenty of upgrades and power-ups making the journey much easier.
On top of temporary invisibility, and a ranged weapon, there is also a sweet bike that slices
through obstacles and enemies like a hot knife through butter.
It’s use can be limited however, as some stages move up and down rather than left and
right.
For these areas, there is a staff giving you floating powers and a pedicopter, allowing
you to easily float up to higher areas.
Sadly, actually obtaining these items requires you to play a game of rock, paper, scissors.
If you lose the game, you lose some money and have to try again.
I found this to be a bit obnoxious and found myself just avoiding the items altogether
in subsequent playthroughs.
Other than the final castle level, they just aren’t worth the hastle.
Unfortunately, the boss fights force you to play rock, paper, scissors, and if you lose,
you die and get sent back to the previous checkpoint.
I gather there is some sort of pattern to these battles, but I couldn’t really figure
it out and just always chose rock for my first attack and hoped for the best.
It’s a curious mechanic for sure, but I suspect fighting bosses with a floaty jump
and questionable hit detection probably would have been even worse, so there’s that.
There is some variety with the levels, and the game is rather short, so nothing ever
feels too repetitive.
Alex Kidd can punch through many different obstacles, unlocking treasure chests and alternate
paths.
Even better, if there is nothing blocking the obstacle, it will stick to whatever it
touches, allowing you to create some platforms to jump on.
Finally, there are some secret areas, encouraging you to jump in suspicious looking areas to
break through the ground.
Nothing here is spectacular, but at the same time it is occasionally clever, especially
for something released in 1989.
The different level themes are rather generic, like deserts, underwater areas, forests, mountainsides,
and of course the Enchanted Castle itself.
They each have their own musical themes, but there is an overwhelming sense of blandness
and Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle never feels very exciting.
Graphically, the game is starting to show it’s age.
There is a single layer of parallax scrolling but it does not do a good job adding depth;
the clouds are usually in the foreground for example, and it kind of bugs me.
There also seems to be a real lack of colors on the screen.
Alex Kidd is bright for sure, but it feels more like a souped up Master System game than
a bonafide 16-bit adventure.
The animations are fairly bland as well, with Alex Kidd himself having just three frames
to his walking animation, and most enemies faring even worse.
On the positive side, on top of the bright colors, there are few, if any, technical issues.
There is no screen flicker and the framerate is rock solid.
Overall, Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle is a competent platformer.
There is nothing particularly wrong with the game, but it doesn’t excel in any area either.
I like the different power-ups, especially the vehicles, as I feel they add a lot of
variety to the gameplay.
Unfortunately the one-hit deaths, exaggerated momentum, hit detection issues, and overall
sense of mediocrity can’t elevate this past average.
There are definitely more worthwhile platformers on the Sega Genesis, but if you’re curious
as to what Yuji Naka was up to before Sonic the Hedgehog, give this one a go.
Three, out of five.