Alex Kidd: High-Tech World

Alex Kidd: High Tech World is a side-scrolling action-adventure game released by Sega in 1989 for the Master System as part of the Alex Kidd series. It is a modified version of the 1987 Japanese Master System game Anmitsu Hime (あんみつ姫, "Princess Anmitsu"), which was based on a manga series of the same name.[2] The game combines adventure, platform, and puzzle-solving elements.[2]

Alex Kidd: High-Tech World
Developer(s)Sega
Publisher(s)Sega
Platform(s)Master System
Release
  • JP: July 19, 1987
  • NA: June 1989[1]
  • EU: October 1989
  • BR: September 1991
Genre(s)Action-adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

The English version was not conceived as an Alex Kidd game in Japan and caused inconsistencies for the Alex Kidd storyline in the West. Other than Alex, none of the previously-established characters in the Alex Kidd-universe are in the game. Alex has a brother James in High-Tech World who is never mentioned elsewhere.

Plot

Alex Kidd is contacted by one of his friends, who tells him a new arcade, High Tech World, has opened in town. Alex has a map to its location, but it has been torn into eight pieces and is needed to find the arcade before it closes at 5:00 sharp. He solves puzzles, answers questions, runs errands and does housework to find the pieces. However, once he finds the pieces of the map, he learns that the front gates are shut, and thus is unable to leave. Using a hang-glider to leave the house he lands in the forest. On his way to the arcade, a clan of ninjas appear, who attempt to attack him. Upon fighting through the forest of ninjas, Alex finally makes it to the Arcade.

Gameplay

The object of the game is to get through four stages. Half the stages contain puzzles to progress and people to talk to, while the other two are linear levels with enemies along the way. There are a variety of ways to fail in the puzzle stages when Alex has some sort of accident or does something he should not.

Reception

The game received mixed reviews. Computer and Video Games said the fun "graphics, sound and gameplay conspire together to make an addictive game" but it was not "quite as good as" Miracle World.[3] Four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the game an overall score of 26 out of 40.[5] Mean Machines Sega rated the game 76%, praising the good graphics and sound, while stating that it did not offer anything better than the original.[6] Defunct Games rated it "F", describing the gameplay as "busywork" and akin to "a bunch of school tests".[7]

References
  1. "Sega Master System" (PDF). Computer Entertainer: The Video Game Update. Vol. 8, no. 4. July 1989. p. 13.
  2. Kurt Kalata, Alex Kidd: High Tech World, Hardcore Gaming 101
  3. "Alex Kidd in High Tech Land" (PDF). Computer and Video Games (Complete Guide to Consoles): 47. 16 October 1989.
  4. "Guide: Sega". Computer and Video Games (Complete Guide to Consoles: Volume IV): 89–110. November 1990.
  5. "Electronic Gaming Reviews". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 2. EGM Media, LLC. July 1989. p. 14.
  6. "Mean Machines Games Index". Mean Machines Sega. No. 1. EMAP. October 1990. p. 132.
  7. Lachel, Cyril (August 8, 2012). "Alex Kidd: High Tech World". Defunct Games. Archived from the original on 2012-08-12. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
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