Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle

 Contrary to popular belief, Sonic the Hedgehog hasn't always been Sega's mascot.

I always forget how much earlier than the SNES that the Genesis was released, or how long it competed directly with the NES. I am a little young to remember the true early days of the "Genesis does what Ninten-don't" campaign, though it was still around in some form when I was growing up. To people my age, Sonic the Hedgehog is Sega's mascot and always has been. However, that wasn't actually the case. Because before there was everyone's favorite super fast, super blue hedgehog with attitude, there was a derpy little boy name Alex Kidd.

Released in 1989, Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle is actually the only one of the series' five games to come out on the Genesis. Developed and published by Sega, it was the fourth game in a franchise that dated back to the early days of the Master System, Sega's 3rd generation console. I'm not going to lie, I don't think I've ever actually picked up a Master System controller in my life. I don't think I know a single person that owned one growing up, as it was essentially a non-starter here in the U.S. It's sales in Japan were equally weak. It wasn't until more recently that I learned just how popular this thing was in Europe/PAL regions and South America, rivaling the popularity of the NES in some nations. But at the end of the day, most of us that grew up in the states had no idea who Alex Kidd was (remember people, no internet) when this game hit the Genesis. While I won't say Enchanted Castle was bad, I will still say that that was probably for the best. It does some things well, but it's really weird, and not in that quirky, fun way, in the way that it's like "what were they thinking when they designed this?"

Starting with the positives, I think AKIEC looks pretty good. It's an early Genesis game for sure, but it's whimsical and colorful and it does a great job of setting the mood and atmosphere. The animation isn't great, but the game does a good job of hiding this and it does a good job of directing your focus to the more appealing aspects of the graphics. The characters and enemies all have a more goofy, light-hearted style that really fits here, it's definitely more reminiscent of Western animation than Anime. The sound is also okay, it isn't anything to write home about but it is of decent quality and probably in the upper half of early Genesis games in the auditory department. Usually, games with peppier, bouncier soundtracks don't sound quite as good on Genesis, but it works here. All in all, the game is solid in the visual and sound department.  

The problem here is the level design. It vacillates between boring and off-the-wall random, which is a problem either way you look at it. When a game has you drawing comparisons to outright stinkers like Bible Adventures, but also titles known for their unfair difficulty like Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, you know there's a problem. About half of the stages are simple walks forward through enemies of that provide minimal threat, especially if you have items. Some of the levels allow you to enter buildings to gamble for said items, which include a pogo stick that can make you jump higher and a helicopter that allows you to fly temporarily. However, the only one I ever found consistent use for was the amulet that allows Alex to shoot. With it, the game is pretty easy. Without it, all you have is a crappy kick with minimal range and bad hit detection. That's a problem in a game where you can only get hit once and have no continues. The good news is extra lives are pretty easy to come by. The bad news is that you go all the way back to the beginning of the game if you lose them all. And this is where the unfair challenge comes in. Most enemies are pretty easy to dodge if you can see them. But you can't always. Almost every time I died, it was because I got hit unexpectedly from something that popped into view with no time to react. This was doubly a problem in vertical levels, where I frequently jumped straight into enemies I just couldn't see. And that's just regular enemies, as for the bosses...

Oh boy, now we get to talk about the bosses. You might expect that the bosses in an action game with limited items, bad hit detection and one hit deaths would be a pain. You would be right, but not for the reasons you would think. The boss battles are a little different from the standard gameplay, which isn't super uncommon I suppose. But unless you've played AKITEC, there is absolutely no way you could guess what these boss battles are like. Go ahead, take a wild guess. The game switches to a first person view and you have to take them out gallery shooter style? Nope. It brings you in to a turn-based, RPG style battle? Wrong again. Bosses in Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle take place in the form of, and I'm not making this up, a game of rock, paper scissors. That isn't a joke. It's not me trying to be funny. You honest to God battle bosses by playing rock, paper scissors with them. And if they beat you, you still lose a life. If you aren't following, that means that the boss battles are, essentially, completely random. There's no pattern, it's literally random. The only way you can have any insight into what your opponent is doing is to find a gem within the level, which will show you which of the three your opponent is thinking about using. Even with the gem, some of the later battles are still brutal.

There is definitely some fun to be had here. While the levels tend not to be that interesting, they do allow for some level of exploration. There are a lot of secrets that are well hidden, just secret enough to make it feel like a win when you find them yet not cryptic enough to make it so you never will. The overall gameplay, while frustrating at times, has a certain charm to it that a lot of truly terrible games don't have. There's a lot here that's not necessarily good, but I wouldn't call it bad either and if it weren't for the complete and total randomness and stupidity of the boss fights there might be something to build on here. It's really tough to kind of put your finger on what makes this game just okay as opposed to horrible, but it's there.

Yeah, I can totally see why Sega went with Sonic instead of Alex Kidd as their mascot. The blue blur felt unique, fresh and original. Alex Kidd feels like a second rate attempt at a mascot platformer. I will say I've been told the Master System games are actually much better, but Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle just didn't offer as much as its contemporaries. It certainly wasn't on par with the series that replaced it at the top of Sega's marquee. It's not the worst game I ever played, not even close, but I'm not sure I'd ever go back and play it again.

5.5/10