Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX Reviews
A solid reworking of a brutal but characterful retro platform game, which offers a fascinating insight into the earliest days of the genre.
Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX is a visually gorgeous upgrade to a very rose-tinted release. While the flaws of the original game remain laid bare, Jankenteam accentuates the positives, reimagining one of console gaming’s earliest universes with stunning artwork, great animation, and a sophisticated score. New players will struggle with dated and baffling design choices, but those who hold tight the carefree afternoons of the Sega Master System will find a delightful trip down memory lane awaits.
Alex Kidd In Miracle World DX is a game only a diehard fan could love. It is frustrating, repetitive, and plagued with the issues of a bygone era. Despite the lovely graphical update, there is very little here for any newcomers, and seems a waste of potential in favour of appeasing old fans.
The remake of the legendary Alex Kidd In Miracle World is already a reality. The classic of 8bits comes back to life by the hand of the Spanish Jankenteam in a reimagining that leaves us wanting more.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
A praiseworthy work of revival of this classic. It updates and makes many of its original features better, but that's not enough to compensate its original flaws: basically, a brutal, unfair difficulty that may make you despair.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX from Merge Games and Jankenteam is a very niche product with very niche marketability. I imagine the game will be received well in territories where the Sega Master System held on to a longer life-span, such as Brazil and Europe. For the rest of the world though, there just isn’t enough here to bring Alex Kidd into the modern age.
Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX still remains a difficult platformer, but also an extremely varied and modernized one, with grace and competence in terms of graphics and sound.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Alex Kidd in Monster World DX is a faithful remake of the original, but the difficulty of a bygone era rears its ugly head far too often.
While the new graphics are gorgeous and being able to switch between old and modern visuals is great, Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX feels like three different games haphazardly slapped together. The level design and controls are fundamentally at odds with one another, and with how frequently you'll die combined with how long it takes to respawn makes this simply a frustrating experience.
Alex Kidd's return is indeed a comeback, in the sense that he returns to flatter the memories of nostalgic players.
Review in French | Read full review
Though it has all of the hallmarks of a solid remake, Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX likely sticks a bit too close to the subject matter to resonate with a modern audience. Don't let the lush visuals fool you. It's unapologetically brutal design, combined with control issues and unexplained mechanics galore, all make for an uneven and unrecommendable experience.
Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX is a great looking remake of a terrible game. Level design is dated, bosses are completely luck based and all the hitboxes just feel off. There is a reason that Sonic took over as SEGA’s mascot because no remake can change the fact that Alex Kidd’s first adventure is incredibly frustrating and poorly designed.
Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX is a beautiful reinterpretation of a classic. Although some elements feel outdated, it’s the perfect introduction to the franchise. Jankenteam has successfully rejuvenated the legendary hero, hopefully kickstarting a resurgence of the series.
Janken Team deserve a lot of credit for the incredible facelift they have given Alex Kidd In Miracle World. Whilst nostalgic players will certainly get a kick out of Alex Kidd In Miracle World DX, there's no getting away from the fact that the core gameplay hasn't aged well at all. Slippery controls and excessively punishing courses, as well as random death ghosts and chance rock, paper, scissors, victories make Alex Kidd In Miracle World a tedious endeavour that's far overshadowed by other contemporary and classic platformers. A charming inclusion for retro collectors, but otherwise not recommendable.
Seeing Alex Kidd again for me was a great joy and I'm sure many other viejunos will feel the same way. But not only of nostalgia is lived and the title is a great addition to today, perhaps, few good references of the silverware genre in general. The game will also please newcomers to the franchise as long as they keep in mind that despite the somewhat childish graphics, the dynamics of the game are harsh and not at all simple, even with the infinite lives option activated.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Overall, Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX is a faithful adaptation that has been made with a lot of love. It's not perfect, as players may find the controls a little loose and the lack of change and additional features may make some question its worth, but it's nonetheless a good recreation of the fantastic Master System title.
Alex Kidd in Miracle World brings back a classic Master System game with new visuals, game modes, and themes. It's worth a try, especially if you like hardcore platforming titles.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
When remaking something that is hard on an old console, developers should try to fix any unfair elements while keeping the spirit of the original alive. If you don't bother to touch those things up, you'll end up with mediocrity, time and again. Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX is just that. While the title looks stunning, has nostalgic collectibles to gather, and includes a Classic Mode and Boss Rush Mode as extras, all that extra fluff means nothing if the game itself is fundamentally broken. Ah, what could have been.
Sadly, Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX is too faithful to the original game, which didn't aged as well as a Wonder Boy Dragon's Trap, to mention another SEGA game remade. Sure, Jankenteam made a beautiful job and it's a pleasure to watch and listen. But it's also a quite irritating 2D platformer as it doesn't play very well and lacks precise controls and hitboxes.
Review in French | Read full review
We can't pretend this isn't a disappointment. After promises of updates and improvements to this classic title, what we've got is something that we'd honestly not recommend to either prospective new fans or enthusiasts of the original Alex Kidd. We're inclined to think this may have been something of a rushed release, but that's pure speculation based on some of the more lax features (there's a lot of new dialogue but almost all of it is awkwardly written, with typos and errors). Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX is not horrible by any means, and you might have fun with it until you run up against its irritating issues - unless you use infinite lives, in which case you'll finish the game in two hours, tops. If this was supposed to be Alex Kidd's big comeback, we're sad to say that we don't think we'll be seeing that Alex Kidd: High-Tech World remake any time soon.