Released by Sega.
STORY : It's Alex Kidd, the Aries prince with the big ears's new adventure! Well, Alex Kidd finally got rid of that nasty Janken the Great who had taken over Radactian. Peace returned to the planet of Aries for a while.....until the stars of the Aries constellation disappeared from the sky! Alex journied to Mt. Eternal to try to find out the cause, when he came across a wizard named Daleda. The wizard told him that his ancestor, Halifax Kidd, had traveled through time and space five thousand years ago to reclaim the same stars from a demon named Ziggarat, who had stolen them! Ziggarat ran away that time, but vowed he would be back to try again someday. The stars are missing now because Ziggarat has returned! Daleda summoned a portal into another world, and Alex set out on his quest to find the stars in the sky. But he doesn't have much time to complete his mission, so he has to hurry! After all, stars are important to sailors and astronomers. ESPECIALLY astronomers. So show that Ziggarat a thing or two, Alex!
CHARACTERS :
Alex Kidd : Everyone's favorite prince of Aries with the big ears! Alex Kidd's ancestor saved the stars of the Aries constellation. And now, as protector of Aries, Alex must repeat this! Alex has to travel through different worlds to find the Miracle Balls that contain the stars of the constellation. There will be many weird monsters and traps along the way, but Alex has certain tricks he can use! Less brilliant stars scattered around the world contain magic that the prince can use. Extra jumping ability, enchanted cloud bullets, and even a spell to keep the portal to the next world open longer, so Alex has more time to find the star in the current world! Alex lets out a yell of panic whenever one of the monsters attacks him, so you want to try to keep him from the paths of these beings. When Alex reaches the end of a world, he'll open the container that holds the Miracle Ball! Then, he needs to get them back into the sky.
Ziggarat : He's the evil villain who stole the stars from the sky. And he wants the skies of Aries to be dark and shadowed during the night forever! He hid the stars in different worlds so that any heroes would have trouble rounding them up. So what does he look like? Actually, he's not much more than a ball of fire with a face. (At least, that's the only form of him we see.) He doesn't make much of an effort to stop you, as the only place you see him is at his shrine deep in space, where he does nothing more than fly back and forth shooting fireballs at people. From his shrine, Alex can release the Miracle Balls into space to provide Aries with starlight once again! Ziggarat could've come up with a better plan, and actually have done more to make sure he succeeded, don't you think?
ENDING : (You may want to avoid looking at this if you want to see it yourself.)
Not much, really. Alex releases the stars of the Aries constellation back into the sky, and the heavens glow once again. Ziggarat flees once again into the blackness of space. Let's hope he doesn't try this star-stealing stunt ever again, especially considering that he barely did anything to stop Alex. Sheesh.
TIPS : - Well, this game plays like Hudson's Adventure Island, in the sense that a timer counts down the amount of time the portal to the next world will stay open. Touching monsters and falling down pits doesn't kill you, but takes more time away from your search. The "SC" (second) stars (which don't look like stars, but little white squares) are the fruit in this game. Pick them up, and their magic will keep the portal to the next world open longer. Pick as many of them as you can up!
- Additionally, sometimes taking a hit can help you get past a certain obstacle. But just remember, you don't get as much of a time bonus that way!
MY OPINION : Mmmm, not bad, but it's more of a "scoring" game, where you try to rack up the highest score by the end. It's not bad for a play-through, though. If you can get your hands on it, it's worth a play. Don't worry, not all of the Alex Kidd games are like this.
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