Alex Kidd in Shinobi World
Encyclopedia
Alex Kidd in Shinobi World is a side-scrolling action game
produced by Sega
that was originally released for the Master System in and later re-released for the Wii
Virtual Console
in . Although developed in Japan
, it was released exclusively for the overseas market (North America
, Europe
and Brazil
), with the American version being produced in limited quantities. The game stars Alex Kidd
in a parody
version of Sega's ninja
-themed action game Shinobi
, where Alex Kidd fights against caricature
s of many of the enemies from Shinobi. It was the final video game to star the Alex Kidd character.
Alex Kidd in Shinobi World's cartridge label is normally the regular red with black grid design, however a much rarer blue label version exists and is considered to be somewhat of a collector's item to Master System game collectors.
An evil being known as Hanzo the Dark Ninja escapes after 10,000 years of confinement and kidnaps Alex Kidd's new girlfriend from planet Shinobi. After the kidnapping, Alex encounters the ghost of the ancient warrior who originally vanquished the Dark Ninja, who explains that the Dark Ninja intends to sacrifice Alex's girlfriend to conquer the world. The spirit of the ancient warrior fuses itself with Alex's body, lending Alex his strength, skills, and courage.
The game is composed of four different rounds roughly based on the missions from the original Shinobi, which are divided into three stages. The third stage is each round is a boss battle. The rounds are as follows.
and are much closer to the Master System version of Shinobi. Alex Kidd's basic attack is a sword slice, which can be used not only to destroy enemies, but also to open treasure chests. Inside such chests, the player can obtain items such as more health, throwing darts, a powered-up sword, extra lives, and a magic ball that will temporarily turn Alex Kidd into an invincible tornado. The throwing darts and powered-up sword will both replace the Alex's default sword until the player completes the stage or defeats a boss. Other actions that Alex Kidd can perform include a wall-to-wall jump and the ability to turn into a flying fireball after spinning around a street post, a rope or a horizontal bar.
Alex starts off each round with three hit points, but can fill out their health gauge to a maximum of six hit points. When the player has full health, all the treasure chests carrying hearts will carry extra lives in their place. When the player defeats a boss with full health, he will gain a "Perfect Bonus" after completing the round. There's also a "Secret Bonus" if the player completes an entire round without getting hit or losing life at any point.
Alex Kidd in Shinobi World began development as Shinobi Kid. The game was originally conceived as a stand-alone spin-off of Shinobi with no ties to the Alex Kidd series, as it starred a different protagonist in his place. The boss of Round 1, called Kabuto in the released version of the game, also had a different design in the prototype. He was originally named "Mari-Oh" and was designed as a pastiche of Mario, the mascot of rival game developer Nintendo
. The character behaved like a combination of Mario and the Shinobi villain Ken-Oh, hence the name. Mari-Oh shares two qualities with his Nintendo namesake: he attacks the player by shooting bouncing fireballs and after sustaining enough damage, he shrinks to a smaller size. Although, Mari-Oh was renamed Kabuto in the finished, with a redesign that downplayed his likeness to Mario, his attack pattern remained unchanged from the prototype.
Action game
Action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes diverse subgenres such as fighting games, shooter games, and platform games, which are widely considered the most important action games, though some...
produced by Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
that was originally released for the Master System in and later re-released for the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
in . Although developed in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, it was released exclusively for the overseas market (North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
), with the American version being produced in limited quantities. The game stars Alex Kidd
Alex Kidd
is a video game character whose popularity peaked during the late 1980s and who was the protagonist of both a series of video games released by Sega and their fictional universe, as well as in numerous spin-off merchandise such as novelizations and comics...
in a parody
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
version of Sega's ninja
Ninja
A or was a covert agent or mercenary of feudal Japan specializing in unorthodox arts of war. The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination, as well as open combat in certain situations...
-themed action game Shinobi
Shinobi (arcade game)
is a side-scrolling action game produced by Sega originally released for the arcades in . In Shinobi, the player controls a modern day ninja named Joe Musashi who goes on a mission to rescue his kidnapped students from a group of terrorists...
, where Alex Kidd fights against caricature
Caricature
A caricature is a portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person or thing to create an easily identifiable visual likeness. In literature, a caricature is a description of a person using exaggeration of some characteristics and oversimplification of others.Caricatures can be...
s of many of the enemies from Shinobi. It was the final video game to star the Alex Kidd character.
Alex Kidd in Shinobi World's cartridge label is normally the regular red with black grid design, however a much rarer blue label version exists and is considered to be somewhat of a collector's item to Master System game collectors.
Plot
The game is composed of four different rounds roughly based on the missions from the original Shinobi, which are divided into three stages. The third stage is each round is a boss battle. The rounds are as follows.
- Round 1 - Set in a city. The boss is "Kabuto" (a parody of Ken-oh), a warrior in samurai armor who spits fireball and shrinks into a smaller size after sustaining damage.
- Round 2 - Set in a harbor. The boss is a fleet of tiny helicopters spitted by a robotic face (a parody of both, the Black Turtle attack chopper and the Mandara Master).
- Round 3 - Set in a bamboo garden. The boss is "Robster" (a parody of the Lobster), who is an actual lobster.
- Round 4 - Set in a mansion. The boss is Hanzo, who fights using several attack patterns similar to the Masked Ninja in the original Shinobi.
Game System
Despite being part of the Alex Kidd series, the game mechanics of Shinobi World are different from Alex Kidd in Miracle WorldAlex Kidd in Miracle World
is a platform game for the 8-bit Sega Master System video game console. It was first released in Japan on Saturday, November 1, 1986, and then was distributed to Europe, Australia and the United States in 1987...
and are much closer to the Master System version of Shinobi. Alex Kidd's basic attack is a sword slice, which can be used not only to destroy enemies, but also to open treasure chests. Inside such chests, the player can obtain items such as more health, throwing darts, a powered-up sword, extra lives, and a magic ball that will temporarily turn Alex Kidd into an invincible tornado. The throwing darts and powered-up sword will both replace the Alex's default sword until the player completes the stage or defeats a boss. Other actions that Alex Kidd can perform include a wall-to-wall jump and the ability to turn into a flying fireball after spinning around a street post, a rope or a horizontal bar.
Alex starts off each round with three hit points, but can fill out their health gauge to a maximum of six hit points. When the player has full health, all the treasure chests carrying hearts will carry extra lives in their place. When the player defeats a boss with full health, he will gain a "Perfect Bonus" after completing the round. There's also a "Secret Bonus" if the player completes an entire round without getting hit or losing life at any point.
Development
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
. The character behaved like a combination of Mario and the Shinobi villain Ken-Oh, hence the name. Mari-Oh shares two qualities with his Nintendo namesake: he attacks the player by shooting bouncing fireballs and after sustaining enough damage, he shrinks to a smaller size. Although, Mari-Oh was renamed Kabuto in the finished, with a redesign that downplayed his likeness to Mario, his attack pattern remained unchanged from the prototype.