Alex Kidd in Shinobi World

Infobox VG| title = Alex Kidd in Shinobi World


caption = Shinobi World's Western Packaging
developer = Sega
publisher = Sega
designer =
released = 1990
modes = Single player
genre = Platform
series= "Alex Kidd" series
ratings =
platforms = Sega Master System
media = Cartridge
requirements =
input =

"Alex Kidd in Shinobi World" is a video game developed by Sega.

The final game to be released in the Alex Kidd Series, "Alex Kidd in Shinobi World" is a parody of the Sega game "Shinobi". It features Alex Kidd and was released in 1990 for the Sega Master System. As the title suggests, Alex Kidd is essentially thrust into the hero's role in a Shinobi game. Alex Kidd's abilities in this game are different from his other games, besides jumping.

In the game, Alex Kidd has to rescue his girlfriend, a native of Shinobi World, from an evil ninja named Hanzo. A good ninja fuses into him and gives him his powers.

Alex Kidd in Shinobi World contains following 4 rounds:
*Round 1: Kabuto
*Round 2: Raid of the Helicopters
*Round 3: The Jungle
*Round 4: The Battle with the Dark Ninja

hinobi Kid (original/working title)

Very recently, images and articles on the internet have begun to surface that again like Alex Kidd in High-Tech World, Alex Kidd was not originally intended to be the star of the game. Rather, the game was a 'cute' parody of Shinobi, in similar vein to Kid Dracula (Castlevania) and Parodius (Gradius).

An article from Issue Four of "S - The Sega Magazine" (March 1990) had the following statement about Shinobi Kid:

"

Along with the price reduction, Sega announced that there will continue to be new titles released for the Master System, and many were on display. As well as games already featured in S there were new up-and-coming titles such as Ultima IV, Golfamania, Shinobi Kid, Assault City, Slapshot plus Super Monaco GP and Simple Fighter (both announced but not shown) and R.C. Grand Prix from Absolute Entertainment, although none of the previous third party licenses (Activision, Parker Brothers, Epyx) plan to release new titles for the Master System.

"

"

Of these, Shinobi Kid was about the best. The tune is from Shinobi, but the Character is a small kid. He has some of the same moves and a new power: instead of walking through the screens, he can grab the occasional lamp pole or bar and start spinning faster and faster around it. Pushing the button releases him and he flies across several screens, knocking out any bad guys along the way. The screen scrolls horizontally and sometimes vertically downward into a maze and then back up to ground level. At the end of each level, after he rescues all the tied-up hostages, he must fight the end-of-level boss. One is called Mari-Oh (as a sideswipe at Nintendo's Mario character). Defeat Mari-Oh and he shrinks down in size and disappears.

"

There are some noticeable differences made during development, The first boss, Kabuto, was originally going to be named Mari-Oh, as a parody of the Nintendo character Mario ("Oh" in Japanese meaning, "King", King Mari) mixed with Shinobi's first boss, Ken-Oh, who he appears to have a similar attack. Despite the name not going through, Kabuto still shares many of his would-be counterpart's qualities; his main attack is shooting fireballs, and he shrinks after taking a certain amount of damage.

But Apart from a few sprite character changes and some graphical alterations to the first level, the games appear to be identical. None of the original "Shinobi Kid" sprites remain in the Alex Kidd in Shinobi World ROM.

No reason has ever been given to why "Shinobi Kid" was replaced with Alex Kidd. Rumor had it that Sega originally intended Alex to appear in several games parodying their own licenses in a bid to re-invent the character, with Golden Axe and Phantasy Star on the top of the name list. Sega's success with Sonic The Hedgehog unfortunately put an end to this plan.

External links

*moby game|id=/alex-kidd-in-shinobi-world|name="Alex Kidd in Shinobi World"
*GameFAQs|type=/console/sms|num=588028|name="Alex Kidd in Shinobi World"
* [http://www.alex-kidd.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=20 "Rupert's Alex Kidd Forums Original Post describing Shinobi Kid]
* [http://faqs.ign.com/articles/597/597471p1.html "Game Walkthrough"]