O mascote esquecido da Sega

[Corredor X]

Ele mesmo, num textinho legal que saiu no Kotaku:


Remembering Sega’s Exiled Mascot

Luke Plunkett

Ni***ndo has Mario. Microsoft has Master Chief. And Sega, well, for a long time Sega has had Sonic the Hedgehog as its mascot. Thing is, Sonic is an usurper.

Before the blue, spiky hero with the red shoes burst onto the scene in 1991, Sega already had a mascot: Alex Kidd. A character we have never heard from since.

While not as important now as they once were, console mascots used to be seen as a big deal. They were part of the reason Ni***ndo had become so successful and identifiable as a brand, and other companies were trying their hardest to come up with cartoon icons of their own.

From 1986 until 1991, Sega's was a boy by the name of Alex Kidd, star of a number of platformers across the Master System, Genesis/Mega Drive and even the arcade. He was actually Sega's second crack at a mascot; previously, it had been Opa-Opa, the cute little ship from Fantasy Zone. Being a little ship without a face, though, he wasn't much use, so Alex Kidd was a welcome replacement.

Kidd, a boy who looked a little like Monkey, would star in six games in total, the first being 1986's Alex Kidd in Miracle World. While the Alex Kidd games were ostensibly platformers, they did contain a number of slightly more complicated elements than you'd find in games like the Mario series, like the ability in some games to save your money and buy items and even vehicles from between-level stores.

One area Alex was superior to his rival Mario is that he did not simply jump on top of enemies to defeat them. He punched them. With his GIANT FIST. Actually, another area was that Alex's vehicles - which could make progress through levels a breeze - were awesome, ranging from zippy little submarines to badass motorbikes.

While not exactly the most adult-oriented games Sega has ever developed, there were some changes made to the series between the versions released in Japan and in the West. In Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle, for example, the loser of a rock, paper, scissors match would end up almost completely naked. In the Western versions, as you can see to the left, this was changed to a more acceptable (?) "death by falling anvil" gag.

Most games in the series followed a similar formula of platforming, vehicular action and, yes, rock, paper, scissors. The last Alex Kidd game, however, was vastly different to its predecessors. Alex Kidd in Shinobi World was a parody of ninja platformer Shinobi, and was originally designed as a "Shinobi Junior" game, with Alex Kidd thrust awkwardly into the starring role at the 11th hour. While bearing his name, it really isn't an Alex Kidd game at all.

The Alex Kidd series proved to be my video game introduction to two things. One was the game of rock, paper, scissors, which you have to play at the end of certain levels, sometimes as a battle, other times to get stuff. I'd never heard of it before playing this game! The other was the word "Ziggurat". Not a term you normally come across as a child under the age of ten, and it was a handy one to bust out on the playground or classroom to make it sound like you were smarter than you actually were.

The Alex Kidd games were great. Yet Alex himself never really caught on with the public. He didn't really have an iconic look, or a catchphrase, or something that would make him stick and make people think "yes, this boy represents all that Sega wants us to think it represents".

So when Sonic the Hedgehog came along in 1991, Alex was kicked to the curb. And it's this kicking, more than the games themselves, that really interests me. After 1990's Alex Kidd in Shinobi World for the Master System, the boy was never to be seen again. Sure, he made some cameos, in games like Altered Beast and Shenmue (and most recently in Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing), but in the 21 years since there has not been a single standalone Alex Kidd game, which is remarkably odd for a nostalgia-mad company like Sega, which has even found the time to release a new Nights game.

There are shades of a "night of long knives" at Sega HQ in his swift removal from the top of Sega's franchise pecking order. Or, for another 20th century political analogy, it's like Alex Kidd was the Leon Trotsky of the video game world: pivotal for a moment, then when no longer needed he took an ice pick to the skull, never to be heard from again.

Here's hoping that, some day, Sega seem fit to forgive whatever gross indiscretions Alex committed behind the scenes and bring him back. The world is a little short on platformers featuring mild RPG elements, rock, paper scissors matches and motorbikes, and that's something only Alex Kidd can help rectify.

[Ankoku Dragon]

Acho que Alex não vingou porque vocês-sabem-quem já tinha conseguido se firmar justamente onde as vendas seriam mais expressivas (América do Norte e Japão).

O triste é que o astro de "Miracle World" não tenha todo o reconhecimento que merece (mesmo da própria empresa...). =\

[Dav]

O Alex Kidd teve mais sucesso no Master System que no Mega Drive e Arcade
gostava dos jogos dele mas gostava mais do Sonic rs

E legal a participaçao dele no Segagaga do Dreamcast

[Agrobel]

Altered Beast ???

[Dav]

Altered Beast ???

Sim nas lapides da primeira fase aparece o nome

[darini]

É massacote!

[]s

[alex kidd mw]

Estão falando de mim é?

[Agrobel]

Hmmm.. pra mim, o Alex que aparecia nas lápides do Altered Beast é o Alex do Golden Axe, que inclusive é morto no início do jogo....

[Vectorman]

Hmmm.. pra mim, o Alex que aparecia nas lápides do Altered Beast é o Alex do Golden Axe, que inclusive é morto no início do jogo....

Não, é Alex de Alex Kidd mesmo... Em outras lápides aparece o nome "Stella", que é o nome da amiguinha do Alex em Alex Kidd: the lost stars de arcade

[Dav]

Estão falando de mim é?

Sim continue comendo seu hamburguer depois pague a fatura de seu cartao no SHOP

[darini]

Estão falando de mim é?

Sim continue comendo seu hamburguer depois pague a fatura de seu cartao no SHOP

Naaahhh... é bolinho de arroz!

[]s

[alex kidd mw]

Estão falando de mim é?

Sim continue comendo seu hamburguer depois pague a fatura de seu cartao no SHOP

Naaahhh... é bolinho de arroz!

[]s

Mas eu prefiro hamburguer mesmo

[Ankoku Dragon]

Estão falando de mim é?

Sim continue comendo seu hamburguer depois pague a fatura de seu cartao no SHOP

Naaahhh... é bolinho de arroz!

[]s

Quer dizer onigiri?

[Corredor X]

Ainda tem a cara do Alex numa parede em Kenseiden.

[Red Arremer]

Ainda tem a cara do Alex numa parede em Kenseiden.

Verdade, naquela fase sinistra do chão de lava. Alex avermelhado, demoníaco!