New on Wii VC Today is Alex Kidd in Shinobi World for Sega Master System. If you’ve never played Alex Kidd games, then this title is a pretty fun one to start. I actually like this game. Platforingy fun with bits of Shinobi thrown in there for good measure.

Graphics are bright and colorful in the typical Sega Master System style. For 8-bit graphics, you’ll find a surprisingly high amount of detail. Alex Kidd’s little facial expressions come through in charming 8-bit style. To me though, it’s colorful games like this that make we wonder why Sega didn’t do better in the 8-bit wars. (Oh yeah…they didn’t make enough good games).

The music bops around at quick place, as does the gameplay. The music sounded strangely familiar so doing a little research on Google turned up that it’s actually remixed original Shinobi tunes. So if you liked the music there, chances are you’ll like the music here.

Gameplay, though, is where it’s at. Blink and eye, and you’ll churn through your 3 lives. Alex moves around almost on skates, he glides pretty effortlessly in this game as he does in all his games. Somehow here, it makes a little more sense. You know…quick like a ninja? Okay, lame…but you get the point. Jump over most enemies, which aren’t really all that varied.

Weapons are pretty standard, but you’ll find a few upgrades. Sword chop your enemies or power up your original weapon. You’ll also find the ability to turn into a tornado and kick some major butt, for a limited amount of time. The last weapon upgrade are throwing spears. My personal favorite. That’s it though, in terms of weapons.

Of course, Alex is a weapon too. Grap a pole, press and hold the attack button and watch him spin around. So fast, that Alex turns into a flaming fire ball causeing destruction wherever he flies (for a long, but limited distance).

It’s an easy game to pick-up and play. You’ll be able to run through a level in a few seconds without ever chopping down and enemy. It’s that easy. In fact, I got through all the way to the first boss with just jumping and no chopping. Still, you’ll find frustrating platform jumps and challenges with enemies with just a little bit of jumping puzzles thrown in for good measure.

I can’t really recommend it, but I can’t not either. To me, it’s a little bit of delicious guilty pleasure. It’s not great, it’s not bad, but for some strange reason (perhaps watching a cute ninja suited Alex Kidd), I keep coming back to it.

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