Imp of the Sun
Imp of the Sun
Game
Game2021
Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX
Developer Jankenteam
Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX is a 2021 platform game developed by Jankenteam and published by Merge Games. A remake of the 1986 video game Alex Kidd in Miracle World, the game was released on various consoles such as the Nintendo Switch, along with it releasing on Steam. It was first revealed in June 2020, and released in June 2021. From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
256 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon, Lemmy) · newest Nov 2, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
58
Mixed
109 positive · 80 negative
95% range 51–64%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 109 | 80 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 9 | 4 | 41 |
| Mastodon * | 1 | 0 | 11 |
| Lemmy * | 0 | 0 | 1 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Mixed
245 of 352 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
59% recommend · 114 yes, 78 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 192 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Mostly Positive (744 of 950 positive).
Some reviewers criticize the controls and hitboxes as frustrating. [1][2][3] Several players note the game retains the original's high difficulty. [4][5][6]
Liked
Representative posts
- [1]
While it looks great visually it didn't take long for me to notice that the smoother animations didn't account for the hit box of both the player character and enemies in turn giving the visual feedback that you're getting hit by nothing, for a game that kills you in one hit that kind of issue makes it instantly less fun for me I'm sure for people who enjoyed it in the past this is a real gem For me coming in new to …
- [3]
Controls are AWFUL. The "improved controls" option was done without much thought by the dev, which leads you to have to turn it on and off several times during the game in order to access specific areas. The game's default controls have NOTHING to do with the original, even though the dev insists that controls suck because the original sucked. Jumping feels completely different! The SMS original was not frustrating …
- [7]
Ahh yes… the game that taught me rock, paper, scissors as a kid. Alex Kidd on the master system is where my journey with gaming began… a simple but better time. As a 7 year old I could easily get to the last castle back in the day, now 27 years later I’m finding it tough to do the first few levels. It’s hard as s*it but I will always love it. Alex Kidd will always hold a special place in my heart. It was the first …
- [4]
Exactly the same gameplay as the original and just as difficult. It destroyed me when I was 10 and its destroying me again 30 years later. If you owned the Sega master system then this game is a must have.
- [5]
First video game I ever played! Was built into my Sega Master System. Was ecstatic when I heard it was remade. So I bought it straight away, installed it, played it..... and suddenly realised how much I suck at video games now. Either that or this game was way harder than I remember it. I still love it!
Summarised from 34 of the 258 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 11, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
The crowd is split on Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX: 114 recommend it, 78 don't. Which camp are you in?
Critics, per Wikipedia
According to review aggregator website Metacritic, Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX received "mixed or average" reviews, based on 31 reviews. OpenCritic determined that 29% of critics recommend the game. Chris Moyse of Destructoid praised the remake for being a "visually gorgeous upgrade to a very rose-tinted release." Moyse also states that "Jankenteam accentuates the positives, reimagining one of console gaming’s earliest universes with stunning artwork, great animation, and a sophisticated score." Nicholas Mercurio, reviewing for the Italian branch of Eurogamer also praises the remake, saying, "It represents a profound opportunity for anyone to discover a gem that became famous on the…
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 256 · most liked firstHello Bluesky 👋 I'm 'Bibiki', a composer and audio designer based in Spain 🎶 I've been working on videogame's industry for several years now, in games like Arco 🏹, Loco Motive 🚂, UnderDungeon 💀 or Alex Kidd In Miracle World DX 👊 If you are interested in my work, don't hesitate to contact me 💪
neutral · AI labelView post →Ahh yes… the game that taught me rock, paper, scissors as a kid. Alex Kidd on the master system is where my journey with gaming began… a simple but better time. As a 7 year old I could easily get to the last castle back in the day, now 27 years later I’m finding it tough to do the first few levels. It’s hard as s*it but I will always love it. Alex Kidd will always hold a special place in my heart. It was the first game I beat, and I kept bragging about it to total strangers and adults who…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →First of all: I'm a huge Alex Kidd fanboy (perhaps to be guessed by the avatar). I regularly play the Sega Ages version on the nintendo switch. On a good day, I can play through Alex Kidd in a good 20 minutes. (Record at 17mins). So I claim to know the game Alex Kidd in Miracle World very well and therefore to be able to assess how much the remake has captured the flair of the original...and the truth is: hardly at all. I had already bought the game for the Switch back then and was moderately…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →These are just some of the fantastic games using our fonts! Alex Kidd In Miracle World DX, Amid Evil, Cosmic Star Heroine & Centipede: Recharged. You can use our fonts in your games too! Get all 1200 of them for $19 before tomorrow night!! ci.itch.io/all-fonts-pack #screenshotsaturday #gamedev 🎮
neutral · AI labelView post →While it looks great visually it didn't take long for me to notice that the smoother animations didn't account for the hit box of both the player character and enemies in turn giving the visual feedback that you're getting hit by nothing, for a game that kills you in one hit that kind of issue makes it instantly less fun for me I'm sure for people who enjoyed it in the past this is a real gem For me coming in new to Alex Kidd i just can't recommend it
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Goodness, these controls are miserable.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →What's with all these positive reviews? Other than faithfully remaking a bad game, there is nothing good about this. One hit deaths, forcing you to restart the whole level or section again. Controls an movement which make the one-hit deaths even more furiating. The only positive is that it looks nice.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Legitimately the most disgusting controls and character movement I've ever felt in a platformer. Don't play this even if you get it for free.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →⚠️ TOMO, 8PM EST ⚠️ " JUST LIKE THE PRODIGAL SON, I RETURN " i tell you what's going on w/ my Streams & also give away keys for: 👉 Sticky Business 👉 Cook Serve Delicious 👉 For The King: Deluxe Edition 👉 Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX 👉 probs more? ? ? twitch.tv/irispolaris [ #streamers #vtubers ]
neutral · AI labelView post →Requires the following launch option in the properties to be able to start on Linux, for me: PROTON_USE_WINED3D=1 %command% and for acceptable performance I had to use the classic graphics mode (press V in-game).
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Follow my Curator page, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/41363546-Fruit-N-Doggie-Reviews/]Fruit N Doggie Reviews, so you can be updated whenever I post a new review. Overall Rating - Seriously Flawed ★★☆☆☆ First Impressions Growing up, I was a Nintendo kid, so I missed out on playing Sega titles at that time. Later in life, I did try an Alex Kidd game and thought it sucked, as his attacks were so close-range they were useless. A remade version of Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX (AK)…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Been some time now since I composed the soundtrack for Alex Kidd In Miracle World DX 🍙and I just remembered how I could fit a folia structure/style into the soundtrack! 😁 Here is the track I'm talking about: youtu.be/KxRbzixYM6E?...
positive · AI labelView post →Awful controls, asked for a refund.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →My mom would always tell me how growing up, she would play Alex Kidd on her Sega Master System when she was a lil' kid. Being the only game she had plus Astro Warriors, she grew very fondly of the game. Fast forward to 2017, my mom taught me all about the game from the Sega Ages version on Switch, how you can kill the octopus to get into a secret room and get a bunch of money, the crouch-sliding trick, the motorcycle, etc. And with this game being announced and releasing, we were both SUPER…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great remake of a classic SEGA game!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The art and music here is beautiful, and the ability to swap between the original graphics and music with one button is nice (although maybe not as fast as it should be due to the animation that wipes the screen each time), but this game has not aged well gameplay wise at all. If you REALLY loved the original and want to replay it, this is the best way, but if this is your first time playing it, like mine, you'll probably be turned off pretty quickly. One hit kills, with a really small hitbox…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game is not hard, it is unfair. Interrogation blocks where you don´t know if you receive something good or bad, enemies placed in the worst place, slippery controls... I know that they were problems from the original, but in a remake, all those things should have been sorted out, don´t keep all the problems of a bad platformer.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've noticed a huge amount of new followers here on Bsky lately! ✨ In case you don't know me, I'm an audio composer and sound designer 👋I've worked on games like Arco🏹, Loco Motive 🚂, Alex Kidd In Miracle World DX 👊, Dixit World 🎴, UnderDungeon 💀and many more! 😊
neutral · AI labelView post →Controls are AWFUL. The "improved controls" option was done without much thought by the dev, which leads you to have to turn it on and off several times during the game in order to access specific areas. The game's default controls have NOTHING to do with the original, even though the dev insists that controls suck because the original sucked. Jumping feels completely different! The SMS original was not frustrating at all. Default hitboxes are also absolutely horrendous, but the fix works…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Wanted to love it and they remastered it great, but a good Remaster of a bad game is still a bad game. The controls are awful, the level design is awful and overall it just doesn't feel right. Play DuckTales Remastered instead.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fans of the original may enjoy this remake, but the controls are just as bas as they used to be. Icy movement and basically just a nicer looking version of the Master System one. Nothing new here and not a very fun game. Quite tedious and hasn't aged too well.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Alright, I was willing to tolerate all of the cheap deaths and constant walking-on-ice controls until... rows of spikes in the water. VERY LONG rows of spikes that seem impossible to overcome. I am done with this game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very good but very short = on sales only (20 € is insane). Awesome art. Easier than the original.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →90s-ass hitboxes and jumping physics, no wonder I couldn't get past the last level as a kid. And that was without being able to Continue at will like in this version! Why did I pay eight dollars for this masochism? I have now largely healed 30 year trauma. Any child that owned a Master System will know my pain. I now summarily and ceremoniously uninstall. Excellent remake though (with seamless transition between old and new graphics), and it holds serious nostalgic value for that and that…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Exactly the same gameplay as the original and just as difficult. It destroyed me when I was 10 and its destroying me again 30 years later. If you owned the Sega master system then this game is a must have.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →[Game Collection] Today, I am showing a game that wasn't my best game experience but was a very nice physical edition. Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX. It is a fun game, quite short and very hard. Reversible cover? Yes. A keyring with manual? Yes, please!✋✊✌️ #PhysicalFriday #AmiibruCollection
neutral · AI labelView post →Only play this if you have nostalgia for the original game. I played a tiny bit back on the sms and disliked the controls and overall difficulty that felt kinda cheap most of the time. In this new DX version they have options to make the game be less slippery, but you also can't progress through the entire game, (they even tell you this when enabling it). Having to constantly switch back and forth got old quick. Kinda wish the DX mode would adjust a lot of the cheap enemy placement and or…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →They say you should always start with something positive... So... Yeah, I think the developers had quite some courage releasing this... thing. Also the graphics look kinda cool and better than back in 1986 (what an achievement!). On the other hand: There's nothing else positive about it. Janky controls, your hitbox feels like double the size of the model, sometimes you respawn inside enemies killing you again (so it makes no sense playing without infinite lives) and the level design is still…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Alex Kidd in the Miracle World DX is an extended remake of the 1986 Sega Master System classic game, which has been weighed down by the years in its gameplay and level design. + The game has 20 linear levels, most of them so short that they do not reach 1 minute of gameplay. + Repeated bosses, you have to face 3 of them 2 times, the 1st time the "combat" is limited to a game of rock-paper-scissors and the rest consists of mashing the hit button. + The mechanic to "kill" enemies is to hit…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Extremely poorly done platformer game where your characters movement is slippery for the sake of being “hard”. One little move and your character slips like on ice. Also some of the blocks put in this game that you need to pass doesn’t make sense and they are very annoying to pass. Don’t even try to play this.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →First video game I ever played! Was built into my Sega Master System. Was ecstatic when I heard it was remade. So I bought it straight away, installed it, played it..... and suddenly realised how much I suck at video games now. Either that or this game was way harder than I remember it. I still love it!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I grew up on the original Alex Kidd, so I was hyped for this. Turns out I'm not really a fan. Tons of small details are just different for no reason. The rock-paper-scissors boss rematches don't fight the same way at all anymore, completely different patterns than the original. Same with the mid-bosses like the cow or the sword guy, not the same fights, period. In a game like Alex Kidd where everything is razor thin precision, that's rough, you can't just rely on what you know. Physics are…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →ℝ𝕖𝕞𝕒𝕜𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕔𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕖 𝕘𝕒𝕞𝕖 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕒𝕧𝕠𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕕 𝕒𝕤 𝕒 𝕔𝕙𝕚𝕝𝕕... 𝕐𝕠𝕦'𝕧𝕖 𝕘𝕠𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕣𝕪 𝕚𝕥 𝕒𝕥 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕠𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕚𝕟 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕝𝕚𝕗𝕖, 𝕣𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥? The remake’s art direction is charming — cleaner, richer environments, improved animations, and a nicely enhanced soundtrack. The old chiptune vibes are retained in the “classic” mode, but everything shines more in the modern style. You can also switch Between Classic & Modern; One of the best…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →⚠️⚠️⚠️ i'm still going through all my Spare Game Keys, but i have at least the following to give away on stream: 👉 Sticky Business 👉 Cook Serve Delicious 👉 For The King: Deluxe Edition 👉 Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX [ #streamer #vtuber #furry ]
neutral · AI labelView post →Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX is a beautiful remake that unfortunately retains one of the original’s worst traits: painfully unforgiving controls. The jump mechanics are so frustratingly precise that even a simple platforming section turns into a lesson in trial and error. You’ll find yourself colliding with enemies over and over, not because of bad timing, but because the margin for error is microscopic. What could have been a fun, nostalgic experience instead becomes a nightmare of cheap…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Oh boy! I bought this game expecting a great retro flashback with modern graphics like monster boy. Man, was I wrong! I instantly remembered why I hated this game on my Master System. Sega did everything wrong that Nintendo did right back then. Mario was not perfect, but it was amongst the best back then. And it has aged alright(-ish). Alex Kid is even worse by today's standards. And the cute graphics cannot iron out any of the flaws. And there are too many to list. Seriously, don't get fooled…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The graphics of this remake sold me but the gameplay doesn't feel good. Alex slides throug the levels like he's on ice no matter the surface. Enemies kill you in one hit and your punches barelly cover any distance. Bosses are fought through rock, paper and cissors and, as you would spect, it's pure RNG. I thought this game was going to upgrade in everything compared to the original version but I think it's way harder now to a point of unfairness. 4.5/10
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Bad enemy hit boxes when switching between old and new style, and a bad semi game breaking bug when you have infinite lives turned on. The bug will get you stuck in an infinite death loop in the desert zone if you get hit by a cactus. If you happen to have defeated a previous cactus and get killed by the next one, you will re-spawn directly on top of the previous cactus you defeated. This bug forces you to quit to the main menu which obviously means you lose your whole progress in that level.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The entire series was always mediocre at best and frustrating at worst.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game comes SO close to what it's trying to be, but by that same token, it unfortunately comes just short. It's still Alex Kidd in Miracle World at heart, which is a brutally punishing game from a different era. Not to mention the offensive accessibility options, purposefully tucked away to artificially increase the game's difficulty while also locking you out of achievements. Although it does have its fair share of qualities such as its wonderful presentation, the game is caught between an…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Power off Steam. Remove any game in the cartridge input slot. Turn on the power base again and enjoy this agonisingly bright and chirpy lesson in the evils of collision detection... back from the days when nobody knew what any of those things were. It's sweet agony. And the revised rework is excellent. And when you play Classic it saves your progress... just imagine that back in the day, games might have been finishable without investing years! :D The first Japanese thing in any media that…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A classic game with more enjoyable graphics. If you like old Alex Kidd you will love this one. Some levels are a bit hard in this game.. prepare to rage yourself... :'D
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Everyone here complaining about the controls but as someone played this obsessively as a kid, they didn't even get that right. They were close but my muscle memory doesn't work, so it's clearly a reverse engineered re-implementation rather than a 1:1 recreation like the Wonderboy: The Dragon's Trap remaster. Whether that makes it objectively better or worse I don't know, but I think if you're going to remake a game with archaic controls either you commit to the original design or you start…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →They've since replaced this with the art for Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX which is ever so slightly less egregious but also like HI WHY THIS REMAKE CAME OUT THREE WHOLE DECADES AFTER THE CONSOLE WAS DISCONTINUED IN THE US
negative · AI labelView post →When Mario Bros 1 came out on NES Sega had to rush its own unpolished 2D platformer for the Master System and have a mascot to compete with it, which resulted in Alex Kidd. It doesn't play nearly as well as Sonic was later or have the memorable music and graphics, and so Sega changed their mascot. Alex feels like he is sliding on ice, his punch is so short range that it is nearly useless, and the one hit deaths make for a frustrating experience. It also has RNG bosses where you have to play…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →An exercise in frustration.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →On the surface it looks like a fine platfomer, but in reality it's a janky platformer that controls like mud. Even if you get it for free it's not worth your time.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I want to enjoy the game of my childhood but man the controls of the remake is damn horrible. It didn't help that the new alex now has a slight input lag and a weird acceleration that makes you feel like you're walking on ice, which makes doing precised jumping quite frustrating to do. The game is already difficult enough as it is with unfair enemy placements, cheap one hit kills, huge enemy hitboxes, and boss fights that rely on rng, but playing the game with the terrible controls and sloppy…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Well... All the things that were annoying in the classic game is in there, only with updated graphics.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The visuals are pretty but the controls, collisions and "level design" are garbage. The punch often fails to break the blocks or properly hit enemies, the level design is often awkward with weird jumps, gaps that Alex doesn't fit through or traps in odd unpredictable or with unfair placement. I had to quit the game in the last castle where the spikes are all over the water-filled room, the water physics kept pushing me towards the spikes and it was getting really annoying. This game is a…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is a lot harder than I remember it as a master system built in game. And I remember it being stupidly hard. Using the old style graphics does seem to make it easier!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Instant win for us Sega Master System fanboys who grew up on this stuff when anytime anyone properly revitalizes a classic. The devs did great work bringing back Alex Kidd in Miracle World back to life in all departments but one. The rearranged music misses the mark a bit. The original soundtrack just popped, but the reworked version is a bit too subdued; muffled, almost muted. The new graphics and animations are vivid and crisp, but the foregrounds can obstruct enemies and pitfalls…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a MIXED review but felt I needed to write this so people know that this game can be very FRUSTRATING Verdict: It's a game for hardcore fans of the original, while new players will find it unforgiving and unnecessarily old-school in it's controls and gameplay The Good Art and Music I really feel like the developers put a lot of effort into this remake. The art is great and so is the music. So it pains to have to give it a negative review. The Bad Controls, hitboxes, unfair…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A terrible game - You die in one hit, the difficulty is excessive, and there's no checkpoint. - There's no restart feature. - A killer pops up from a box and kills you. - The player's movement is unbalanced while jumping on platforms, and there's no controller option to adjust it. - The boss you play rock-paper-scissors against always wins, and you have to play again and again until you finally get lucky and beat him. Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle, released on the Sega Genesis, is…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →*Anton Blast *Flynn: Son of Crimson *Rising Dusk *Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX Reviews are inside the ALT Images
neutral · AI labelView post →Used to play this game in my Master System in 1992, still have the console... Well the game has a graphical upgrade, very nice by the way but the controls are terrible. You will die a lot because timings feel off, it was a trip to the past and sadly this game belongs there. Also I dont remember so many Scissor Stone Paper matches, it gets very annoying. My trip ended in the last castle, so many cheap parts that abuse your limited moves and a final boss at the end, no thanks.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Welp... I didn't like it much. I myself am not a big fan of the Alex Kidd games, I tried Enchanted World and didn't like it. This game is pretty similar to Enchanted World, with it's slippery controls, stupid Rock Paper Scissors bosses, and being hard as hell (Yes, I have a massive skill issue). There's also some moments where the game lags, it's noticeable in the water sections, but it could just be my laptop not having the necessary requirements. In conclusion, I didn't like the game and…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've seen that you can purchase now Alex Kidd In Miracle World DX for Switch pretty cheap in physical edition! Pretty happy on how the game turned out 😊✨ www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQ9Q...
positive · AI labelView post →---{ Graphics }--- ☐ You forget what reality is ☑ Beautiful ☐ Good ☐ Decent ☐ Bad ☐ Don‘t look too long at it ☐ MS-DOS ---{ Gameplay }--- ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ It's just gameplay ☐ Mehh ☐ Watch paint dry instead ☐ Just don't ---{ Audio }--- ☐ Eargasm ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ Not too bad ☐ Bad ☐ I'm now deaf ---{ Audience }--- ☑ Kids ☑ Teens ☑ Adults ☐ Grandma ---{ PC Requirements }--- ☐ Check if you can run paint ☑ Potato ☐ Decent ☐ Fast ☐ Rich boi ☐ Ask NASA…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Oh my GOOOOOOOOOOOOD this game is terrible. It's a one-to-one remake of the original game, which means that it controls and is designed exactly the same i.e. ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ terribly. Slippery controls, an attack that's the size of a gnat which lasts half an attosecond, ♥♥♥♥♥♥ level design and enemies, how the ♥♥♥♥ does this even exist? Isn't the point of remaking a bad game is to make it a good game? Not to be "faithful" and just make it exactly the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ same. This is TWENTY DOLLARS AND IT CAN BE…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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