SMS Showdown: Alex Kidd vs. Wonder Boy

[Ze_ro]

So which was the better series... Alex Kidd or Wonder Boy? Remember, we're talking about the series as a whole, not just the first games. Make your choice!

--Zero

[Barbarianoutkast85]

I voted for Alex Kidd, I donno just a personal favorite.

[Lady Jaye]

It's not even a close contest. Wonder Boy it is (and the Adventure Island series doesn't count -- shows that Sega and Westone did well to switch to the Monster World sub-series).

I just don't get the Alex Kidd series. These are not fun games, the controls are so spotty that you want to gouge your eyes out and the overly cutesy graphics are too much. Alex Kidd in Shinobi World, the least bad of the SMS games in the series, still plays as a so-so Capcom or Konami wannabe side-scroller.

[zektor]

I kind of have to disagree. The original Alex Kidd is fantastic, but again, I grew up with the SMS and spent a whole lot of time on the game. As for the poll however, I did choose Wonderboy, because I believe as a series in whole, they are better games (Wonderboy, II, Dragon's Trap), while the only two Alex Kidd games I really love are the first and Shinobi World. The other two (lost stars and the genesis game) kind of sucked in my personal opinion.

[Policenaut]

As a whole, the Wonderboy series, by far. AKMW is a classic and the best of all AK incarnations, but it just can't compete with the WB series.

[retroman]

went with Alex....

[scooterb23]

I vote pop

[Gapporin]

Dragon's Trap > *

[Bluteg]

Dragon's Trap > *

Same here. Alex Kidd is alright but Dragon's Trap is just awesome, especially the TG-16 import of it. A Pirate pig smoking a cigarette as the shopkeeper, HELL YEAH!

[ubersaurus]

I kind of have to disagree. The original Alex Kidd is fantastic, but again, I grew up with the SMS and spent a whole lot of time on the game. As for the poll however, I did choose Wonderboy, because I believe as a series in whole, they are better games (Wonderboy, II, Dragon's Trap), while the only two Alex Kidd games I really love are the first and Shinobi World. The other two (lost stars and the genesis game) kind of sucked in my personal opinion.

You know I don't understand the love with Miracle World. I've tried playing it. I die constantly on the first screen. It just controls so shoddily!

[Sweater Fish Deluxe]

I never had any trouble with the controls in Miracle World--always feels very tight to me.

Wonder Boy is the clear winner here, though. Dragon's Trap is a near perfect game.

Alex Kidd vs Adventure Island would be a closer call. I like both series, but I think I like Miracle World better than any of the Adventure Island games. Hm, except for Super Adventure Island II--that one was really exceptional.


...word is bondage...

[j_factor]

Are we going purely on the SMS games in the series, or the series as a whole?

Either way, I choose Wonder Boy. I don't think there's ever been a bad Wonder Boy game. The Lost Stars and Hi Tech World both suck ass. I did like Miracle World (and The Enchanted Castle for Genesis), and I love Shinobi World, but overall, no contest.

Although, I suppose it is worth mentioning that I slightly prefer Dragon's Curse (tg16) to Dragon's Trap (sms).

[playgeneration]

Shoddy controls is Miracle World, thats surely a joke right? The controls work perfectly, and are a big part of the games appeal. You can jump high into the air, straight into the path of an enemy then let your giant fist smash straight into them - great stuff. Perhaps your complaints are due to the master system controller, or at least your master system controller.

Theres a lot of Alex Kidd hate on this forum, but I guess thats an opinion that won't change, as most people grew up with nes so will automatically want to dislike the game for not being Mario.

Anyway I prefer Alex Kidd over wonderboy, Miracle World and Shinobi World are just much more action packed and fast playing.

[Lady Jaye]

I grew up with the Atari 2600, and the 8-bit generation was almost equally divided between the NES and the SMS (my neighbor had a NES and my best friend from junior high onward has a SMS). So, my dislike of Alex Kidd has nothing to do with the NES. It's not because it's a quirky series either, since I love Cloud Master and its flying ramen bowls.

It'd be different if I said I disliked that series without ever playing it, but I did play it. And I'll repeat it: that series flaws overtake whatever qualities it may have had with a better design.

[Ed Oscuro]

Alex Kidd in Shinobi World, the least bad of the SMS games in the series, still plays as a so-so Capcom or Konami wannabe side-scroller.
Daaaamn. Well, I thought AK in SW was alright - the controls still aren't perfect.

The MW series games I've played rocked, however. Got MWIII on Mega Drive, and I've played the arcade game a bit via MAME and MWIV a bit as well - good stuff. I imagine those aren't even considered close to being the core games of the series.

That said, Monster World on SMS (I gave a copy away as penance for a past misdeeds, as some might remember) seems empty to me. I should take another look.

[Nebagram]

Wonder Boy by light-years. AK may have been Sega's mascot for a brief while but it simply comes down to two words that have been stated earlier in this thread- Dragon's Trap.

[anagrama]

Wonder Boy all the way - of the 4 titles they each have in the SMS library (not counting BMX Trial), 3 and a half of the WonderBoy games are fantastic, while only one and a half of the Alex Kidd games match up...