Before everyone's favorite blue hedgehog stormed the scene, Sega's mascot took the form of a teenager with oversized hands (insert immature mastrubation joke here). Alex Kidd's first outing on the SMS remains the best game of the series, and is one of the better platformers available on the VC.

Unlike many platformers of the time, which pushed the player forward at a fast pace, Miracle World emphasizes a slower, more exploratory method. Getting to know the layout of the levels is key, as you must snatch almost all the caches of money strewn about the game's seventeen levels.

The cash allows Alex to buy all sorts of neat gadgets, including motorcycles and pedal-copters. The vehicle-based parts are great fun, and challenging in a good way, giving Miracle World a unique flavor in the crowded world of platformers.

Speaking of unique, some note must also be made of the boss battles, where Alex faces off with the bad guy in a game of janken (aka rock/paper/scissors) before fighting them for "real". Along with some solid graphics and music, it's touches like that which elevate Miracle World above the realm of the average and make this a worthy download.

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