Alex Kidd in Shinobi World

Alex Kidd in Shinobi World is a side-scrolling action game produced by Sega that was originally released for the Master System in 1990. Developed in Japan, it was released for the overseas market (North America, Europe and Brazil). The game stars Alex Kidd in a parody version of Sega's ninja-themed action game Shinobi, where Alex Kidd fights against caricatures of many of the enemies from Shinobi. It was re-released for the Wii Virtual Console in 2009.

Story
An evil being known as Hanzo the Dark Ninja escapes after 10,000 years of confinement and kidnaps Alex Kidd's new girlfriend, while the pair are on a leisurely trip to the planet Shinobi. Powerless to stop the villain, Alex collapses into a sobbing heap, but is found by the ghost of the ancient warrior who originally vanquished the Dark Ninja; who explains that Hanzo intends to sacrifice Alex's girlfriend as part of a ritual to conquer the world. The spirit of the ancient warrior fuses itself with Alex's body; lending Alex his strength, skills, and courage; and with their combined power, they set out to save Alex's girlfriend and vanquish the Dark Ninja once and for all.

Gameplay
Despite being part of the Alex Kidd series, the game mechanics of Shinobi World are different from Alex Kidd in Miracle World and are much closer to the Master System version of Shinobi. Alex Kidd's basic attack is a sword slice, which can be used not only to destroy enemies but also to open treasure chests. Inside such chests, the player can obtain items such as more health, throwing darts, a powered-up sword, extra lives, and a magic ball that will temporarily turn Alex Kidd into an invincible tornado. The throwing darts and powered-up sword will both replace the Alex's default sword until the player completes the stage, defeats a boss or loses a life. Other actions that Alex Kidd can perform include a wall-to-wall jump and the ability to turn into a flying fireball after spinning around a street post, a rope or a horizontal bar.

Alex starts off each round with three hit points but can fill out his health gauge to a maximum of six hit points. When the player has full health, all the treasure chests carrying hearts will carry extra lives in their place. When the player defeats a boss with full health, they will gain a "Perfect Bonus" after completing the round. There is also a "Secret Bonus" if the player completes an entire round without getting hit or losing life at any point.