Back in the late 80's, Mario ruled the video game world. He had replaced Pac-Man as the number one guy in video games, no magic cherry in the world was big enough to save the yellow pizza guy. But there were those who would challenge the Italian magic mushroom-eating plumbers dominance with varying degrees of success. One such person was Alex Kidd.
Kidd made his big debut in 1986 in Alex Kidd in Miracle World. He was a smash hit. People loved his look with his massive oversized head, Monkees-esque haircut and penchant for the game 'Rock, Paper, Scissors' to solve conflicts. He quickly followed this up with Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars solidifying his fan base. He wasn't Mario yet but Alex Kidd's star was rising.
Behind the scenes however, Kidd wasn't happy and he wanted to move himself in different artistic directions. In 1987, he revealed his passion for BMX riding in Alex Kidd BMX Trial. Then he launched his most daring project to date, Alex Kidd: High-Tech World.
It was a radical departure from his usual style. Rather than having Kidd battle birds and strange octopus men, High-Tech World centred around a map that had been mysteriously scattered around Kidd's home and his attempts to piece the puzzle together. It proved a catastrophe, perhaps being too avant-garde for Alex Kidd's more casual fan base.
In 1989, Kidd returned to his roots for Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle bringing all his rock, paper, scissors tricks with him. Though the reviews were decent the magic just wasn't there anymore.
The pressure was on for Kidd for his next game, Alex Kidd in Shinobi World. Rumours were circulating around Sega Studios that the once rising star was on his way out and might be replaced by an up and coming speedy blue hedgehog. Shinobi World was released in 1990 but the world just didn't care about Alex Kidd anymore. Kidd was soon after released by Sega.
Kidd fell into drug addiction and would challenge random strangers to a game of rock, paper, scissors for money to feed his habit. This situation would reach its zenith in 1994 when Kidd was arrested for indecent exposure after making his own addition to the rock,paper scissors world he called 'the rocket.' As he was being led away by police, witnesses heard Kidd screaming 'the paper wraps the rock but the rock bursts through the paper!'
Kidd would then spend the next two years in rehab. Since coming out he has worked steadily on the games convention circuit, regaling old fans with his stories of what it was like being a video game star.
By the mid-noughties, Kidd had patched up his differences with Sega and agreed to make cameo's in their games such as Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing.
Today, Kidd makes visits to schools in order to teach children about the risks of drug and rock, paper, scissors. Kidd is proud to say he hasn't challenged anyone to a game of rock, paper, scissors in 15 years.
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