Storylines in video games can be hard to appreciate as is based on the genre of the game, much less its actual quality. But then you throw localization into the mix and your chances of consistency drastic go down.
The Sonic The Hedgehog series is a prime example. The Japanese versions of the games had surprisingly in-depth manual stories to set up the games: Stuff like how Sonic met Tails, a written out version of the scene in Mushroom Hill that only plays during S3&K, etc. most of these stories were either cut entirely, given a brief summary, or totally rewritten. And odds are, Sonic isn't the only one to experience this at Sega.
Which brings us to Alex Kidd. Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars' plot as written in the Master System manual never sat well with me. Looking at the Sonic plots made me wonder if there was something else going on here. And what about the arcade version? Does that even have a detailed story? And now, after realizing the power of holding my phone up to the screen while the translation app is loaded, along with some minor sleuthing, I can confidently answer:
Yes, but also no.
Typical disclaimer: I cannot read Japanese. I primarily use online translators (with some checking via Romajidesu) and therefore these translations should be considered rough. If you can actually read Japanese, feel free to correct me. This is moreso to get the info out there in some form and I do not mean to spread misinformation.
Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars is comparable to Sonic Chaos in that each rendition of the plot is different between where it's being rendered; specifically there are three different versions:
The Arcade: The Arcade original. As far as I'm aware, this was only shown in Gamest Magazine issue 6. This iteration is the only iteration to feature Stella as she was cut from the Master System version.
Master System JP: The Japanese Master System manual. Roughly the same, but has a few differences. In particular Stella's removal means the story is now focused squarely on Radaxian and Alex.
Master System ENG: The English Master System manual. Keeps most of the same elements, but rewrites the story completely.
Let's start with the arcade manual to finally figure out who Stella is.
(The story text is page 1, the rest is more for prosperity)
Extracting the text via phone and throwing it into the 2-3 main translators (Google, DeepL, the occasional Romaji) gives us the following:
Once upon a time, there were two small countries called Radakhshan and Rubana.
In Radakshan there was a brave prince named Alek.
Well, Nirvana has a bright and strong princess named Stella, and the two of them have been on good terms since they were children.
One day, Alec, in his ignorance, told the priestess about the night sky that comes just once in a thousand years.
When he went to visit the priest Dareda, Dareda told Alec that this was the year of the cataclysm./One day, Alec told me that the night sky only happens once every thousand years. When they went to see the priest Dareda, Dareda told Alec that this year seemed to be the year when something strange happened.A few days later, something strange happened.*
An extremely bright star in the night sky became brighter and brighter as it crossed the night sky, and in its wake the beautiful constellations that had been visible until just a moment ago were no longer visible.
When people throughout the country learned of this, they mourned.
When the kings of the two kingdoms saw what was happening to the people, they asked Dareda what would happen next. Dareda read from an ancient book and told them that those of royal blood should go and search for the constellations.
Stella, who happened to overhear this, offered to help.
âFather. I and Alec are going to go and restore the constellation. With Alec, there is nothing to be afraid of!
And so began their quest for the constellations.
^ The joys of relying largely on machine translations is that when you get situations like this, you don't know which one to go with. Even Romaji didn't make it quite clear.
So, let's establish what this storyline tells us:
Stella is the princess of another kingdom. I am 99% sure the kingdom in question is Nibana, which appeared in Miracle World and is shown to be a neighbor of Radaxian. Interestingly, Alex and Stella are said to be friends since they were kids: Miracle World notes that Alex spent most of his life not knowing he was the prince of Radaxian, which has some interesting implications.
I... do not know what this passage is saying. I assume it's supposed to be "Alex heard of the coming of the night sky and went to visit Daleda to know more". If it's even slightly accurate it could mean that Planet Aeris doesn't see night time very often. Don't think too hard about how that works.
The star that steals the constellations away is unnamed in the arcade version.
"The 2 kings" aspect is interesting: At the end of Alex Kidd in Miracle World, Alex's brother Igul was crowned king in absence of his father, who had gone missing right as Janken invaded. We're not given any indication if Alex's father had been found, as this game predates Alex Kidd and the Enchanted Castle, where that plot point was resolved. So Radaxian's king could very well still be Igul.
A prophecy is given that those with royal blood should go look for the constellations.
Interestingly, Stella is the one who overhears and volunteers herself and Alex. She's actually decent focus for being the player two character. Then again, her name is (technically) in the title...
Now that we have the base storyline, here is the Japanese Master System storyline:
And the machine translation:
In a great galaxy, tens of thousands of light years away from the earth, there was a peaceful planet called WAKUSEN ARIES. On that planet, in the kingdom of Radakshan, there was a bright and brave prince named Alex (Aukan Lech). One day, when White Alec went to visit Dareda, he found her with a bitter book in her hand and a serious look on her face. When Alec asked him what was wrong, he replied, âWell, I found a book from long ago. I haven't read it all yet, but it seems to be about a great cataclysm that happens every six months. And it seems that this year will be the half year before the great cataclysm. Dareda told Alec, looking worried. ``Don't worry, nothing's going on,'' Alec said, paying no attention to it.
A few days later. Alec felt a strange trepidation and went outside the castle. Then, a bright, dog-like mass appeared from the western horizon and began to cross the sky. As it passed, the stars that had been visible until a moment ago lost their brightness and became invisible. Then, when the dog star disappeared behind the eastern horizon, the night sky became completely dark. After this incident, people's hearts sank into darkness due to the pitch-black night skyâŚ
If this continues, the people's hearts will be broken and strife will break out. Concerned about the future of his country, the king called Dareda for advice.
Dareda is described in an ancient text as follows: âOnce in a thousand years comes a greedy star, Bloom, which passes through the night sky. The Bloom takes the light of the fiery constellations of the fiery stars and makes it its own light. The night sky is darkened, and people are disturbed, and strife breaks out. Those of royal blood set out in search of the light. The Ziggurat gains power, and the constellations shine again. All this is guided by the astrological chart.â
I told him what it said.
I told him that the book said that if I could find the Miracle Ball, the light would return to the constellations. But if I go, war may break out at any moment. But who am I toâŚ?â At that moment, Alec, who had been listening to the conversation, offered, âFather, let me go. Let me go, father, for the sake of the country I love. There is nothing to be afraid of. At first he was reluctant, but Alec's enthusiasm won him over and he allowed him to go. And so began Alec's adventurous journey in search of the Miracle Ball.
Overall the same plot, but a number of differences:
As previously mentioned, Stella has been completely removed from the plot. The Master System version of The Lost Stars lacked the multiplayer of the arcade version and therefore, Stella is absent from the game. Stella's portion in the story was given to Alex.
The night sky only appearing once every thousand of years (assuming that wasn't a translation gaff on the machines' part to begin with) is changed. Instead the catastrophe that befalls planet Aeries is apparently a half-yearly occurrence?
The missing stars effect on the populace has been expanded upon: With the stars missing, the people fall into despair and potentially disorder. The king also expresses concern that conflict may break out if he were to go.
Speaking of the king, Alex inheriting Stella's lines means that the king is identified as his father. The port came out in 1988, predating Enchanted Castle, which came out in 1989. It's possible the latter was in development though.
The greedy star is identified as the Bloom. The MS port adds "bosses" to the end of the stages and the Bloom is the "boss" of the Ziggarat stage, making it the "final boss".
The Miracle Balls are given a bit more explanation, as its implied that they power the Ziggarat, explaining why you to take the balls there and how they return the stars to the sky.
Last, but not least, we have the English Master System Version:
(I am not writing down all of that).
Reading the manual, there are clear differences:
The plot is wildly different. The overall gist is the same, but the actual content completely changed.
A bit of an error, but the writer conflated Radaxian with Aries in its entirety, making Alex and his family the royal family of the entire planet.
Again, Alex's father seems to have been found off-screen despite Miracle World making that into a cliffhanger and Enchanted Castle wrapping up that plot point.
Alex meets with Daleda after the stars have vanished rather than before.
The time frame for the incident is now 5,000 years and it does not seem to be a reoccurance.
The manual creates a whole story about an ancestor of Alex, Halifax Kidd who defeated the Bloom, making the Bloom's return partially an act of revenge.
The Bloom is referred to as "Ziggarat", seemingly due to the writer not knowing what the Ziggarat actually is.
It's explained that Alex is traveling to 6 different worlds
The Miracle Balls are explained as being what the Bloom hid the stars in. The other versions seem to suggest that the Bloom stole the stars' light rather than the stars themselves.
The second loop is actually mentioned in the last bit.
Honestly, the primary reason I made this writeup is because this is one of the few things I've seen to actually explain who Stella is. The few times she's more than a cameo, she's just called Alex's friend. So it's neat that there's more to her presence in-universe than just being the Luigi to Alex's Mario.
(Big ups to SegaRetro and the Internet Archive for the scans of the manuals/Gamest respectively).
Do you agree with Gaming Journalists and what do you think of gaming journalism in general?
What does this even mean, dude.
"Do you agree with gaming journalists"? On what?
Do I agree with Shacknews that Super Mario Bros. Wonder is a 10/10, and with Digital Spy that it's also a 7/10? Do I agree with Let's Clear Up Those Halo Battle Royale Rumors?
Like, I've gotten some bait on this blog before, but this is 2/10 stuff, man. This is some hot 2014 garbage. Like no matter what I say, you're gonna go all
"Very interesting. Then do you care to explain why..." No thanks.
My real answer: Something I learned during my time at TSSZ and being around a few people who were deeper into "the biz" than I is that everybody needs journalism more than they realize. Corporations are pushing for consumers to become their personal cheerleaders more than ever before, which makes criticism and the journalistic exposing of information seem villainous.
After all: Xbox is my friend now, so how dare you attack the Xbox. Behavior that used to be reserved for the most dedicated fanboys is now the expected room temperature. I've talked about "The Cult of Naughty Dog" before, and that's the same thing. If a corporation can get you to be parasocial with them, then they have won, and being parasocial with a corporation means shunning real investigative journalism that would otherwise undo them. Journalists and critics used to be marketing tools, but by undoing the press pipeline and talking directly to fans, journalists and critics are painted as untrustworthy for being wildcards that don't always toe the company line.
And there has been more than a decade of people with a "I choose to be stupid and ignorant on purpose" outlook, which just makes that more frustrating. We've all seen screencaps where some brainless rando tries to explain something to a person who is an expert in that field. The rando thinks they're flexing their brain, but in some cases they are arguing with the person who literally wrote the book on their topic of conversation. Some people don't want to know anything but still pretend like they know everything, when there are real people out there doing real work to uncover real truths.
Misinformation is the real problem. It should not surprise anyone that there are people out there deliberately eroding the foundation of journalistic integrity, because the less people trust journalism, the easier it is to get away with lying. The easier it is to lie, the easier it is to control the mainstream, the easier it is to scam people out of their money, so on and so forth.
And misinformation is more than just "this one news article is fake." There are long running campaigns to install people into news organizations themselves to publish false information for all manner of different goals, but it's all the same: nobody trusts anyone and it's making everyone dumber.
That's when we get crypto currency. And NFTs. And now people claiming that generative AI will save humanity. Grift after grift after grift where the people at the top of the snake oil food chain make off with billions of dollars while the rest of the world is left scratching their heads.
The law isn't going to catch them. If they do, it'll take years. Look at how long it took for Sam Bankman-Fried to get caught -- he operated for almost half an entire decade. The amount of damage somebody can get away with in five years is significant.
We need journalism. Real journalism. Good journalism. Watchdogs that keep an eye on things and blow the whistle when it goes bad. Somebody to enforce accountability that isn't a cop.
Where do you find that? That's the hardest question. I'm lucky enough that I know people I trust because they are long time friends, or friends of friends, and thus they've been properly vetted in my circle as The Real Deal. But there are a lot of outlets out there who claim to champion "truth" and "intelligence" in a way to prey upon insecurity. I mean, c'mon, Trump's social media platform is called "Truth Social" and is basically the furthest thing from the truth you will ever get from anyone, ever.
The more obsessively they try to convince you they're telling the truth, the less likely it is they actually are. Which in itself could be an attack meant to undo the foundations of trust in people who actually know what they're talking about. By casting doubt on the very concept of truth itself, they can lie with increasingly greater efficiency.
Any advice I give feels like it is incredibly circumstantial. Which is the point, and is why we're in the state we're in.
Here's a good pdf by The News Literacy Project that's probably a good place to start. The general gist is "you'll have to do a lot of fact checking for yourself" but that's unfortunately where we're at these days.
But by and large I would say life is a lot harder for real journalists right now than I think some of their critics have ever thought about. There are people out there trying to do actual good work and being a bubble-brained moron about it just makes everything harder for everyone.
Assuming it were reasonably possible and accepted to acquire cybernetic body parts that functioned as well or better than biological ones, which part would you replace FIRST?
Hand/arm
Leg/foot
Eyes
Ears
Internal organs
Genitals
Skin
Full conversion (GITS style full body w/organic brain)
Welp, unless we're able to get $1,100 before the end of the month, we're gonna be homeless so posting these e-beg links on the off chance someone both has money to give and gives it to me.
Go to paypal.me/TheDJTC and type in the amount. Since itâs PayPal, it's easy and secure. Donât have a PayPal account? No worries.
Instantly exchange money for free on Cash App
Become a supporter of Camilla "The T.C." Schrader today! â¤ď¸ Ko-fi lets you support the creators you love with no fees on donations.
Aunno for every like, $10 I'll make an Amy Rose doodle or something, been drawing her a lot lately, in a real Amy Rose mood.
Unless I lose the will to live then I'll instead lie down and cry.
While have raised about $140 I effectively have $49 because gasoline is expensive and I bought food.
Right now the plan is just... I guess skip HRT a third month and if we don't have gas/electricity/water/internet/phone so be it.
Tho this also hinges on uncontrollable things like someone unreliable lending her money...
Still thanks to everyone reblogging and donating. At least we aren't stranded in this food swamp yet.
ppl are so annoying âyou canât paint ur bedroom pink youâre an adultâ i did not spend my entire life waiting to grow up and control my life to paint my bedroom beige
when I first bought my house, I announced my decision to paint my bedroom purple. I had wanted a purple bedroom for thirty damn years, you fucking bet I was gonna have one now. My friends decided, for some reason, that I meant what one of them referred to as â14 year old girl purpleâ (through whatâs wrong with the colors a 14 year old girl chooses, I donât know, even if theyâre not what I want as an adult). They didnât believe me until they saw the color on the actual wall, even thought they helped me pick out paints. My mother, meanwhile, decided to get worried that if I painted my bedroom a âdark purpleâ, it would be âdepressingâ. As if, with an entire house to live in, I would spend all my time in the bedroom, which I wanted to be dark because I would be sleeping in there. In the damn dark.
I had like one, maybe two friends who were all like FUCK YEAH YOU PAINT IT WHATEVER COLOR YOU WANT, PURPLE BEDROOMS ARE AWESOME.
But when they actualy saw the finished bedroom, every single one of them was like, âOh yeah, thatâs really pretty.â (Well, the ones who supported me from the beginning were more like WOOHOO.)
And the moral of the story is: Fuck âem, please yourself. Either theyâll come around, or you can safely ignore every question of taste they opine about for the rest of time.
This applies to other adulting activities, too. When I was a kid, I decided that I wanted to have a wedding cake made of doughnuts. When I got older, I figured that I would be âmatureâ about it and get a traditional cake, which the older adults approved of. Now that Iâm 25 and facing the possibility of actual marriage in the near future, Iâm just like âmarriage is a social construct but it comes with tax & insurance benefits, so just give me that goddamn doughnut cake.â If they donât like it then they donât have to come to my wedding.
Iâm thirty and my first big furniture purchase was a custom coffin shaped coffee table that opens up and is lined with purple crushed velvet. I would have loved it at 13 and I love it now. Growing up doesnât mean you have to abandon what makes you happy.
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