When King Thor was kidnapped, his son, Alex Kidd, held out hope that his father would return to their kingdom on Planet Aries. Finally, it was revealed that he was being held captive on Planet Paperock. As Alex, players race to his rescue through 11 levels, battling enemies and avoiding obstacles while winning coins that will buy special items and vehicles. At the end of each level, players encounter a boss and enter into a match of "Rock, Paper, Scissors." Throwing the right symbols puts players ever closer to bringing King Thor home; throwing the wrong symbols squashes them beneath a heavy weight.

Worth buying 'Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle' on the Virtual Console?

Before Sonic the Hedgehog our friends Sega had Alex Kidd as their mascot. I grew up with the quirky humor of the original games on the Sega Master System (8 bit rival to the NES) – at the time these were some of the best games around. However by the time the Sega Genesis / Megadrive was in full force players tastes had changed somewhat. Poor old elf ears had to make way to the blue speedy spikeball.

The gameplay is very much the standard platform hopping type of thing. You can jump, kick and punch. Simple huh? To spice things up you can save up and buy a helicopter, motorbike or even a pogo stick to get across the levels quicker. The one twist here is when you get to the end of level bad guy you don’t fight him in the traditional way, rather challenge them to a game of rock, paper, scissors!! Alex Kidd controls a little awkwardly and the level design isn’t anywhere near as cleverly designed as a Mario platformer. The one hit and die mechanics seem a little harsh at times too. Still all the elements come together to make a charming and fun game, just not a classic. Our advice is to try this if you are curious. It is a slice of Sega history so if only for that reason worth a look.