8 Video Game Product Placements So Good We Bought In

5. Alex Kidd In High-Tech World

Lunafreya Final Fantasy XV Cup Noodles
SEGA

Outside Japan, the vulture-punching Alex Kidd is probably best remembered for his rock-paper-scissors 'n' roll adventure baked into European Master System hardware. Lesser know is that SEGA's dearly-departed encephalitic original mascot actually starred - nominally - in five more adventures of varying grades of mediocrity.

The fourth Master System outing, Alex Kidd: High-Tech World, sees our eponymous hero desperately try to piece together the map for a spangly new arcade that's just opened up in town. You can hardly blame his enthusiasm, given the sheer mundanity of his methods; the game asks the player to perform household chores to earn a slice of the cipher.

After an hour or so running tedious errands, Alex eventually makes his way to coin-op heaven. Fittingly, the ending is very much from the Jim Bowen "here's what you could have won" genre, depicting young Kidd having the time of his life in an Outrun cabinet. Pretty much everyone playing could empathise.

Editorial Team
Editorial Team

Benjamin was born in 1987, and is still not dead. He variously enjoys classical music, old-school adventure games (they're not dead), and walks on the beach (albeit short - asthma, you know). He's currently trying to compile a comprehensive history of video game music, yet denies accusations that he purposefully targets niche audiences. He's often wrong about these things.