Do you know this cult Sega console game from the creator of the PS5?

Game news Do you know this cult Sega console game from the creator of the PS5?

What is Kid Chameleon?

For those unfamiliar with Kid Chameleon, it was a Sega title on the Mega Drive. Released in 1992, this game knows how to crystallize its time. The plot also takes place in an arcade room. In fact, a virtual reality game based on holograms saw its boss, Heady Metal, escape. A boy nicknamed Kid Chameleon decided to save all the players by venturing into this deadly game. The specificity of this side-scroller is that the hero can take on different forms thanks to the various modifications available in the game. There are 9 in total if you don’t count the base appearance: a berserker, a steel knight, a samurai, an ax thrower, a tank, a fly, a flying superhero, a futurist shooter and a hoverboarder. They have different skills that will help to reach the end of the level. At the time, Kid Chameleon was often compared to Mario for his ability to break bricks with his head by jumping to collect bonuses and to defeat enemies by jumping over them. The Kid universe is however quite mature and takes place in the present of the 90s. This little gem from Sega is now 30 years old, a perfect opportunity to pay tribute to it!

the beginning of Kid Chameleon

Published and developed by Sega, Kid Chameleon is one of the few games to be released simultaneously worldwide. More precisely, it was developed in California by an American division called Sega Technical Institute, which is directly attached to Sega. It benefited from a great development team included Mark Cerny, the lead developer of Playstation 4 and 5 and Graeme Bayless, the lead producer of Mortal Kombat 11. During its development, the game was known as Dylan Charles: AKA The Chameleon for which he created enthusiasm, especially through the Sega Genesis Strategy Guide magazine. He is named Kid Chameleon in all his appearances.

Kid Chameleon, a particularly difficult game?

At a time when platform games were legion, Kid Chameleon managed to stand out as a legend. It’s said to be the longest and hardest game of all time… just! What exactly? Kid Chameleon is really tough. It is impossible, in any way to save and without a password to pass from one level to another. With hundreds of levels, separated into 4 chapters, it is possible to get lost due to teleporters that can take the player to the very beginning of a level. Without a map available, it is impossible to know whether the teleportation took the player back to his progress or not. The difficulty of Kid Chameleon also depends on its necessity. valid, the precision demanded is such that many abandon the game for this reason. Some passages are clearly concentrated and difficult to die and retry only to be asked to die everywhere, almost randomly, to find out how the level is. The changes are not as manageable as each other, requiring a significant adjustment period. After a few minutes into the game, the difficulty quickly becomes absolute which has the merit of placing the players directly in the bath of perseverance accompanied by blood and sweat.

Quintessence of the 90s

Kid Chameleon loves the 90s. This title is a real time capsule that shows us what it was like to be cool at that time. Only the story that takes place in an arcade game reminds us of this typical environment. The hero being the only person to finish a game evokes a divine sense of achievement, and especially in an arcade terminal, when others have broken teeth there. The hero’s outfit is enough for kids to see him as the coolest: sunglasses, black jacket, sneakers and jeans. On the cover of the game, Kid is on a skateboard and surrounded by all the shapes he can make, representing pop culture references of the time. One of them is inspired by the character of the game Splatterhouse which was itself inspired by Jason from the movie Friday the 13th. The form of the fly named Micromax is inspired by the popular movie The Fly (The Fly in VO) of the 50s. We can also mention the Skycutter transformation that moves on a flying skateboard, which looks like a hoverboard from the movie Back to the Future 2. Full of references and perfectly anchored in its era, Kid Chameleon captivated fans of the 90s.

A side game?

Far from being a failure, this title did not take center stage against Mario and Sonic during this golden age of platform games. Too difficult, even at the time, this title still shines in its originality and in the way it allocates the codes that were fashionable at the time. Kid Chameleon talks to video game fans. The main character, in addition to being very fashionable, is himself a player who can take on the skin of several characters. It describes the player’s place in his virtual adventure that brings him together with so many characters. Although it is not part of the podium of the best old-school games, it has marked the spirits very much and many people are discovering or rediscovering it. Speedruns (timed game completions) continue to appear regularly, which perfectly suits this title’s extremely difficult difficulty. If you want to discover this game, it’s available everywhere: on Steam, on mobile, on Playstation… We can only advise you to try it!