Wonderboy in Monsterland
| Developer: Images Design | Graphics: |
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| Publisher: Activision | Sound: |
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| Year: 1989 | Difficulty: |
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| Genre: Platformer | Lastability: |
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| Number of players: 1 | Rating: |
6/10 | |
Wonder Boy is a Japanese platformer released in arcades in 1986. Its NES adaptation, Hudson’s Adventure Island, spawned a pretty cool spin-off series.
The sequel to Wonder Boy, Wonder Boy in Monster Land (arcade, 1987), sometimes called Super Wonder Boy, sprinkles in RPG elements: money to collect, shops to visit for gear, a smattering of dialogue, and medieval settings.
Behind its dated and childlike façade lies a genuinely dynamic and inventive game, far more enjoyable, for me, than the polished Western titles like Leander, Lionheart, or Unreal. Why? Because it’s got pace; because your character evolves, buying weapons and armour; because the constant discovery of new items and monsters keeps things engaging.
Its somewhat late Amiga port is largely indistinguishable from the Atari, NES, and Master System versions. A hideous interface takes up much of the play area, and the loading times are maddening; stick with the arcade version via emulator.
In the meantime, the series continued with Wonder Boy 3: Monster Lair (arcade, 1988), Wonder Boy 3: The Dragon’s Trap (Master System, 1989), Wonder Boy in Monster World (Sega Genesis, 1991), Monster World 4 (Sega Genesis, 1994), and more recently, Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom (PC, 2019).
Not to mention the countless ports and compilations, complete with title variations, to keep us even more confused… Cohesive? Nah, it’s Japanese!
Finally, a particularly well-crafted remake of the Master System classic came out: Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap (2017), as well as a counterf, sorry, a tribute: Aggelos (2018).
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