Wonder Boy in Monster Land

PC EngineMaster SystemFamicomC64, CPC, Amiga, Atari STMobile

| genre = Platform

| modes = Single player

| arcade system = Sega System 2

Wonder Boy in Monster Land, known by its original arcade release as is a platform video game developed by Westone and released by Sega in Japanese arcades in 1987 and for the Master System in 1988, with a number of other home computer and console ports following. The game is the sequel to the 1986 game Wonder Boy and takes place eleven years after the events in the previous game. After enjoying over a decade of peace on Wonder Land following the defeat of the evil King by Tom-Tom, later bestowed the title "Wonder Boy", a fire-breathing dragon called the MEKA dragon appeared; he and his minions conquered Wonder Land, turning it into "Monster Land". The people, helpless due to their lack of fighting skill, call for Wonder Boy, now a teenager, to destroy the monsters and defeat the MEKA dragon. Players control Wonder Boy through twelve linear levels as he makes his way through Monster Land to find and defeat the MEKA dragon. Players earn gold by defeating enemies and buy weapons, armor, footwear, magic, and other items to help along the way.

The arcade version of Wonder Boy in Monster Land amassed moderate sales, the Master System version received overall positive reviews in all aspects and has been highly regarded as one of the better titles in the Master System library. Reviews praised the game for its colorful graphics, smooth controls, gameplay, and replay value. Other ports received mixed reception: criticisms included very slow multi-load times on the home computer versions, sub-quality sound, and smaller play areas. The arcade version would later be re-released in emulated form as a digital download for Wii, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It had a sequel, Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap, released for the Master System in 1989.

Plot

The plot of Wonder Boy in Monster Land follows the events in its predecessor, Wonder Boy. The game's main protagonist is a young boy named Bock Lee Temjin, known to his friends as "Tom-Tom". In Wonder Boy Tom-Tom's girlfriend Tanya was kidnapped by the "evil King" and was taken to his woodland kingdom; Tom-Tom set out to the kingdom, defeated the evil King, and saved Tanya. Word spread throughout Wonder Land about Tom-Tom's quest, and people bestowed upon him the title of "Wonder Boy".

Meanwhile, the Evil King was resurrected as the MEKA Dragon, who in turn established a powerful army. Additionally, the MEKA Dragon placed mind-controlling bracelets on the land’s various inhabitants and forced them to do his bidding. He also hired the Brothers of Knight (Red and Blue) to do his bidding. Tom-Tom heard of this incident and set off to kill the MEKA Dragon. The game ends with Tom-Tom defeating the dragon, leading up to a cliffhanger for the third game.

Gameplay

In Wonder Boy in Monster Land, players control Wonder Boy as he destroys the monsters in Monster Land and defeats the MEKA dragon. The game is divided into twelve levels, and each of them has its own unique features, items, monsters, and secrets. These levels include towns, valleys, deserts, islands, and castles. Players use the D-pad to move Wonder Boy on the main screen, to enter doors by pressing upward, and to use Magic Weapons by pressing downward. The D-pad is also used to select between various items when in a shop. Players also have two buttons: one which makes Wonder Boy attack with his sword and buy items in the shop; and one which makes Wonder Boy jump and skip through storylines.

Wonder Boy has a life meter which consists of a series of red hearts; he starts the game with five red hearts. Whenever he sustains damage those hearts turn black. When all the hearts turn black, Wonder Boy dies, and the game ends. Players score points whenever Wonder Boy defeats enemies and collects certain treasures, and at certain point intervals Wonder Boy receives an additional life heart. Players earn gold throughout the game in order to purchase weapons, magic weapons, and other items in shops and rooms. Gold is obtained from enemies, while some are hidden in odd places such as trees and clouds. In the ZX Spectrum version of the game, a candle represents the timer. Magic Weapons include bombs that roll on the ground, fireballs that fly through the air, small tornadoes that run on the ground and attack enemies, and "thunder flash" which damages all enemies on the screen. In the game's other versions except for Famicom version, all gameplay information is displayed on the left and top edges of the screen; there is no need to access a separate screen.

There are many items and treasures located throughout the game. Many of these treasures are obtained by defeating enemies and include the following: gold; golden water jugs, necklaces, scales of justice, harps, mirrors, and crowns which increase the player's score; hourglasses which refill the Hourglass Timer; hearts which refill the life meter; gauntlets which temporarily double Wonder Boy's attack power; helmets which temporarily provide additional protection from enemy attacks; Wing Boots which allow Wonder Boy to fly over obstacles; Revival Potions; and magic mantles which make Wonder Boy temporarily invisible. Other special items hidden in the game which the player must find include letters, the flute, various charms, the bell, and the ruby.

The jungle backdrop was overhauled and replaced with a medieval one with castles and caves. As with RPGs, he intended for the player to start with no items or strength, and for players to buy items, spells, health, and better equipment. Later in the game's development, Shinichi Sakamoto came on board to compose its soundtrack; in an overview of the series by IGN, they said that the music "was a sigh of relief for those still haunted by the repetitive loops of the arcade original", adding that it contributed to the RPG style and that would establish the standard for all future Wonder Boy games in the series.

Ports and remakes

The game would be published by Sega in 1987 and released in Japanese arcades. It ran on a Sega System 2 board based on a Z80 processor that runs at 4 MHz, with audio provided by two SN76489 (also known as SN76496) chips that run at 4 MHz each. It used raster standard graphics and monaural sound. Upon its release for the arcades in Japan in 1987, Wonder Boy: Monster Land had slow sales, but it would eventually pick up to become a decent seller. Before Sega published it on its own console, Hudson obtained the rights and program from Escape (Westone) and published it on the PC Engine under the name Bikkuriman World in October 1987. Since Hudson did not have the rights for the Wonder Boy franchise, the story and graphics were changed to fit the Bikkuriman franchise instead, while keeping the same gameplay. Jaleco published a Famicom port in Japan in 1988 titled Saiyūki World, developed by NMK, which spawned an independently created sequel, Saiyūki World 2, released in North America as Whomp 'Em. It was also ported by Images Software for the Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, and ZX Spectrum and published by Activision in 1989. The Activision-published version bore the title of Super Wonder Boy in Monster Land on their packaging artwork. Hudson Soft released a version of the game titled Super Adventure Island for mobile phones on . The Master System version was released for the Wii's Virtual Console service in Japan on , in Europe on , and in North America on . Sega released the arcade version for the Virtual Console, PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade (along with The Revenge of Shinobi, Alex Kidd in Miracle World, the arcade port of Super Hang-On, Monster World IV, and Wonder Boy in Monster World) as part of its third Sega Vintage Collection package in May 2012.

Reception

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! colspan="9" style="font-size: 120%" | Reception

! rowspan=2 | Publication

! colspan="8" |Score

! Arcade

! AMI

! AST

! C64

! PCE

! MS

! VC

! ZX

| AllGame

| 4.5/5

| Amiga Action

| 52%

| Amiga Format

| 51%

| Amiga Joker

| 73%

| Amiga User International

| 65%

| C+VG

| 9/10

| Crash

| 88%

| CU Amiga

| 41%

| Datormagazin

| 8/10

| Dragon

| 4.5/5

| Génération 4

| 88%

| IGN

| 7.5/10

| MicroHobby

| 42/60

|PC Engine Fan

| 19.76/30

| Power Play

| 80%

| 90%

| The Games Machine

| 88%

| Zero

| 85%

| Zzap!64

| 36%

| 68% Sinclair User magazine gave the arcade game a positive review, published in January 1989, calling it a "highly enjoyable" game. The magazine reviewed the game four months later. The reviewer noted the diverse level designs and many "surprises" the player will encounter, and they praised the game's learning curve, saying that it "is well thought out and you really feel as if you made some progress before you die". It was criticized for its long multi-load times on the ZX Spectrum, its jumping mechanics in which the character "floats around", and the graphics which was not as good as its predecessor. The reviewer called Wonder Boy in Monster Land "a souped-up version of Wonderboy, which improves much on the original theory but at a slight cost to gameplay". A 2008 IGN feature listed the game as one of "The 7 Master System Games You Need"; the reviewer said the game "is one of the finest adventures in a long series of [Wonder Boy] games", praising its brightly colored graphics and character sprites, and its sound. IGN had its sequel, Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap, at No. 8 on their list, just missing also being featured.

The game received further reviews and general praise upon its release to the Virtual Console in 2009. Website Nintendo Life praised the game's controls for being smooth and responsive, especially for such an old game. The review appreciated its graphics, especially in its sharpness and usage of color; it further lauded the game's upbeat sound that complements the game nicely, the varied level designs and gameplay elements such as the need to answer questions from some bosses, and its overall execution. It said that the game is one of the better Master System titles that still plays good today. IGN called Wonder Boy in Monster Land one of the best games on the Master System, mainly because of its unique balance of platforming and RPG elements, which the reviewer calls "a winning formula". It said that the game is an improvement over its Adventure Island-like predecessor, replacing the "fruit gauge" with an hourglass timer while retaining other elements such as finding invisible items and discovering secret areas. The review mentioned that the game should appeal to fans from the days of 8-bit and the Master System.

Allgame gave positive reviews of the game. It said that game includes everything from hidden items, simplistic gameplay, fun and replay value, and basic but good-looking graphics.

Notes

References

External links

Wonder Boy in Monster Land at HardcoreGaming101
Wonder Boy in Monster Land at SMS Power!
Bikkuriman World at The PC Engine Software Bible