Before the success of its blazing blue hedgehog, SEGA had trouble finding an appropriate mascot to thwart Nintendo’s unstoppable plucky plumber. Most notable were a couple of young characters created to relate to the essential gamer of the time: boys. Their names were Alex Kidd and Wonder Boy. Both were short, wore stylistic dos and sported cartoony proportions, but their games played very different despite the visual similarities. Alex Kidd was more platforming-focused; a seeming direct attempt at a foil to Mario. But his counterpart, Wonder Boy, with his own unique take on the fledgling adventure genre, was way more in line to duke it out with another up and coming Nintendo star, Link. The series was actually arcade-born by a separate developer, but SEGA realized the big star potential and snatched up the licensing rights for its console division. Wonder Boy was especially renowned for his original trilogy on SEGA’s 8-bit Master System, his quirky ability to shrink and his confusing chronology -- first a blonde boy in prehistory -- all of a sudden a blue haired knight.
Mixing platforming into adventure and RPG elements, Wonder Boy in Monster World is actually the 5th and final entry in the series, and what a way to send series’ hero Shion off. It is easily one of the Genesis’ most memorable adventure outings, and by the end of the surprisingly long and engaging quest you will have visited many exotic worlds. You will have amassed a number of magic spells and increasingly powerful weapons and armor and used them to solve a number of clever puzzles. Wonder Boy has all the makings of those three mentioned genres and they’re balanced quite well. And though it could be likened to Zelda, there’s enough uniqueness here to set it apart (it even used the ocarina first).
"Mixing platforming with RPG elements, Wonder Boy has his own unique take on the adventure genre."
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For one, the game plays from a sidescroll perspective. You run and jump through the various towns and dungeons slaying baddies and picking up gold along the way to purchase new equipment. The RPG elements are further in the form of basic stat menu and an HUD of your life meter. Just like Zelda, heart containers can be found throughout the land to increase your stamina, and some are just as smartly hidden – some invisible at first. Newly acquired weapons and armor raise your attack and defense, but your "SP" (special) stat is reserved for extra abilities an item grants you, like boots that let you climb faster up ladders, or swim more efficiently in water. New areas are opened to you as you explore and upgrade, and the large overworld is managed with warp doors back to the central village.
The dungeons are laid out in a familiar fashion: go between floors, slay monsters, solve a couple of switch puzzles, hop a few moving platforms... etc. But while the level designs are sometimes flat and repetitive, the action therein is anything but. A victory in battle depends on the actual length of your weapon and your timing. Timing here is key and boils down to finding the right "rhythm" to stab a line of foes in succession. The later dungeons grow much more interesting in design and execution, including ice and sand physics and Mega-Man-esque vanishing platforms. All the while the challenge remains balanced, except where bosses are concerned.
"Later levels feature ice, sand and vanishing platforms, used to full effect."
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Bosses range from boring in the first few dungeons to clever and intense, but the latter half of the game throws too many cheap fights your way, culminating in an obnoxious showdown with – what else – a space station.
Yes, just like many other Genesis titles of the time, Wonder Boy ends the game in outer space. Spoiler? I don’t think so, because the plot is so silly anyways there really isn’t any solid story to follow. From the outset, Wonder Boy emerges from a sea-side hut and is immediately met by a resort clerk (the game has a unique sense of humor) who sends him away on his dire quest to save the land from monsters... blah... blah... blah... Which is fine. The game is otherwise very entertaining and, honestly, I think a story would get in the way of the fantastic pacing.
There is one hiccup along the road. See, Wonder Boy has a thing for going tiny in his quests, and this usually opens a whole new world to the player, or else turns the existing one on its head somehow. Monster World is no different, at some point you turn small, but it ends up feeling forced. The shrink mechanic comes out of nowhere amongst the rest of the journey, and its potential for new puzzle and platforming ideas is wasted, instead making your sword frustratingly short and your frequency to be hit much greater. It’s a lazy design decision to add just one more obstacle in your way. The only purpose of the "pygmy" armor is for this episode, and isn’t used again. So it’s basically a pointless diversion other than to add length to the quest.
The game looks great though. To this day the bright colorful graphics manage to impress and the clean oversized sprites are more reminiscent of a Turbo-Grafx game than a Genesis one. It’s actually one of the more sleek and professional presentations of its day, though some of the characters animate a little stiff. Nothing feels out of place, even the space station, oddly enough.
The soundtrack is just as good. From beginning to end the music is catchy and poppy and makes great use of the Genesis’ powerful drums. Every town has its own tune, and the final dungeon themes will likely have you tapping your foot at the very least. Sound is standard Genesis stuff, but it is utilized in a non-grating fashion. It’s especially satisfying to twirl your spear – BLOO BLOOP! Yay!
"Wonder Boy is one of the more sleek and professional presentations of its day, and one of the Genesis’ finest adventures."
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Wonder Boy is one of the Genesis’ finest. If you can endure the disappointing pygmy chapter and forgive the horridly cheap final bosses, there’s a healthy quest to experience here. With at least a 10-15 hour first run through, a couple of memorable bosses, an overall balanced challenge and unique level designs, it’s well worth the 800 Wii points. Some will likely play it again just ’cause it can be so charming.
