Wonder Boy/Monster World
Monster World Logo
Genre(s)Platform, action role-playing, Metroidvania
Developer(s)Westone Bit Entertainment
Sega
Lizardcube
CFK
Game Atelier
Artdink
Publisher(s)Sega
Activision
Hudson Soft
DotEmu
CFK
FDG Entertainment
G-Choice
ININ Games
Creator(s)Ryuichi Nishizawa
Platform(s)Arcade, SG-1000, Master System, Sega Genesis, Game Gear, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, MSX, Amiga, Apple IIGS, Atari ST, PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, NES, Wii, Nintendo Switch, Windows
First releaseWonder Boy
21 April 1986
Latest releaseWonder Boy: Asha in Monster World
May 2021

The Wonder Boy (ワンダーボーイ, Wandā Bōi) series, also known as the Monster World (モンスターワールド, Monsutā Wārudo) series, is a franchise of video games published by Sega and developed by Westone Bit Entertainment (formerly Escape). Beginning with the original Wonder Boy arcade game released in April 21, 1986,[1] the game has spawned several sequels released for arcade, Master System, and Sega Genesis, as well as three compilation titles and three remakes by other developers. Several titles have been ported to other consoles by different publishers under different names, most notably Hudson Soft's Adventure Island adaptation of the original game.[2] The main character "Wonder Boy" was named Book by the developer and Tom-Tom by Sega for overseas editions.[3]

Overview

The first Wonder Boy game is a side-scrolling platformer in which the player must reach the end of the level, avoiding enemies and collecting fruit to restore a gradually reducing time meter. Originally Wonder Boy was going to have non-stop moving as a pressure element, but the designer Ryuichi Nishizawa who could not play the game like that, had that element removed.[3] Aside from Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair, which features similar gameplay to the first Wonder Boy while also incorporating shoot 'em up portions, the other games in the series, referred to in Japan as the Monster World sub-series, focus on a fantasy setting with role-playing elements. Defeating enemies in these games earns money that can be used to purchase new weapons, armor, and items to make the player stronger. Many of these games have a Metroidvania approach to gameplay, in which obtaining new items or abilities can grant access to new areas in the game.[4]

List of games

Main series

Box art for Sega Vintage Collection: Monster World
Title Release Original system Ports Other names / Notes
Wonder Boy 1986 Arcade Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, SG-1000, Master System, Game Gear, Wii (Virtual Console)
Wonder Boy in Monster Land 1987 Arcade PC Engine, Master System, Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Wii (Virtual Console), Nintendo Switch
  • Super Wonder Boy: Monster World (Japan, Sega Mark III)[6]
  • Super Wonder Boy in Monster Land (Activision)
  • Super Wonder Boy: Super Monster Land (North America, Master System)
Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair 1988 Arcade Mega Drive, PC Engine CD, Wii (Virtual Console)
Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap 1989 Master System Game Gear, TurboGrafx 16/PC Engine, Wii (Virtual Console)
  • Adventure Island (Japan, PC Engine)
  • Dragon's Curse (North America, TG-16/Wii)
  • Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap (Europe, Game Gear)
  • Wonder Boy III (Master System)
  • Monster World II: Dragon no Wana (Japan, Game Gear)
Wonder Boy in Monster World 1991 Sega Genesis / Mega Drive Master System, PC Engine/TurboGrafx CD, Wii (Virtual Console), Windows
  • Wonder Boy V: Monster World III (Japan)
  • The Dynastic Hero (US, TurboGrafx CD)
Monster World IV 1994 Sega Mega Drive Wii (Virtual Console)
Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom 2018 PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch Windows, Stadia, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S
  • Developed by Game Atelier and published by FDG Entertainment.

Remakes

Title Release Original system Ports Other names / Notes
Wonder Boy Returns 2016 Windows PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch
  • Remake of Wonder Boy.
  • Wonder Boy Returns Remix on Nintendo Switch
  • Developed and published by CFK.[7]
Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap 2017 PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android[8]
  • Remake of Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap.
  • Developed by Lizardcube and published by DotEmu.[9]
Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World 2021 PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Windows
  • Remake of Monster World IV.
  • Developed by Artdink and published by ININ Games.[10]

Compilations

Title Release System Games included
Sega Ages Vol.29: Monster World Complete Collection 2007 (Japan only)[11][12] PlayStation 2
  • Wonder Boy
  • Wonder Boy in Monster Land
  • Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair
  • Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap
  • Wonder Boy in Monster World
  • Monster World IV
Sega Vintage Collection: Monster World 2012[13][14] PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
  • Wonder Boy in Monster Land
  • Wonder Boy in Monster World
  • Monster World IV
Sega Genesis Classics 2018 PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows
  • Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair
  • Wonder Boy in Monster World
Wonder Boy Collection[15] 2022 PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch
  • Wonder Boy
  • Wonder Boy in Monster Land
  • Wonder Boy in Monster World
  • Monster World IV
Wonder Boy Anniversary Collection[16] 2022 PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5
  • Wonder Boy (Arcade, Master System, Game Gear versions)
  • Wonder Boy in Monster Land (Arcade, Master System versions)
  • Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap (Master System, Game Gear versions)
  • Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair (Arcade, Genesis versions)
  • Wonder Boy in Monster World (Genesis, Master System versions)
  • Monster World IV

Modified ports

Westone, the developer of the series, owned the copyrights to each game in the series, while Sega retained the "Wonder Boy" and "Monster World" trademarks. This created a situation which allowed other game companies to publish ports of the games to non-Sega platforms under license from Westone, provided that they changed the titles to remove all references to "Wonder Boy" or "Monster World".

With the exception of Monster World IV, each game in Wonder Boy series has been ported to other systems by Hudson Soft. The original game was ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System under the name Adventure Island, which eventually spawned its own franchise. Wonder Boy in Monster Land, Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap, and Wonder Boy in Monster World, were all released on the TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine under the names Bikkuriman World, Dragon's Curse, and The Dynastic Hero respectively. Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair was ported to the TurboGrafx-CD with original main and boss characters, although the North American version removed the "Wonder Boy III" part in the title while the Japanese version kept it. Another port of Wonder Boy in Monster Land, titled Saiyūki World, was developed by NMK and published by Jaleco for the Nintendo Famicom in Japan, also spawning an independently created sequel, Saiyūki World 2, which was released in North America as Whomp 'Em.

In Brazil, where the Master System received much popularity, Tec Toy released adapted versions of Wonder Boy in Monster Land, Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap, and Wonder Boy in Monster World under the names Mônica: No Castelo do Dragão (Monica: The Dragon's Castle), Turma da Mônica em O Resgate (Monica's Gang to the Rescue), and Turma da Mônica na Terra dos Monstros (Monica's Gang in the Land of Monsters). These games replaced the main characters with characters from Mauricio de Sousa's Monica's Gang comic book series.[17] The latter, Turma da Mônica na Terra dos Monstros, received a re-release with SD card update compatibility in August 2017.[18][19]

Adventure Island series

Adventure Island was Hudson Soft's adaptation of the original Wonder Boy game for the Nintendo Entertainment System and MSX2, originally released in 1986. Due to the popularity of the game's success on the system, Hudson Soft created a series of sequels with no involvement from Westone, retaining the same gameplay style as the original game.

Other media

Soundtrack

Monster World Complete Collection Original Sound Track
Soundtrack album by
Shinichi Sakamoto, Jin Watanabe
ReleasedMarch 8, 2007
GenreVideo game soundtrack

A soundtrack album, the Monster World Complete Collection Original Sound Track was released in 2007. Composed by Shinichi Sakamoto and Jin Watanabe the 2-CD album was published by Wave Master (the audio division of Sega).[20]

Comic books

Wonder Boy was adapted into two stories that ran in Fleetway's Sonic the Comic, which were loosely based on Wonder Boy in Monster World. "Wonder Boy in Demon World" ran between issues 2-9 and saw Shion, the protagonist who has a dislike of being referred to as Wonder Boy, fighting to save some people while staving off a demon curse. "Wonder Boy in Ghost Land" ran between issues 22-27, and saw Shion travel to a world of ghostly dinosaurs.

References

  1. ↑ "Mega Drive Fan Magazine, February 2, 1992 issue" (PDF). Tokumashoten Intermedia. p. 83. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 26, 2021. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  2. ↑ Kalata, Kurt (12 June 2012). "Hardcore Gaming 101: Wonder Boy". Hardcore Gaming 101. Archived from the original on 30 October 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Hardcore gaming 101 presents sega arcade classics volume 1". issuu. June 13, 2016: 124–127. Retrieved January 29, 2018. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. ↑ "SEGA Retrospective: From Wonder Boy to Monster World to Adventure Island and beyond". Archived from the original on 2017-04-30. Retrieved 2017-04-29.
  5. ↑ "スーパーワンダーボーイ | Wii(R) バーチャルコンソール メガドライブ／マスターシステム 公式サイト". vc.sega.jp. Archived from the original on 2017-12-15. Retrieved 2017-07-17.
  6. ↑ "スーパーワンダーボーイ モンスターワールド | Wii(R) バーチャルコンソール メガドライブ／マスターシステム 公式サイト". vc.sega.jp. Archived from the original on 2016-07-09. Retrieved 2017-07-17.
  7. ↑ Mueller, Joanna (21 September 2016). "Wonder Boy Returns On Steam This Fall Hey Poor Player". Hey Poor Player. Archived from the original on 24 September 2016. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
  8. ↑ "Gorgeous retro remake Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap is coming to mobile next month". Eurogamer. 30 April 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-04-30. Retrieved 2019-05-02.
  9. ↑ Stead, Chris (4 June 2016). "Wonder Boy Remake Finally On The Way". Grab It Magazine. Archived from the original on 29 June 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
  10. ↑ "Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World is a full remake of Monster World IV, also coming to PC". 26 August 2020. Archived from the original on 27 August 2020. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  11. ↑ SEGA AGES 2500シリーズ Vol.29 モンスターワールド コンプリートコレクション Archived 2013-11-06 at the Wayback Machine on sega.jp
  12. ↑ Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol. 29: Monster World Complete Collection Archived 2013-11-06 at the Wayback Machine on segaretro.org
  13. ↑ Sega Vintage Collection: Monster World Archived 2012-08-19 at the Wayback Machine on metacritic.com
  14. ↑ EGM Review: Sega Vintage Collection: Monster World Archived 2013-11-04 at the Wayback Machine on egmnow.com
  15. ↑ "Amazon U.K. Lists Wonder Boy Collection for PS4, Switch". 18 February 2022. Archived from the original on 18 February 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  16. ↑ "Wonder Boy Anniversary Collection pre-orders open March 6". 3 March 2022. Archived from the original on 3 March 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  17. ↑ "Unseen Changes: Wonder Boy in Monster World VS Monica's Gang in Monster Land - Unseen64". 22 October 2010. Archived from the original on 27 September 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  18. ↑ "TecToy celebrates partnership with SEGA, announces new Genesis game | SEGA Nerds". 9 May 2017. Archived from the original on 1 August 2018. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
  19. ↑ "Tectoy - Cartucho Turma da Mônica na Terra dos Monstros". www.tectoy.com.br. Archived from the original on 2017-07-31.
  20. ↑ MONSTER WORLD COMPLETE COLLECTION ORIGINAL SOUND TRACK Archived 2014-02-20 at the Wayback Machine in VGMdb
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