Last year we got a collection of classic Wonder Boy games, but there was only one problem.  Not all the games were on the collection!  Well they’ve seemed to fix that this year with Wonder Boy Anniversary Collection.  It now has pretty much all the Wonder Boy games, plus all versions of those titles and cool new bonus features.  It’s available to download on Switch and PlayStation consoles, but reviewed on PS4 here.

Back in the 80s and early 90s, Wonder Boy was a 2-D platforming series by SEGA and Westone.  It was a bit more popular in Japan than in the US, but the Wonder Boy series also has ties with Hudson’s Adventure Island games, which were a bit more popular in the States.  For the longest time Wonder Boy laid dormant, but in the past few years, we’ve gotten some remakes and updates of some of the games, like Dragon’s Trap and Monster World IV.  Not only that, we also got a full on sequel in Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom a few years ago.  Let’s take a look at the games on this collection!

Wonder Boy

The first game was originally in mid 80s arcades, and is a pretty straightforward 2-D platformer like Super Mario Bros.  You play as Wonder Boy, a caveboy character out to save his girl from evil.  Break open eggs to find power-ups like throwing axes or a skateboard.  You have a constantly depleting energy bar and if it runs out or you hit an enemy, you lose a life and must start back at a checkpoint.  To keep your energy full, you must constantly eat fruit that appears as you progress.  If this sounds an awfully lot like Hudson’s Adventure Island on the NES, that’s because they’re pretty much the same game.  They just changed the main character since SEGA only had the rights to the Wonder Boy character, not the game itself. I prefer Adventure Island more, mainly because the music isn’t as repetitive.  But I’m not a big fan of one-hit-and-you-die games, so this was never one of my favorites.  In this new collection you can play all versions: arcade, SEGA Master System, Game Gear, and even the SG-1000.  That’s cool because the SG-1000 was never brought to the US, so this is the first game I’ve played on that system.

Wonder Boy in Monster Land

Even though this is an arcade game as well, it introduced a lot of staples that would make the Wonder Boy series what it was later on.  You can get gold from enemies and buy better weapons, armor, and items at shops.  But there are still stages with time limits, so you can’t explore or grind for too long.  Most of the Wonder Boy games would evolve with this game with more exploration and RPG elements, as opposed to most of the Adventure Island games which would follow moreso the gameplay of the original.  This version lets you play the arcade and Master System iterations.

Wonder Boy in Monster Lair

This one wasn’t even in the Wonder Boy collection we got last year.  It’s a bit of a departure, as it’s more of a sidescrolling shooter.  But it looks great and is really fun.  You can play both arcade and Genesis versions here.

The Dragon’s Trap

Here, Wonder Boy can transform into different animals with various skills and abilities.  It’s pretty fun and they even made a great remake of it a few years ago.  On this collection you can play most of the versions, but not the remake!

Wonder Boy in Monster World

In this one you play as adventurer and warrior Shion and since this was a console game, it leaned more heavily into the exploration and RPG elements.  You still defeat enemies in 2-D fashion and collect gold to buy better weapons and armor.  But now you can save your game at inns.  Since this one was made in the early 90s, it’s a bit slow and clunky, but still fun.  Here you can play both the Genesis and Master System versions, and the Master System version is pretty impressive for an 8-bit title!

Monster World IV

They dropped the Wonder Boy from this title because here you actually play as a girl!  This 16-bit SEGA title was originally only released in Japan, but when it was first brought to the US digitally and I reviewed it, I was floored.  It was made in 1994, late in the 16-bit lifecycle when those kinds of games were starting to get really good.  I wouldn’t be surprised if the makers of Shantae were inspired by this game, since both are very similar.  They released a 3-D remake of this one last year.  Too bad that one’s not on here, but since it was recently released on its own, I guess I can understand why it’s not here.

And those are all the games.  Neat new features include being able to play both Japanese and international versions.  But my favorite is being able to view the maps for all levels, just like how you could in Nintendo Power magazine!  You can also toggle how you view the games, save at any time, and rewind with the menu features.  There are some problems with this collection, though.  One is that some of the goals and objectives in these titles are a bit obtuse, but that’s just the nature of these kind of games.  It’s a shame they couldn’t get the Dragon’s Trap and Monster World IV remakes on here, or the new Monster Boy sequel, but since those were separate games and by separate publishers, that may be understandable.  This is the collection they should’ve released in the first place, so make sure to get the one that says “Anniversary” on it!

Kid Factor:

Wonder Boy Anniversary Collection is rated E-10 with ESRB descriptors of Alcohol Reference, Fantasy Violence, and Use of Tobacco. You hit cartoony enemies with weapons and they disappear when defeated, and you just fall off the screen when you lose.  Some of the shopkeepers smoke and ask if you want beer.  Reading skill is needed for the text, and younger gamers may need help with the more difficult areas.

Tags: Game Reviews