Kazza
Member
This got an excellent OT last year, so I won't waste time discussing the details of the game here. I put off buying it until this week due to hearing about its "8-bit sensibilities" in various reviews (it is a remake of a 30 year old game after all), but a combination of the delayed steam release of the new Monster Boy game, the fact that the upcoming Streets of Rage 4 is being handled by the same developer, and it being on sale for half price on steam (just £7.49) convinced me to take the plunge, and I'm very glad I did.
About those "8-bit sensibilities":
1. controls for 8 bit platformers can be a little slippery (even the Mario games), but the controls here are very tight, and it never requires any pin point platforming anyway (there are no bottomless pits, for instance)
2. some critics brought up the lack of a map as a criticism. I'm currently playing through Super Metroid for the very first time, and with its labyrinth of similar looking corridors, it really would be difficult to navigate without a map. Wonderboy however is much more compact, and the different sections of the world very distinct, so I never once felt lost. In short, I don't think a map is needed.
3. obtuse metroidvania/puzzle elements. In contrast to some reviewers, I never really felt at a loss of what to do or where to go. Whenever I felt even a little be stuck, I just simply explored the world using my new animal form and the way forward became obvious. As already stated, the world itself is pretty compact, so this isn't a chore, plus the more you explore, the more money and items you get from killing enemies along the way. Also, the beautiful new graphics and music make exploring the world a pleasure. The only parts I found obtuse were the invisible doors which lead to a couple of the magic stones (an optional task, which will result in a new weapon). I feel only one of these was really well hinted at, the rest could only be found by blind luck or perseverance (or Google, in 2018 anyway!)
4. I never felt any particular need to grind, as you tend to get enough money and items just through exploring the world. I only did it twice in the game: once to max out my fireballs in preparation for my second attempt at the final boss (not really needed in the end), and the second time was because I was impatient to buy new armour. The game is cleverly designed so that there are some obvious spots where grinding is very effective and not very time consuming, if you do ever feel the need.
5. the difficulty curve was pretty much perfect. I died around 3 or 4 times in an 8 hour playthrough. With autoaving you're never pushed back very far, so I never felt particularly frustrated.
Although I owned this as a kid, I was very young at the time and only have very scattered memories of it (of running up the walls with the mouse, the cyclops enemies etc), so don't have a lot of nostalgia for the game. I had fairly low expectations, with it being a remake of an 8-bit game and all, but really fell in love with it. It even made me put Super Metroid on the back burner (although I have been enjoying that too and will finish it off next week).
Highly recommended. Can't wait for the steam Monster Boy and Streets of Rage 4 now!