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[Oni Link 666]

I just beat the game! It was a lot fun. The ice and wind dungeons were pretty challenging, but I got through them with a little patience. I really took advantage of the genie lamp and just ported back to town before dying. Each time I would get a little farther and I would keep my money, so I could buy stuff and I did better each time (more or less). Learning the strategy to beat each enemy is key to getting through each dungeon and even more so in the ice dungeon, because you can't skip some of those guys. The real challenging thing the the wind dungeon was the conveyor belts. Damn those things.

I saw a few things in this game which I also saw in Shantae, besides the setting, that make me think that someone at WF (even if it was not Bozon) played this game. Those thing are the Donkey Kong Jr chain jumping, the multilayered environments, and the way Asha goes into the little tunnels. All of those things are in Risky's Revenge and are hard for me to believe to be just a coincidence. Still, I think the games are different enough in terms of structure, even if they are in the same genre. I wouldn't say Shantae is a straight up clone of MWIV or that it is only influenced by MWIV.

I bought the other 2 Wonder Boy games on PSN, but I'm not sure when I'll play them. I want to play Wonder Boy in Monster World at least, but I also bought Cave Story + and SOTN. It's been years since I played SOTN and I've never played Cave Story.

 

[twothunder]

I see why people compare Shantae to this. You play as a girl in a Middle Eastern-like setting with Genies and deserts and stuff and it has that sort of Zelda II and Simon's Quest kind of progression, but Mr. Bozon has said before that Shantae is more like the Parodius to Castlevania and that he didn't play Monster World until it came to PSN. And well, I'm really looking forward to Shantae and the Pirate's Curse now knowing Bozon has played Monster World IV.

I remember that Sup, Holmes? interview. Even Bozon was amazed by the similarity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDQUa_96N7E

Anyway. I haven't played Monster World IV. But it seems I should it a try.

 

[ALLseeingEYE]

You're the first person I've seen who liked Monster Land but apparently didn't think much of Monster World, which is weird, because Monster World is basically a remake of Monster Land with the metroidvania gameplay of Dragon's Trap.

FWIW I love every game in this series very much, they're all so different. No two games are very similar. Monster Land is probably my most played in the series, I grew up with that game. I absolutely adore it.



Outside of small sections in specific games (The Dragon's Castle in Monster Land... the stairs...) they are all mostly pretty easy. There is one bit in Monster World III where you need to grind a bit to make the rest of the game easier (right before glagg and gragg) but it's all really smooth sailing.

Wonderboy in Monster World (aka Wonderboy IV: Monster World III) is my favorite in the series. Monster World IV is more of a return to the linear, level-based gameplay of Monster Land than the metroidvania structure of Wonderboy III: The Dragon's Trap and Wonderboy in Monster World.



Your attack range grows with each weapon upgrade you get in Wonderboy in Monster Land, Wonderboy III: The Dragon's Trap, and Wonderboy in Monster World.

Wonderboy in Monster World is especially bad about this early on. Your range is really short until you get a spear or a good sword like Excalibur. Luckily you get a spear in the first village run into.

Example of how your range increases:

Beginning of the game

Middle of the game

Late in the game

Ok awesome, I'm officially convinced. For the record, I have played and loved Monster Land (I have the X360 MW bundle), I'll give WB MLIII another shot.

This series really deserves more love, I would love to create a game like this/homage, but I worry that the interest level wouldn't be high. I hope Flying Hamster 2 does well.

 

[AkelisRain]

Should I play Wonder Boy in Monster World first, before I bite on MWIV?

 

[Ferr986]

Should I play Wonder Boy in Monster World first, before I bite on MWIV?

Story wise it doesnt really matter.

 

[@MUWANdo]

I saw a few things in this game which I also saw in Shantae, besides the setting, that make me think that someone at WF (even if it was not Bozon) played this game. Those thing are the Donkey Kong Jr chain jumping, the multilayered environments, and the way Asha goes into the little tunnels. All of those things are in Risky's Revenge and are hard for me to believe to be just a coincidence. Still, I think the games are different enough in terms of structure, even if they are in the same genre. I wouldn't say Shantae is a straight up clone of MWIV or that it is only influenced by MWIV.

The Shantae GBA demo has backgrounds that were straight-up ripped from MW4.