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[Craft]

I'm seriously considering picking this game up. I have vague memories of playing one of the Wonder Boy games for the SMS back when I was a child, but I really cant recall anything about other than the name.

This remake looks great though and looks like it could be a lot of fun, but due to it being a straight remake of the original, is this something that someone with no nostalgia for would be able to get into do you think? It's so tempting.

The reason I ask is I was considering Yooka Laylee - I LOVE that game, but a lot of that is due to my expectation of a Banjo-Kazooie style Rare 3D platformer from the 90's which it fully delivers on imo, but for someone with no nostalgia for that kind of game, they may not see the appeal and find some of the design of that game frustrating.

I was the same, played it on the Game Gear years ago and only remembered mucking around in the village and starting castle.
Bought it yesterday and had a blast, I think it holds up really well and it's not that difficult.
Apart from the

Spoiler

Ghost Ship some of those ghost placements are straight up bullshit.

 

[AgentOtaku]

Fish-Man get!

Done again for the night. Trying to savor this as long as possible (^______^)

 

[moltonasty]

Can't wait for my lunch break today to continue playing, this game is amazing. Probably the best retro remake I've ever played by far.

The "retro" button is really distracting, I keep switching back and forth constantly. When I realized they even included the FM Synth soundtrack it kinda blew my mind. You can really feel the love the devs put into this!

 

[Hubbl3]

Don't forget to play Wonder Boy V: Monster World III (Also known by its easier title Wonder Boy in Monster World)

Its the one I grew up with and is still a great game. A bit more weapon variety too! =D

Though one negative: The end boss is brutal.

EDIT: Forgot to mention something important -- I <3 Cosmic Spacehead.

Thanks for the recommendation! I added it to the my list

And I think you might be the first person I've ever run across that appreciates Cosmic Spacehead too, haha. It was the first non-Sonic Genesis game I played and I fell in love with that damn game

 

[ggx2ac]

But it does so little damage compared to normal attacks. Takes forever to kill enemies with it, and often I'd ended up pushing them back so far that another enemy would pop up to start harassing me. It's 1000000% better than the fireball for sure, but I still prefer just shanking dudes.

The boomerang is the best item in the game. It takes care of the

Spoiler

ninja and samurai so easily in the underground cave castle.

 

[Realeza]

Really liking it. I'm finding it pretty tough haha.

 

[XaosWolf]

I'm seriously considering picking this game up. I have vague memories of playing one of the Wonder Boy games for the SMS back when I was a child, but I really cant recall anything about other than the name.

This remake looks great though and looks like it could be a lot of fun, but due to it being a straight remake of the original, is this something that someone with no nostalgia for would be able to get into do you think? It's so tempting.

The reason I ask is I was considering Yooka Laylee - I LOVE that game, but a lot of that is due to my expectation of a Banjo-Kazooie style Rare 3D platformer from the 90's which it fully delivers on imo, but for someone with no nostalgia for that kind of game, they may not see the appeal and find some of the design of that game frustrating.

It depends on if they can stomach some slightly floaty controls and restarting from the beginning area after each death. Those are the main things that would annoy.

It is in effect a copy of Wonder Boy III with a REALLY nice coat of paint. The underlying game plays exactly as it did when it came out.

Thanks for the recommendation! I added it to the my list

And I think you might be the first person I've ever run across that appreciates Cosmic Spacehead too, haha. It was the first non-Sonic Genesis game I played and I fell in love with that damn game

Best use of a balloon and some icing sugar ever. =D

 

[AEREC]

It depends on if they can stomach some slightly floaty controls and restarting from the beginning area after each death. Those are the main things that would annoy.

I never played the original and I think the controls are great, though I like floaty but not Little Big Planet floaty.

Also the starting over each time you die adds some necessary tension to the game other wise it would be way too easy and trivial.

I hope this does well and spawns a new more modernized entry in the series.

 

[lt519]

Looked fun, grabbed it, having more fun than Blaster Master Zero. The ability to go back and forth between retro is really cool. Haven't made it far enough for any type of frustration to set in, controls are definitely old school though.

 

[Tsunamo]

Just finished up 100%ing my normal run. Those

Spoiler

new areas for the mouse and lizardman are rage inducing. There's some stuff there that's tight platforming and there's some stuff that's rage inducing like the blocks and trampolenes at the end of lizardmans area where you have to not hit some of the blocks to be able to get back and I genuinely have no idea how I did it.

But yeah ignoring that it's a fantastic remake, so much effort gone into the visuals, swithcing between retro mode and the original, the gameplay while still playing like a handheld game still holdsup today and I had a blast with it. 7-8 hours of pure fun and I can't wait to see what the devs do next.

 

[stuminus3]

Just finished my first run through it. It's a wonderful remaster of one of my favourite games. The new art, animation and audio is really great. I'll be back to find the 'Unknown' levels I missed, Hard mode, and of course I'm always happy when I'm playing this game so it won't be my only playthrough.

Those

Spoiler

trampolenes at the end of lizardmans area where you have to not hit some of the blocks to be able to get back and I genuinely have no idea how I did it.

Just equip the

Spoiler

magic sword

for that, you

Spoiler

can't break blocks when you're using it

.

 

[AGoodODST]

Can someone tell me if I'm going the right way?

Spoiler

After getting Pirhanaman I went through the valley, turned into Mouseman and accessed The Underground. Area is hard as shit though.

 

[borghe]

hit up to piranha man last night.

In all of the previews, I wasn't a huge fan of the new music.. but again I played the TG-16 version HUNDREDS of times (ok, maybe not quite 100.. but dozens..) so to me the TG-16 is the definitive soundtrack.

With that being said, the music quickly grew on me. I think it goes with the art style perfectly. I do hop back to the 8-bit version often though, and immediately go back to the 8-bit music.

One thing that confused me was the option for FM audio... I thought the SMS had an FM synth in it.. but I turn it FM audio on and I don't recognize the music at all, whereas off, and it's like it was yesterday..

So I look it up, and apparently only the MkIII had an FM synth.. the SMS only had PSG... ahhhh...

 

[AmyS]

Don't forget to play Wonder Boy V: Monster World III (Also known by its easier title Wonder Boy in Monster World)

Wonder Boy in Monster World aka Wonder Boy V: Monster World III also came remade to NEC's TurboDuo / TurboGrafx-16 SCD platform in the form of The Dynastic Hero with some changes.

And yep, it's also is available for the Wii VC.

http://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/NzN3JDxoFjZqbrHajIwSCMkXWWlQQ9dk

 

[Mudo]

OkI bought this last night and played an hour. I never played the originals so all new to me. Am i supposed to be completely confused on where the hell to go? I keep making it to some pyramids and actually got to the boss and it destroyed me. Should i be there that early?? Loving it though - graphics are astounding and the music is light band catchy.

Also: I did buy some game on my PS3 that i THINK is part of this series maybe like Monster Boy World 4 or something? Is it great also and should i play through that too? I never actually played that game i bought lol. Too common a problem nowadays for me.

 

[bock]

Can someone tell me if I'm going the right way?

Spoiler

After getting Pirhanaman I went through the valley, turned into Mouseman and accessed The Underground. Area is hard as shit though.

While you can technically do this area as mouse-man it's really not the recommended path and really hard (even more so as the bat are annoying to hit with mouse-man).

Try to find the other transform to return back to Piranha-man

Spoiler

it's in the village

 

[AGoodODST]

While you can technically do this area as mouse-man it's really not the recommended path and really hard (even more so as the bat are annoying to hit with mouse-man).

Try to find the other transform to return back to Piranha-man

Spoiler

it's in the village

Yeah just found this and found where to go. Had a feeling I had missed something! Thanks!

 

[JonnyKong]

Considering picking this up to play this weekend, but I've read it has a pretty sharp difficulty spike after a few hours which kinda puts me off.

How are you all coping with the general difficulty of the game, is it not too bad ?

 

[jwk94]

Considering picking this up to play this weekend, but I've read it has a pretty sharp difficulty spike after a few hours which kinda puts me off.

How are you all coping with the general difficulty of the game, is it not too bad ?

Just grind so you have plenty of items and you'll be ok. My main problem was how hard it was, but after some grinding, I think I'm ok.

 

[RyudBoy]

Finished my first run on normal mode with just over 4 hours of playtime. Got every achievement except for the one on hard mode. I'll play as Wonder Girl next time around to get that last achievement.

 

[Moff]

finished this and loved this

graphics and music are stellar, I don't think I have ever seen better 2d graphics in an action game, they just ooze love and charm. but I used the retro feature often as well, they really did an incredible job with that.

I never played the original, but it seems to have been an incredibly well designed game for 1989 and is definitely still fun today

 

[Hot Coldman]

I would also recommend everyone play the two sequels. They're both on PS3 PSN and 360 XBL. (And Wiiware, but those are just ROM dumps rather than M2's best-in-class emulation work on the HD platforms.)

Wonder Boy in Monster World (aka Monster World III) is basically this game minus the transformations, and appropriately better graphics for the upgrade to Mega Drive hardware. It's great. Though it probably feels fairly familiar after this one, it even "borrows" the beach area with exploreable undersea dungeon. It's definitely a worthy successor.

Monster World IV was (previously) the best looking game in the series by a country mile. It makes Monster World III look like amateur hour, so naturally the SMS games don't even come close. It's incredibly expressive in its character animation, and it uses that to put a lot more emphasis on storytelling. As a downside, it's super linear, with each area becoming inaccessible once you beat its boss, but it's a decent trade-off when all's said and done. Furthermore it got an official English translation in 2012, so there's zero vagueness in the dialogue of the townspeople and NPCs.

Of the two I'd say Monster World IV is the best, the combat, graphics, style, puzzles and story are really, really solid. If you like Dragon's Trap a lot then Monster World III is definitely worth a punt too.

 

[Psxphile]

Found myself in the final area after turning into Hawk-man before finishing clearing out the rest of the areas so while I was able to make it through the castle, the Tasmanian Sword wasn't strong enough to damage Vampire Dragon effectively, and got my first wipe (playing on Normal). Oops! Vaguely remembered I could explore the remains of the first castle from the prologue now that I could fly and headed there. Got the Legendary Sword and Armor but not sure about the Shield. Must be somewhere else.

 

[ggx2ac]

Just equip the

Spoiler

magic sword

for that, you

Spoiler

can't break blocks when you're using it

.

Oh, I was mashing the jump button because I forgot the timing but it would let you do a smaller jump off the spring letting you avoid hitting blocks.

Found myself in the final area after turning into Hawk-man before finishing clearing out the rest of the areas so while I was able to make it through the castle, the Tasmanian Sword wasn't strong enough to damage Vampire Dragon effectively, and got my first wipe (playing on Normal). Oops! Vaguely remembered I could explore the remains of the first castle from the prologue now that I could fly and headed there. Got the Legendary Sword and Armor but not sure about the Shield. Must be somewhere else.

Go to

Spoiler

the well at the old castle outside.

 

[Vitet]

Oh, I was mashing the jump button because I forgot the timing but it would let you do a smaller jump off the spring letting you avoid hitting blocks.

Also, if you hit it at the edge of the block, it doesn't get destroyed.

 

[Rukes]

Found myself in the final area after turning into Hawk-man before finishing clearing out the rest of the areas so while I was able to make it through the castle, the Tasmanian Sword wasn't strong enough to damage Vampire Dragon effectively, and got my first wipe (playing on Normal). Oops! Vaguely remembered I could explore the remains of the first castle from the prologue now that I could fly and headed there. Got the Legendary Sword and Armor but not sure about the Shield. Must be somewhere else.

Spoiler

It's there, WELL it's outside to be exact

 

[Hot Coldman]

Also, if you hit it at the edge of the block, it doesn't get destroyed.

also if you mash jump, sometimes you won't bounce off the bounce pad properly, which is how I cheesed my way to victory bwahaha

 

[VanWinkle]

This is one of the best looking 2D games I've ever played. I was instantly taking screenshots constantly when I started playing, haha.

 

[Ladekabel]

Is the Hawk form in the

Spoiler

Daimyo Temple

? Because that area is the toughest one for me so far. Never had a problem so far but this time I really have a hard time.

I have six hearts, Tasmanian Sword, Prince Armor. I stock up on the blue potions but I can only buy three tops. Am I missing something? A shield or armor?

 

[nckillthegrimace]

Is the Hawk form in the

Spoiler

Daimyo Temple

? Because that area is the toughest one for me so far. Never had a problem so far but this time I really have a hard time.

I have six hearts, Tasmanian Sword, Prince Armor. I stock up on the blue potions but I can only buy three tops. Am I missing something? A shield or armor?

Are you using the lion form? I tried it as the mouse first, which was incredibly difficult, but the lion conpletely trivializes the area. There's also a shield in the beach area store that gives the lion tons of extra defense.

 

[Psxphile]

Is the Hawk form in the

Spoiler

Daimyo Temple

? Because that area is the toughest one for me so far. Never had a problem so far but this time I really have a hard time.

I have six hearts, Tasmanian Sword, Prince Armor. I stock up on the blue potions but I can only buy three tops. Am I missing something? A shield or armor?

Use the Muramasa Sword instead, it's stronger than Tasmanian when you're Lion-man.
Master Shield can be bought at the end of the island section, best shield for Lion-man.

You really shouldn't be going through that area if you're not Lion-man, mang. And yeah, you can get Hawk when you complete the temple.

 

[Ladekabel]

Are you using the lion form? I tried it as the mouse first, which was incredibly difficult, but the lion conpletely trivializes the area. There's also a shield in the beach area store that gives the lion tons of extra defense.

Yes playing as the lion. Still taking like one heart and a half damage from the red ninjas. More from the others. Do you mean the beach shop which is pretty much the first destination where you go to?

 

[gingerbeardman]

This game needs more attention. It was a good game, it is a good game and it's the way all classic remakes should be. It breaths quality, love and inspiration. I wonder what engine they used.

As far as I know (credits and personal connections) it uses a graphics engine from Pasta Games as used in Pang Adventures, Pix the Cat, Rayman Jungle Run, and maybe some others.

Game physics/logic/rules are reprogrammed from scratch to match the original game with the help of reverse engineering the original game code.

Production tools and new features are all original works by the developer.

 

[Glix]

also if you mash jump, sometimes you won't bounce off the bounce pad properly, which is how I cheesed my way to victory bwahaha

I am having a brutal time with this part. I cant get the short jump to happen reliably enough.

 

[nckillthegrimace]

Yes playing as the lion. Still taking like one heart and a half damage from the red ninjas. More from the others. Do you mean the beach shop which is pretty much the first destination where you go to?

Yes, it's in the beach shop.

 

[bock]

As far as I know (credits and personal connections) it uses a graphics engine from Pasta Games as used in Pang Adventures, Pix the Cat, Rayman Jungle Run, and maybe some others.

Game physics/logic/rules are reprogrammed from scratch to match the original game with the help of reverse engineering the original game code.

Production tools and new features are all original works by the developer.

Some custom tools made for the game:
https://twitter.com/lizardcube/status/802165431167549440

 

[Jazzem]

Yeah, it can't be said enough how much you'll want the master shield as Lion Man, definitely get it from the beach shop.

 

[ggx2ac]

I did forget the

Spoiler

Magical saber

prevents blocks from breaking when you jump into them as noted by someone else earlier.

 

[Hot Coldman]

I am having a brutal time with this part. I cant get the short jump to happen reliably enough.

There is literally no consistency for it, I'd honestly follow the others' recommendation and grab the magic saber.

 

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

Usually not a fan of buying things on release digitally but it seems like they really put a lot of effort into this so want to support the work.

 

[Lynd7]

So is this a hard game? Does it take long to finish?

 

[Skeletos311]

How many "The Unknown" areas are there?

What is the max number of hearts?

So is this a hard game? Does it take long to finish?

It's old-school, but it's not Zelda II hard. It starts off kind of hard, but gets easier as you get armor upgrades. The enemy patterns are simple with potential to get annoying. I think the hardest part is that the game is really old-school and doesn't give you many hints as to what you need to do to progress, but there are plenty of maps and guides for the Master System game out there if you don't feel like doing some exploring. There is an easy mode if normal is too hard.

The game is pretty short. Maybe 5 or 6 hours on your first run.

 

[DrArchon]

I'm in one of the Unknown areas, and I have no idea how I'm supposed to get through this section.

It's a long corridor with bounce pads on the floor and breakable blocks as platforms above. The idea is that I need to make it to the other side of the corridor to be able to get onto the platforms to go back across the other way and reach a door. But I'm stuck as Lizard-Man, so if I bounce into any of the blocks, they break and I have to reset.

Thus far it's the single most frustrating thing I've come across because it seems entirely random. Sometimes the blocks don't break when I hit them, sometimes they do. Some times I bounce low enough to clear them, sometimes I don't, and for the life of me I can't figure out how to consistently bounce low enough to not break any of the blocks. For the love of God can someone give me a hint or something!

 

[ggx2ac]

How many "The Unknown" areas are there?

What is the max number of hearts?

.

There should be 8 hearts in total since that's what you started with in the beginning.

There are

Spoiler

6 unknown areas, one for each form.

I'm in one of the Unknown areas, and I have no idea how I'm supposed to get through this section.

It's a long corridor with bounce pads on the floor and breakable blocks as platforms above. The idea is that I need to make it to the other side of the corridor to be able to get onto the platforms to go back across the other way and reach a door. But I'm stuck as Lizard-Man, so if I bounce into any of the blocks, they break and I have to reset.

Thus far it's the single most frustrating thing I've come across because it seems entirely random. Sometimes the blocks don't break when I hit them, sometimes they do. Some times I bounce low enough to clear them, sometimes I don't, and for the life of me I can't figure out how to consistently bounce low enough to not break any of the blocks. For the love of God can someone give me a hint or something!

If you have the

Spoiler

magical Saber

, equip that and you can prevent breaking blocks.

If you don't, mash the jump button to jump low when the spring sends you up so you can avoid hitting the blocks.

 

[ryushe]

Wasn't really feeling this game at first. Got mouse-man and now I "get it".

 

[DrArchon]

If you have the

Spoiler

magical Saber

, equip that and you can prevent breaking blocks.

If you don't, mash the jump button to jump low when the spring sends you up so you can avoid hitting the blocks.

God dammit. I can't believe I overthought it that much.

Also, does anyone know where I can get more gear that gives me charm? I have the Prince Armor, but that's not enough charm to buy the unknown mystery item apparently, because the damn pig still says I need more charm.

 

[ggx2ac]

God dammit. I can't believe I overthought it that much.

Also, does anyone know where I can get more gear that gives me charm? I have the Prince Armor, but that's not enough charm to buy the unknown mystery item apparently, because the damn pig still says I need more charm.

I spoiled the list of unknown areas a page or two back. Just search my username in the pages.

Or you can check YouTube since someone put up all those stages.

Edit: I misread what you said, other than Prince Armor, there's nothing else.

 

[KAOS]

Looks fantastic on the Switch!

 

[phantasmic_glaive]

Is it only on switch? I can't find it on psn. I have a switch too, but only physical exclusives till VC comes out. You

 

[AgentOtaku]

I never played the original, but it seems to have been an incredibly well designed game for 1989 and is definitely still fun today

This for sure

I can definitely see why it was so highly regarded if it was already pushing these concepts back in '89
I'm so damn elated that more people (myself included) finally get to experience/appreciate
It by modern (and excellent!) Means (^____^)