Author Topic: Wonderboy Series  (Read 18106 times)

Galder

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Re: Wonderboy Series
« Reply #180 on: October 18, 2015, 12:09:07 PM »
Well, historically and due to pure sentimental reasons I'd say monster land :D You could then try monster world (which is very cool too) and see for yourself if you are far away from your 'thing'. Monster world is towards the rpg side and monster land towards the arcade side.

Black Tiger

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Re: Wonderboy Series
« Reply #181 on: October 18, 2015, 12:13:45 PM »
6
I've only played Adventure Island and Dynastic Hero... I used to play Adventure Island a lot on NES and the GameCube remake (which I believe has some varied opinions due to the graphics). I did beat the game though which I feel is a worthy accomplishment.

As for Dynastic Hero, I dunno if I'm really into it, the audio to me is really weak, dunno how to describe it other than it just isn't very exciting and kind of makes the whole game feel slow to me.

I'd like to get more into the series though, is there a particular title anyone would recommend I start with? There are just so many to choose from.

The best Monster World-style game is Dragon's Curse for TG-16, aka "Adventure Island" for PCE.

The best Wonderboy-style game is Wonderboy for SMS.

A great original game in the series/family is Monster Lair for Turbo/PCE. It's best played with two people and has some of the best video game-style music found in games.
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EmperorIng

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Re: Wonderboy Series
« Reply #182 on: October 18, 2015, 02:25:35 PM »
The music in Dynastic Hero sucks. The reskin in general looks very ugly to me, and the series is on much surer footing in its fantasy trappings than the generic anime bug world of DH. If you felt it brought down the action, then I'd say the music in Wonder Boy in Monster World is far more appropriate - and frankly a more memorable and likable OST.

Wonder Boy in Monster World is superior in a few ways - notably, the US version has its difficulty increased (though the game is still on the low end of the challenge spectrum), the writing is better, and obviously the character sprites are far more pleasant.

As for games to play, both Genesis titles are winners (this doesn't include Monster Lair). I know it's hard to think about playing Monster World after playing DH, but maybe you can emulate it to see if you like the changes. I would honestly feel bad if someone's only exposure to the series is the Hudson reskin hackjobs.  8)

Monster World IV is a slight step down from WB in Monster World, but it's a very good game full of polish and personality. It has large dungeons to make up for its lack of exploration. it's not quite a worthwhile tradeoff to its predecessors open world, but it's quite nice - the dungeons themselves are very involving and contain some tricky puzzles and bosses.

World-style game is Dragon's Curse for TG-16, aka "Adventure Island" for PCE.

Since these games are very fresh in my mind I will have to disagree with Black Tiger.

While I haven't played the SMS version, Dragon's Curse/Adventure Island is full of good ideas that wouldn't be better realized until the Genesis/MD outings. While there is a novelty in having an open world, the way things are segmented is a little artificial, since you often need to be a certain form to enter into a new world. While it accentuates the "uses" of the animal forms, it devalues them because you will only ever be able to use them in their own small 5ish-screen area, and a little bit in their respective dungeons.

WB in Monster World is more natural in this regard, as it has a larger world and a more open hub for you to explore. Your access to new areas is determined by equipment that (importantly) you can swap in and out any time, with the exception of the Pygmy dungeon.

Dungeons in Dragon's Curse are mostly long horizontal stretches populated by enemies. They're short enough to not overstay their welcome but they get samey after a while. WB in MW's, while not as involved as Monster World IV, are a marked step up from its predecessor. Comparing the final dungeons alone can show the advances in level design. And the final boss of WB in MW isn't a cheating prick like the one in Dragon's Curse.  :P

Dragon's Curse is a very good game and it was really fun to see an open-world game attempted so early in the series' lifespan, but I think successive games really improved on its formula. It's still worth at least one playthrough.

Black Tiger

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Re: Wonderboy Series
« Reply #183 on: October 19, 2015, 12:40:23 PM »
Trying to be more modern or technically impressive or just throwing in more of anything just for the sake of it is what limited too many games from the 16-bit generation onward. WBIII/DC/AI is an enjoyable, balanced and charming game and is superior to MWIII in these ways. MWIII feels terribly uninspired and more of a mechanical mix of random ideas that weren't balanced to compliment one another. It's like a fan tribute game to the series, instead of something designed from the ground up to be a single solid vision, like WBIII is. WBIII feels like a real adventure with perfect pacing, while MWIII feels like a casual random stroll through someone else's game.

WBIV is a great game in its own right and is another solid well executed unified vision for a game like WBIII is, but it's more of its own branch off into a new series and not as much of a MW game.
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Gentlegamer

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Re: Wonderboy Series
« Reply #184 on: October 19, 2015, 12:42:32 PM »
Monster World is on both Genesis and SMS, right? Is SMS version considered better?

I'm still confused on the series.
« Last Edit: October 19, 2015, 12:44:42 PM by Gentlegamer »

Black Tiger

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Re: Wonderboy Series
« Reply #185 on: October 19, 2015, 01:18:38 PM »
Monster World is on both Genesis and SMS, right? Is SMS version considered better?

I'm still confused on the series.

Wonderboy in Monsterland = Monster World I

The Genesis game called "Wonderboy V" or "Wonderboy in Monster World" is Monster World III. This game received a good port for SMS by a Western developer, but it makes the biggest problem of the original even worse: the tiny range of your weapon. Dynastic Hero is version of this game.

The original "Wonderboy III" game is Monster Lair and was made for arcades.

Westone made a Mark III-exclusive Monster World game titled Monster World II. Sega of Japan shelved it and Sega USA/Canada released it as "Wonderboy III". When Westone got a second chance to make the game for Game Gear, they rebalanced it and gave it the proper title screen. This game was ported to PCE/TG-16 as Adventure Island/Dragon's Curse.
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Gentlegamer

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Re: Wonderboy Series
« Reply #186 on: October 19, 2015, 01:28:55 PM »
Wonderboy in Monsterland = Monster World I

The Genesis game called "Wonderboy V" or "Wonderboy in Monster World" is Monster World III. This game received a good port for SMS by a Western developer, but it makes the biggest problem of the original even worse: the tiny range of your weapon. Dynastic Hero is version of this game.

Ok, I have Genesis Wonderboy in Monster World, aka Monster World III, received as part of a lot from someone at sega-16. Haven't had a chance to get into it.

Quote
Westone made a Mark III-exclusive Monster World game titled Monster World II. Sega of Japan shelved it and Sega USA/Canada released it as "Wonderboy III". When Westone got a second chance to make the game for Game Gear, they rebalanced it and gave it the proper title screen. This game was ported to PCE/TG-16 as Adventure Island/Dragon's Curse.
So that means PCE Adventure Island is an actual adventure game, and not just a platformer like NES Hudson's Adventure Island? Does it use Master Higgins or Wonderboy?

Mathius

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Re: Wonderboy Series
« Reply #187 on: October 19, 2015, 02:43:05 PM »
Wonderboy in Monsterland = Monster World I

The Genesis game called "Wonderboy V" or "Wonderboy in Monster World" is Monster World III. This game received a good port for SMS by a Western developer, but it makes the biggest problem of the original even worse: the tiny range of your weapon. Dynastic Hero is version of this game.

Ok, I have Genesis Wonderboy in Monster World, aka Monster World III, received as part of a lot from someone at sega-16. Haven't had a chance to get into it.

Quote
Westone made a Mark III-exclusive Monster World game titled Monster World II. Sega of Japan shelved it and Sega USA/Canada released it as "Wonderboy III". When Westone got a second chance to make the game for Game Gear, they rebalanced it and gave it the proper title screen. This game was ported to PCE/TG-16 as Adventure Island/Dragon's Curse.
So that means PCE Adventure Island is an actual adventure game, and not just a platformer like NES Hudson's Adventure Island? Does it use Master Higgins or Wonderboy?


^^Adventure Island is the exact same game as the US Dragon's Curse. Dragon's Curse was a port of Sega/Westone's game Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Curse that originally saw release on the US Master System as Black Tiger explained. The character in this game is not affiliated with the original Wonder Boy or its NES cousin Adventure Island I don't believe.
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Black Tiger

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Re: Wonderboy Series
« Reply #188 on: October 20, 2015, 03:51:26 AM »
Wonderboy in Monsterland = Monster World I

The Genesis game called "Wonderboy V" or "Wonderboy in Monster World" is Monster World III. This game received a good port for SMS by a Western developer, but it makes the biggest problem of the original even worse: the tiny range of your weapon. Dynastic Hero is version of this game.

Ok, I have Genesis Wonderboy in Monster World, aka Monster World III, received as part of a lot from someone at sega-16. Haven't had a chance to get into it.

Quote
Westone made a Mark III-exclusive Monster World game titled Monster World II. Sega of Japan shelved it and Sega USA/Canada released it as "Wonderboy III". When Westone got a second chance to make the game for Game Gear, they rebalanced it and gave it the proper title screen. This game was ported to PCE/TG-16 as Adventure Island/Dragon's Curse.
So that means PCE Adventure Island is an actual adventure game, and not just a platformer like NES Hudson's Adventure Island? Does it use Master Higgins or Wonderboy?


The Master Higgins game for TurboGrafx-16 is titled "New Adventure Island", while the PCE version uses a variant of the Japanese title for the series: "Takahashi Meijin no Shin Bouken Jima"". Hudson's decision to use "Adventure Island" for the title of the PCE version of MWII and the fact that the Turbo got the PCE-Exclusive Adventure Island brought over under the traditional Western name for the series is part of the confusion for many people trying to keep track of the overall Wonderboy series. It's already convoluted enough otherwise.
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Mathius

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Re: Wonderboy Series
« Reply #189 on: November 25, 2015, 06:00:40 AM »
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SavagePencil

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Re: Wonderboy Series
« Reply #190 on: June 15, 2016, 05:37:11 AM »
The Genesis game called "Wonderboy V" or "Wonderboy in Monster World" is Monster World III. This game received a good port for SMS by a Western developer, but it makes the biggest problem of the original even worse: the tiny range of your weapon. Dynastic Hero is version of this game.

I'm not able to find any credits for the SMS version of Monster World (and none are shown during the end roll).  Who did the conversion?  Can we add it to GDRI or SMS Power?

Black Tiger

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Re: Wonderboy Series
« Reply #191 on: June 15, 2016, 08:17:56 AM »
The Genesis game called "Wonderboy V" or "Wonderboy in Monster World" is Monster World III. This game received a good port for SMS by a Western developer, but it makes the biggest problem of the original even worse: the tiny range of your weapon. Dynastic Hero is version of this game.

I'm not able to find any credits for the SMS version of Monster World (and none are shown during the end roll).  Who did the conversion?  Can we add it to GDRI or SMS Power?

It was only released in Europe and I believe that it was not ported by a Japanese team. Looks like there aren't any on-game credits. I'll try to remember to check the manual when I get home.
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SavagePencil

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Re: Wonderboy Series
« Reply #192 on: June 15, 2016, 08:30:16 AM »
It was only released in Europe and I believe that it was not ported by a Japanese team. Looks like there aren't any on-game credits. I'll try to remember to check the manual when I get home.

Fair 'nuff.  I've got a copy I can check at home, too...I could swear that I got one with instructions.  Title screen only credits Sega & Westone, but that doesn't mean much.

Black Tiger

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Re: Wonderboy Series
« Reply #193 on: June 15, 2016, 01:32:19 PM »
There aren't any credits in the ridiculously long septi-lingual manual.
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SavagePencil

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Re: Wonderboy Series
« Reply #194 on: June 16, 2016, 02:58:05 AM »
Well shoot.  The only suggestion I might make would be to see if the Monster World Complete Collection for the PS2 (see http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/wonderboy/wonderboy4.htm ) has credits listed.  I don't have that.  In an interview in that same article, the Westone director says that Dragon's Trap was the only one they ported themselves, so I suspect that Sega did the port.

Black Tiger:  do you know where you got the info on a western dev team?