Visit the wonders of retro with the new Wonder Boy Collection. A review
It's hard to believe that the 1980s are over 40 years old. It seems like just yesterday that I was playing the original Wonder Boy for...
It's hard to believe that the 1980s are over 40 years old. It seems like just yesterday that I was playing the original Wonder Boy for the Sega Master System. That game was released in 1989 and has since played a big part in my most nostalgic memories of the 8-bit era.
It's hard to believe that the 1980s are over 40 years old. It seems like just yesterday that I was playing the original Wonder Boy for the Sega Master System. That game was released in 1989 and has since played a big part in my most nostalgic memories of the 8-bit era.
"The collection includes the 1989 arcade game, the 1990 Sega Master System version and the 1993 Game Gear version."
"The first two games follow the titular character as he tries to save his girlfriend Tina from the Mecha Dragon."
The games follow the titular character as he tries to save his girlfriend Tanya from the Monster Dragon. Wonder Boy must fight his way through to save her. The villainous dragon, who has a huge crush on her that he can't seem to get over. It's up to Wonder Boy to rescue her from this jealous monster who just doesn't understand that she isn't interested in him anymore (or maybe ever).
In later iterations of the series, such as wonder Boy in Monster Land, players can explore towns, buy equipment and use magic. You can also get upgrades and items. In Wonder Boy in Monster Land, players can explore towns, buy equipment and use magic. That's not all! You can even transform into different forms using your magic powers. In addition to that, you'll also be able to solve puzzles with the power of magic at your disposal as well.
"The Wonder Boy Collection is a great way to play these old gems on modern hardware."
There have been many retro collections and remakes in recent years allowing people to relive childhood memories or experience these games for the first time without the need of finding old hardware and making them work. Some of these collections are better than others and vary from straight ports to complete remakes. In case of this collection the games have been kept mostly true to their purest form and that comes with all the good and bad parts of those originals since some of the gameplay would be considered somewhat outdated these days. However, as a counterpoint one could argue that if you change core gameplay the game would not be the same and the point of a collection would be missed.
Bliss Brain games has found a median ground by providing these games with customizable controls, gameplay settings to make the game easier or harder and a rewind option to easily undo mistakes and recover. Additionally, they offer a small set of video/display options that might not bring the game into the HD era but do enough to make it look as good as the games did on their old 240p resolutions. All the way from their original size to full screen and you can add scanline shaders as well as curvature to make the game feel even more authentic. You should however not expect a full overhaul of the graphics as seen in for instance the Wonderboy III remake from a few years ago. What was confusing to me was to press the stick in to start the game which took me a few tries of mashing all other buttons to figure out. Luck for me they included that button remapping option.
Sound in each game is authentic, which especially in the early versions can lead to some fatigue due to repetitive melodies but the later games have a more varied selection. Just like the graphics, none of them have been upgraded but instead sound mostly like the original games did. The same is for the sound effects keeping everything authentic. In the menu however there are some nice new remastered melodies that fit the theme of the game well and give a nice fantasy vibe.
Conclusion
Overall, the Wonder Boy Collection is a great way to play these old gems on modern hardware. The four games that are included do all have the same retro aesthetic and gameplay and quite different from one another showcasing the series progression providing a small nostalgic glimpse and a fun way to revisit childhood memories of the old games we loved when we were growing up.
The controls have received enough of a customization option to make them make useable for today's players. and the customization of difficulty and presentation on modern screens is well executed. This collection will appeal to anyone who grew up playing these classics but also newcomers that want to see what all the fuss was about back then. Ultimately however the whole package feels somewhat incomplete considering the many games and the long history of the series. As a result, I ended up liking this collection, but stayed short of loving it.
You can check out the Wonder boy collection now on Nintendo Switch and PS4.
ESRB: E for Everyone
