The story behind Sega’s Wonder Boy series is a real mess. It’s intertwined with that of the Adventure Island games, and little of it even makes sense. What’s important is that this is one of Sega’s long running franchises. The original game was released in arcades and on a Sega systems as well as a variety of different computers. It was a moderate hit. Apparently it was successful enough for a follow up. The developers opted to go an entirely different route with this sequel. Rather than building on the foundation they instead incorporated RPG elements which changed the entire focus. This was Wonder Boy in Monster Land. It again debuted in arcades, but soon found its home on the Sega Master System. That’s the version we’re reviewing today. Does Wonder Boy in Monster Land succeed despite the radical departure? Let’s check it out.
While writing this review I came upon one major problem. The story. There’s very little of it to speak of. That’s kind of strange for a game leaning so heavily on RPG elements. You play as the same character from the original Wonder Boy. Tom-Tom is his name, and instead of hatchets he has now taken up the sword. The Evil King from the first game has revived, and has amassed an army to take over Monster Land. It’s up to Tom-Tom to save the day with his new swordsmanship and various other abilities. The plot is pretty meh. There’s very little dialogue for one thing. Either way this is an arcade style release so it’s not that big of a deal.
Wonder Boy in Monster Land is a side scrolling action RPG platformer. It’s not like Mario or Sonic where you can jump on enemies’ heads. Instead you dispatch them with your sword, items, and magic spells. Although you start out unarmed (and with just the clothes on your back) within seconds you’re given your first blade, and from here you’re off to slay some monsters. Upon being defeated they drop various items. Primarily they’ll leave behind money, but you can also get hearts (to refill your health) and boss characters sometimes give you keys. Combat is extremely basic. One button jumps, and the other strikes with your sword. Pressing down unleashes the currently equipped spell. Foes can generally take more than one hit but luckily they’re temporarily stunned with each strike.
Combat sounds really simple, and that’s because it is. Wonder Boy in Monster Land does an excellent job of ramping up the difficulty however. The various areas in this game are divided into levels. Each one of these take only a few minutes to complete except for some of those later on. You can’t dilly dally too long because the hourglass timer at the top of the screen is constantly running out. When it’s empty you lose a life. Tom-Tom also has a life meter represented by hearts, and it depletes as he takes damage. Rather than having a traditional experience points system he instead gains additional hearts when reaching point totals. You can grind a little, but it’s difficult because the timer is constantly draining. You can get additional seconds by finding hourglass items or by visiting the hospital.
Tom-Tom’s life bar isn’t the only upgrade you can use. As I mentioned earlier enemies often drop coins. You spend these in the various in-game shops to upgrade your equipment. You can purchase new shields, armor, weapons, and boots. Shields automatically block projectiles thrown by the enemies. The thing is they can only repel specific levels of attacks. The more powerful shields can block just about anything foes throw at you. Armor simply reduces the damage you take, and weapons lead to stronger attacks (though these shops are well hidden and only found later in the game). Boots are perhaps the most interesting of the upgrades. These increase your walking speed, and allow you to jump higher too. There are even special ones, like the float boots, and let you slowly fall to the ground. What I loved is the fact that every piece of equipment changes how Tom-Tom looks.
If there’s one weak link in this game it’s the level designs. I just wasn’t a big fan of them. The first few do an excellent job of acclimating players to the mechanics, but after that things get a bit convoluted. The platforming for example is a little on the weak side. Wonder Boy in Monster Land demands a lot of accuracy. The physics feel a bit off, and the enemy patterns are unforgiving. Aerial foes in particular can be a real nightmare especially because being hit knocks your character back. Considering the small size of the platforms this can be really frustrating. Thankfully most of the pits are not bottomless and simply have a hazard at the bottom that causes you damage. Still it’s frustrating. I’m an experienced gamer and I was struggling at some points here.
Sometimes Wonder Boy in Monster Land can also be really vague. To complete many of the stages you have to find a key to unlock the final door. This is always done by battling against a boss character which is in a separate room. At a few points about halfway through the game you’re given vague hints on how to progress by NPCs which are found in specific doors. If you accidentally rush through the text there’s no way to see it again. I ran into this problem a few times and had to look up the solution online. Now why can’t you return to the same room if you miss the hint the first time? It makes very little sense if you ask me.
I also really don’t like the fact that you can’t switch between spells. There’s an inventory system accessed by pressing the start button, but it’s only function is to show you what you have. This means that the last spell you found is going to be the one you’re equipped with until you either find something else or run out. Furthermore the spells are mostly trash. You have bombs you can roll that explode. These destroy foes but can also be used to reach secret areas. There’s also tornado magic that travels along the floor, a fire spell that shoots diagonally upwards, and finally a thunder crash that simply damages all enemies on-screen. The spell effects are so small and limited in function I barely found a use for them at all while playing. I never felt the need to spend any money on them.
Speaking of money it never feels like you have quite enough. Honestly this wouldn’t bother me under normal pretenses. I non-ironically love grinding in RPGs. The problem in this one is the fact that you have the time limit pushing you forward. While you always have enough time to fight off the foes in your way sometimes you’re in too much of a rush to backtrack to fight more for rewards. There were times I had to pass on equipment I wanted because I didn’t have the money and didn’t know how much time the rest of the stage would take me. This is a problem I haven’t seen in any other RPG. I blame the arcade foundation on this issue. It’s almost as if you’re being punished for wanting to play Wonder Boy in Monster Land more. The game is too short anyway.
The graphics in Wonder Boy in Monster Land are a mixed bag. On one hand everything is super bright and colorful. The palette is far beyond anything that any other 8-bit console would have been able to pull off. It’s also really neat that all of your equipment brings aesthetic changes to the player. That’s a fantastic level of detail. On the other hand the pastel look in the backgrounds is kind of a turn off. Additionally characters and enemy sprites are too small. Sometimes it can be difficult to make out enemies in areas where the backgrounds have a lot of detail. The visuals are okay but some of the decisions seem really strange. The soundtrack on the other hand is very forgettable. I just wasn’t a fan of any of the tracks here.
