Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap - Reviews

(4.6)

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25.9.2018

One of my fondest memories of my childhood was discovering that my parents had bought me a Sega Master System for Christmas in 1990, and sneaking into their bedroom to unbox the console and play it whilst they were out shopping. Of course, Alex Kidd in Miracle World was an instant favourite but it was Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap which would eventually steal my heart. The game was probably one of the first examples of the RPG format that I had ever played, and my six-year old self couldn’t get enough of it. I loved the central concept of changing forms into different animals, each with specific abilities, in order to reach new areas and defeat new bosses. Long after I’d moved on from the Master System,to the Mega Drive, then the Sony PlayStation and beyond, something about Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap stuck in my memories and it appears I wasn’t the only one.The folks over at Lizardcube clearly had the same affection for Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap as I did as they announced a remake in June 2016, after three years in development. However, remake suggests a complete overhaul of the game, which is not strictly accurate. Lizardcube preserved the core of the game by reverse-engineering the original Master System code and recreating the game with brand new hand-drawn graphics and a new musical soundtrack. By maintaining the skeleton of the original game underneath the new graphics, Lizardcube were able to let players toggle the graphics between the modern and retro styles with a push of a button. This is hugely enjoyable and demonstrates how much of a difference the new animated graphic style adds to the game. While the structure of the game remains unchanged, Lizardcube did introduce new difficulty settings and some hidden, but optional, bonus areas.For those unfamiliar with the original game, Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap opens up with the final fight of the previous adventure and sees the titular Wonder Boy (or in this remake, you can select Wonder Girl) cursed by the Mecha Dragon and turned into a Lizard. This begins an epic journey through Monster Land defeating a variety of different dragons and earning new animal forms – each with new abilities that enable the player to reach new areas. The game itself offers an open-world environment and encourages exploration to discover new levels, much like the Legend of Zelda series, resulting in a more rewarding experience when players discover the right path. Each character has strengths and weaknesses and midway through the game, players must alternate between the forms to navigate through areas. However, this mechanic isn’t used as much as it could be and it would have been better to see more examples of these types of puzzles.While the game doesn’t feature traditional RPG elements such as Experience Points, it does allow characters to “level up” through the acquisition of new weapons, armours and shields. Another neat twist is that some items are better suited for specific animal forms, allowing players to experiment with equipment to get the optimal stats. Again, this is a relatively simple approach to the RPG genre, yet it is extremely effective. Exploration, rather than grinding battles, is what drives character growth with heart containers hidden in chests allowing the player to increase their hit points for the tougher dungeons. The gameplay can be tough, and the variety of different enemies and attack styles will require the player to use strategies when traversing dungeons. Knowing when to block a projectile and when to fire an arrow into the sky are key skills that are needed to defeat the more complex creatures lurking in Monster World. The clouds with sunglasses which continually drop molten lava balls on our hero were one of the more irritating of enemies in the game’s bestiary, resulting in numerous expletives being uttered at my Nintendo Switch screen.While the game has been released for PlayStation, Xbox and Microsoft Windows, it has proven popular on the Nintendo Switch in particular – with the Switch version outselling all other versions combined. I own all the platforms the game is available on, but I chose the Nintendo Switch because this game is perfect for short bursts of play, making the morning commute into a joy instead of the usual drudgery of sweaty armpits and coffee breath. I only played the game in handheld mode, but the graphics look absolutely gorgeous on the Switch’s screen – I loved switching between the original and modern graphics, and comparing the beautiful work of artist Ben Fiquet against the 8-bit graphics and seeing the depth of detail in the environments. It is truly stunning, and I wish all game remakes looked like this.Fans of the original game will love the remastered graphics and audio provided by Lizardcube, and will no doubt approve of the studio’s reverence for the original game – ensuring that it plays exactly like it did in 1989. It is a delightful love letter to one of the most enjoyable games of the 8-bit era, improving upon the original by adding buckets of charm and atmosphere to the world. As much as I love the fact that it was only aesthetic changes that Lizardcube made to the game, part of me wishes that there had been more of an extension to the main story – perhaps new animal forms or new dungeons to explore. I managed to finish the game within 6 hours – although that may be due to my previous experience with the title – and it would have been nice to have some new content beyond hidden areas. I would love to see a sequel to the title using the same graphics and game engine, but taking the series further! That said, this is one of the best and most heartfelt retro remakes ever, and deserves all of its success on the Nintendo Switch system.

28.4.2018

Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap is a nostalgic, charming platform game that highlights how to do a remake properly by sticking to the original concept whilst improving aesthetically. However, Wonder Boy also highlights some of the limitations with the bygone era of old platform games with a simplistic control scheme and basic AI for enemies. Despite this, the game looks great and the ability to switch between hand-drawn animations and the retro 8 bit look is certainly a welcome addition. Wonder Boy does rely a little heavily on its nostalgia though and those unfamiliar with this IP may well fail to see what makes this game so special.The story begins with a basic cut scene and a prequel set in a torch-lit castle.After a series of simple platform sections, you’re greeted by the first of many boss fights before being turned into a lizard and tasked with navigating various lands to try and find a cure to your condition. The game then follows a semi-linear pattern as you navigate through various levels including deserts, caves and dreaded underwater sections.For those unfamiliar with the original Wonder Boy, this retro platformer will probably feel overly frustrating and simple given the advancements in the platforming genre as of late. A basic attack can be dished out with square, X is used for jumping and circle for executing a variety of special attacks picked up as a random drops from enemies. To try and give a little more variety to the gameplay, there’s also the option to pick up coins from dropped enemies that can be exchanged for weapons or armour to prevent the amount of damage caused and increase your attack power. Whilst the mechanics are easy to learn and even easier to execute, the lack of variety with the controls rests solely on the enemy design and although there’s a wide array of enemies to beat, the simple AI takes the shine off an otherwise solid line-up of enemies.This is especially evident during the boss fights that rely heavily on repeatedly hitting a weak spot (usually the head) to wear them down before eventually beating them. Most have a very simple attack pattern that require you to get close and dish damage but in doing so, can result in difficult to dodge counter attacks from the boss you’re facing. It’s especially disappointing too as some of the design for these enemies are really nicely implemented and in defeating enemies you’re rewarded with a new form that can help you reach areas you couldn’t before but this pattern of gameplay repeats until the end of the game.Wonder Boy certainly hits those nostalgic peaks and the ability to switch views between 8 bit and gorgeous hand-drawn backdrops is a really nice touch, helping to give some much needed variety to the game. Similarly, there’s the option to switch between retro and updated music too and all of this can be done on the fly in real time while playing. Seeing the difference between the original and updated aesthetics really drives home just what a great job the art team have done to bring this into the modern era and for that, the game must be applauded.There’s no denying that despite all the good work done into bringing this remake into the 21st Century, navigating the world can be a little confusing at times, given the non-linear approach to the world map. Often you’ll find yourself travelling in one direction on the map only to come up against an obstacle or an impassable section meaning some extensive backtracking to get back to the hub area called The Village. From here you can upgrade your weapons and buy health potions but it would have been nice to give some guidance as to where to go from here, especially for those new to the game and not familiar with the original.Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap is not without its problems. The control scheme, gameplay and platforming oozes nostalgia but also highlights the simplicity of platform games of old. The unforgiving checkpoint system can sometimes result in a lot of repetition through long sections of platforming and the random nature of special abilities from enemies is a little disappointing too. In terms of game time, you’re probably looking at around 4-7 hours to complete depending on the difficulty chosen and how familiar you are with the game.For those who remember the original, Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap is a lovingly crafted remake that manages to nail the right level of nostalgia whilst updating the aesthetic in an impressive way. For those unfamiliar with the original though, Wonder Boy lacks enough originality in its basic gameplay and platforming sections meaning its unlikely to be remembered for years to come or gain new fans in an ever evolving genre of games.

26.4.2018

Absolutely as fantastic as I remember it being when I was just a seven year old! The gameplay is a carbon copy of the original Sega Master System version. The sounds are exactly the same. The clouds that rain down fiery things are still just as annoying as ever.The new artwork, however, is so brilliantly done you will seldom bother with the nostalgia of the 8-bit graphics (accessible but hitting R2 at any time). The animations give that bit more expression to the characters you already loved (well, nobody really loved Lizard Man to begin with, but he's actually tolerable now).Once I've beaten the game properly, I'll be trying the old WE5T 0NE 0000 000 password out to see if that still works :)EDIT: Turns out the WE5T 0NE 0000 000 password actually still does work :)

21.4.2018

This innovative action RPG masterpiece from 1989 blended superb side-scrolling platforming gameplay with RPG lite mechanics which stands today as perhaps the high point of 8bit console games. Several games from the 8bit era attempted something similar such as Zelda 2 the adventures of Link, Faxanadu, The Battle of Olympus and later Popful mail. But Wonderboy The dragon's Trap stood out with its Chibi anime graphics and sense of humour. That this game has been picked up again for rerelease is awesome. Here's what you get:1. The Disc2. A reversible inlay featuring the updated graphics remake art or the original Japanese anime artwork ( A great inclusion for serious fans )3. A beautiful colour instruction manual4.

9.1.2019

Amazing game. If like me (late 30s manchild) you played the original on the Sega Mastersystem, you will remember that it was the best game ever. This re-vamped version is just brilliant - you can swap between a modern graphics and soundtrack version and the original graphics and sound, or mix and match! Such a good game back then, even better as this updated version. Buy it now!

9.3.2019

Absolutely brilliant! This was the best 8bit game, and lizardcube has done a sublime job of remaking it. If you played the original and loved it, you need this. I would give this 6 stars if I could. Believe the hype, buy it, then go and buy the soundtrack from bandcamp.

2.7.2020

I had this on my sega mega drive back as a kid , the new style graphics and music are brilliant, and you can switch to the old 16byte version and mix and matchThe game play is similar to the original , but a bit smoothertop quality game!

25.4.2018

Love this game, easy live switching to the original version by click the right bumper. A great platform that has held my attention. You can customise your experience with classic sounds and new graphic or any way round you like. Love it.

24.12.2018

Simple amazing!!! I think this is better than the prequel Monster boy, which is also amazing game and in my collection. You must purchase this. Love the drawing like graphics and the music is brilliant. Just have game!!!