as a classic Sega fan, I’ve been adoring this: back on PS3, we finally saw Monster World IV see an official translation, which was so cool - fan one had been out for ages, but it was still so great to see
Wonder Boy III: the dragons trap - last gen, lizardcube absolutely knocks the remake out of the park. cartoon style fit, music was mostly great, and I’m always a fan of games letting you switch to the classic version on the fly.
Monster Boy in Cursed Kingdom - fantastic game! good puzzles and boss fights, feels like a natural entry into the series. will absolutely replay this one.
Wonder Boy 1 remake - digital only i wanna say? lot less of a budget here, but quality of life changes (gamesaves in particular) make the game much more enjoyable, nevermind the herculean task of collecting all the dolls. playing as tanya was a cool option too!
Monster World IV: Asha’s Day Out (not actual subtitle sadly) - just dropped and again, not everyone loves the style but I’m just having a blast replaying it. Pepelogo is infinitely more helpful (and cuter) than most sidekicks.
one of the arcade type ones saw a digital release last year or so as well - honestly, Monster Land would kind of need an overhaul, and really, Monster World with Shion is about the last one I’d like to see come back somehow.
so yeah, as a fan of the series, i’ve felt absolutely spoiled these last few years. if you’re a fan of SOTN/metroidvania type exploration, do not sleep on this classic series!
It has been a surprisingly awesome time to be a Wonder Boy fan, and it’s nice to see some newcomers in recent years. I have been a fan since the original arcade game.
I’m currently playing through Asha in Monster World on Switch. It’s not as nice looking as the handdrawn original but it controls well and retains much of the charm.
Also, the lost Westone game Clockwork Aquario is finally coming this year. It looks very Wonder Boy-ish.
honestly, playing it now and i don’t see what’s so bad - yeah, the art style is cheaper than it was for say, Dragon’s Trap remake, but ive definitely played more off-putting remakes. the way i hear it spoken of, you’d think the controls were borked or something.
Monster World IV’s release with a new translation on Virtual Console was probably the biggest miracle on the service. And Dragon’s Trap is probably the best direct (non-remixed) remake of all time, given how it’s so faithful yet fixes the issues of the original through animation design.
The only issue with the revival is it’s very hodge-podge. Wish the original game got a better remake, and Monster Land got one too.
I had no idea that the new Monster World IV was being bundled with an emulated version of the original Monster World IV for the European Strictly Limited releases - on game card too for Switch.
My Life in Gaming posted a video about it and it seems really well handled, okay the front-end is generic but the image options look really promising and I’m almost tempted to pick up the remake just for it.
…But I already have it, unplayed, on Wii Virtual Console, but it’s the PAL 50 version. Is that good enough? Annoying I did a Wii system transfer to Wii U so I can’t play it at 240p on my CRT now.
It would be the art for me as well, I’m sure it plays fine (do we know what engine it’s on though? Looks like it could be Unreal 4 or Unity from its performance profile) but like the Seiken Densetsu Remake, the new art doesn’t communicate the same level of detail that the original art did, and that’s always a problem when translating 240p-era content to full HD and beyond. What would once appear as detailed as it could be in a small number of pixels often looks a bit too much like raw assets rather than what the assets are trying to communicate.
Art style can do a lot for people. Especially when a change can be seen as a direct downgrade to just using the original. Don’t see anyone singing the praises of the Final Fantasy rereleases off the backs of the mobile ports of the snes ones. Secret of Mana is another example as it’s a faithful remake that had effort put into it but is panned for the look. Now imagine how much worse both of those things would feel if they came out right after the other more modern remakes in those series because that’s kind of what happened with Monster World 4.
Not being bad doesn’t make it “good”, and this remake is coming from 2 games that were a bit better than “good”.
I’m excited for Miracle World. I don’t think the new art is as good as the Wonder Boy III and Fantasy Zone 2 remakes got but it looks like it will play well.
It’s all in software. You can fully convert one region Wii to another. But I had an RGB set up at the time so had to be at least partially in PAL mode.
Wow that’s nuts! Since I already messed up and transferred all my 2006+ Wii purchases to Wii U I might as well just stick homebrew on my Wii and convert regions to use S-Video.
Oh man… I recently finished the SMS version with the proper ending (which is exactly the same as the “bad” ending, you just get to play through world 10).
I had no issue with looking up a location list of all the dolls. Still, it was a long, tough game to get through. No way I would be able to do it without a guide and without continues.
World 9 and World 10 especially are extremely difficult, and I got my soul crushed the first playthrough when the game ended at 9-4 and I realized I had missed a single doll.
holy crap, and you went & did it too! absolute champion mindset there, haha. crushing yet unsurprising to hear that the ending was the same after all that work though, geez
