Quick look really sold me with the updated art, but I was a big fan of the original. I think this will really help bulk out that Switch catalogue for anyone finding themselves wanting of things to play on it.

Big fan of the original, I've been looking forward to this since Omar announced he was going to rewrite it. I'm hoping this leads to people acknowledging the original, because it deserves some praise.

Holy shit! How did I miss this? This is one of my favorite games ever. I'm wary of updated art. The original was a gorgeous game. Especially considering it's 8-bit. Sega Master System games need more love. The music is phenomenal!

I thought the game looked great in the quicklook so I'll definitely be getting the Switch version.

Where is this Quick Look? I can't find it.

Sorry it was an EX..er whatever it's called now.

I had never even heard of the original but want to check it out after seeing how much love the developers put into the project.

PS4, Switch and Xbox? Gah! I need a PC version. The new art looks inoffensive. I wonder if they did away with charm points or haven't implemented them yet, or if he was just debugging them away because a couple times when he visits stores as Lizard man there were items he shouldn't be able to see yet. Kind of sad to see you can see secret doors now. I went through this game pressing up everywhere to find all the secret doors. The one above the other door eluded me for ages. I eventually went in it by mistake. (And he goes in it in this, uhh, not-quick-look-ex! It sells the magic items which normally are only available as drops. They're fairly powerful, which is why there are charm points usually preventing you from buying them too early on.)

@sinusoidal: June.

I had never seen that door before, also I wish I'd known the doors were locked behind charm stones.

Day one purchase for me on Switch. I only played one of the Genesis games in this series (don't remember which one) but the art style appeals to me and I love old-school platformers. The ability to swap between the new and old graphics is really cool too.

I'd like it

Never heard of it before the QL, but looks great and will be picking it up on PC.

Woot!

Charm Stones were easy to farm. There were a few different places you could get guaranteed drops or from chests - which replenish when you put in a password. No play through of The Dragon's Trap is complete without 99 charm stones! Different armor and animal forms have different base charm too, so there was this cool mix-and-match sub-game going on the background to try and get enough charm points to buy decent gear as early as possible. This game has a surprising amount of depth.

@sinusoidal: Yeah, I'm aware, it's just the copy I had no manual, and the game came out the year I was born, so it was less, we have discovered this knowledge, and more Westone-ing to find doors, then not understanding how to open them in an actual play through.

I definitely like the visuals, not sure if the gameplay is compelling enough.

Here's a hot take on some of the original Wonder Boy games.

This how I played Monsterland on my Amstrad 464:

I always thought it was very elegant solution and presentation for such limited hardware.

I once died in the final battle in ML due to a time run out, after I'd beaten Meka Dragon.

I had half a pip of health, and defeated the boss with like three seconds left, turns out the boss death animation was included in the timer, so I died. (I have footage)

The bosses are a bit samey, but the controls are tight, the level design is amazing and there's a lot of variety in how each animal form controls. Then there are the armor, shields and swords that have to be bought and found, some of which have different effects. Secret doors and chests. Swimming, flying, wall climbing. This game was way ahead of its time. The video does not do this game justice.

I've never played The Dragon's Trap, but I'm a big fan of Wonder Boy in Monster Land (its predecessor) so I will definitely check this out!

My experience with Wonder Boy comes solely from the collection on PS3, which I never played through but got a good amount out of each game. The new artwork has really sold me on diving deep into this one. I'm sure it helps that Shovel Knight and Blaster Master were so great on the Switch so I'm jonesing for more retro platformers!

I've played some of the Wonder Boy games, but never beat any of them. I think I got the furthest in Monster World IV. But yes I am really looking forward to this release, whenever it comes out on PC.

I went for the PS4 version. I'm quite sold on the visuals alone, some of the music's especially catchy. It doesn't feel quite as snappy as Shovel Knight, that being my most recent "old school" platformer, but I'm slowly getting the hang of it. I guess they couldn't really change the core gameplay too much anyway, since I imagine this plays pretty identical to the original, especially with the retro look turned on (which still is a fun function, even with a whole lot of other games having acquired it).

But, uh...did this always have a hard as balls difficulty? Or do I just need to adjust back to that era of video game difficulty? I got the Mouse form and I feel like everything is slapping me around and I'm also getting slapped myself just about every time I try to hit enemies. There's a "shield" action in the help menu, but the button for it is crossed over for whatever reason? I guess I need to find a shield item for that or something, since I've certainly bought a few of shields from the stores by now. Seems the shield blocks projectiles just when I'm standing, don't know if that becomes a thing you can just do with a button eventually? Not being able to hit upwards with your regular attack is also definitely a thing I need some time getting used to.

Also fuck those clouds with their sunglasses, especially the ones that drop those projectiles that follow you around.

Loads of hype from me for this game. I played the original back in 1989 on the Master System and am really looking forward playing it again in both art styles and varying difficulties. I'm not expecting compelling and immersive gameplay or story, I'm just looking forward to revisiting an old favourite 28 years on.

The mouse is probably the hardest form to play as because your sword is so short and enemies move so fast, you often get hit before you manage to hit them; however, once you have mouse form, there are some great new armors, shields and swords you can find and buy that will really up your effectiveness. If you don't have the charm points, the best place to get charm stones isn't too far from where you became a mouse. Not being able to attack upwards is intentional. You'll get that ability later on.

He sure is, I feel sorry for him getting wrecked by just about everything. But I struggled through and got the Piranha-Man. Was a bit confused after that, when I got to the first Altar that allowed me to change forms (grabbed the Thunder Ring along the way...) and really wasn't sure where to head after that...but apparently I had missed a destructible block since just about I got the Mouse-man, which lead me to the first Altar. That kinda would've made my life a lot easier earlier...

I had to google up Charm Stones from the original game, because I haven't seen any of those drop. I just assume those aren't a thing anymore, because I've seen lots of equipment at the shop keeper, just haven't been able to afford it all.

Shield button being, do not press a button. french logic.

Played it last night for an hour or so and was pretty quickly transported to my 10 year old self. This was without a doubt my favourite game on the Master System and one of the select few games that I purchased after a video store rental left such a strong impression. It's the game I remember with a fresh coat of paint and that fresh coat of paint is amazing. So glad they did this.

80s Japanese logic, it matches the original game. Also remember that the SMS only had directions + 2 buttons, so with jump and attack their ain't much left to play with.

@radaxian: it was a comment on how the button prompt in the manual was a crossed out button.

It reads as do not press a button-button as opposed to stay still.

Got the second last form, but I don't know about this. I can't recall the last time I had this big of a love/hate relationship with a game. It's so crazy frustrating to get hit by every possible enemy almost all the time, even if it necessarily doesn't kill you because you have 5-6 hearts ranked up and some of the enemies don't do that much damage. To me it just shouts out "Oh boy, you really suck at this game!" which I guess might be true, but that doesn't really help! I only beat the boss shown in the GB video because I had two restoration bottles and a few items, yet I was still left with only half a heart in the end.

I can't recall Shovel Knight been this frustrating and that game still pushed me way out of my modern comfort zone when I played it. It did have it's few moments that kinda made me mad, but eventually I finished the damn thing...eh, maybe I'll do it with this one eventually. Actually, as I'm typing this, I guess you can switch to the Easy difficulty by making a new slot and just restoring your progress with the password system. Maybe that makes this a bit less painful for me, even if it slices off some of the challenge.

I still love the visual style/music and enjoy the basic gameplay, even if it keeps kicking my ass frequently. I hope this sells well and gives Lizardcube a chance to work on new projects in the future.

@glots: There's a lot of timing involved in when to press the button as you approach an enemy. You almost have to preemptively attack. The second-last form lion? has a slower attack than most because he swings his sword from the top to bottom instead of the poke of every other form. If you're having trouble now, the final dungeon is going to kick your ass. Just be sure to explore thoroughly to find the best equipment you can.

Aha, thanks, I miss manuals :(

I am so sad that the PC version isn't until June

I'm actually glad. Still trying to play some of the great games already out this year, need more time not more good games ^_^

@sinusoidal Well, I think I'm at least improving after each time I rant here, so maybe that's the solution to my problems! Vampire Dragon kicked my ass, though. He didn't even seem that hard in comparison to the two bosses before him, in fact the way to him was more difficult. Only problem was that I did so little damage that I eventually got too sloppy and died. Also eff his design with that happy face on his body.

In relation to the above, I kinda wish there'd be an exit in the beginning of each boss dungeon. I ended up in the above one by accident and didn't really have any choice but to try and push through then. Guess I should just remember that a locked door leads to one 9 times out of 10.

Someone also finally put up my favourite jam!

Oh. Didn't expect the boss I fought to be the last one, don't know if there's a bonus one. Kinda expected to fight Meka-Dragon again.

Clocked in about six hours, probably could add a few more to that if I had done all the form specific rooms. Not the longest game, but guess one shouldn't expect a remake of a 1989 action/platformer to be 20 hours long. Still hoping that Lizardcube gets to do a new project, either by giving the same treatment to some other old classic or doing a completely new one.

Just Bought this game never had any nostalgia towards wonder boy i didn't even know it was a thing but this game is right up my alley it's a real Great remake can only recommend this one !