In the last few years, several of the Wonder Boy series of games have been receiving remasters and being released on modern consoles. The latest game to get remastered, Wonder Boy Asha in Monster World, takes players through a magical world that is on the verge of darkness. Can its hero, a girl named Asha, save Monster World and become the warrior she wants to be? Let’s find out in this review of Wonder Boy Asha in Monster World for the Nintendo Switch.
Story
In Wonder Boy Asha in Monster World, players take on the role of Asha, a young girl from the small village of Estafan. Asha is set to leave home to become a warrior as she has heard whispers of help coming from the wind. As she sets out for the kingdom of Rapadagna to become a warrior, she finds out that the elemental spirits are missing. It’s up to her and her new pet monster Pepelogoo, to save Monster World from an oncoming evil.
The story is your typical chosen one must save the world from evil that has been used in so any games throughout the years. And as simple as it is, its really enjoyable as Asha travels through the four zones getting to know a bit more about the spirits and what is happening.
Gameplay
Wonder Boy Asha in Monster World is an action/adventure platformer, with super light RPG elements. Gameplay is very simple: Asha uses her sword to slash monsters in any direction and can defend herself from most attacks with her shield. She can also use When she obtains Pepelogoo, she can use him to glide down from high falls, solve environmental puzzles and gains the ability to double jump. She can upgrade her equipment and increase her stats at the weapons vendor in the hub town. As she goes through the game, a traveling vendor will appear in the town selling bracelets that increase her hit points and towards the end game will sell stronger swords and shields.
As for traversing the four zones/levels, each has their own theme (ie, jungle, fire, water etc) and hazards for Asha to overcome, including mid and end bosses. While some of the bosses are easy to defeat by just using brute force, other bosses require a bit of a strategy to beat. It can be a bit annoying when it seems like the boss is just cheesing you over and over, but when you eventually figure out how to beat the boss, it feels very satisfying. I do have some issues with some of the mechanics though, such as blocking being mapped to the down button on the d-pad and dropping through platforms that looks and are supposed to be solid. For this one, I understand that there are areas in the stage design that require you to drop down to area below, but there are platforms that are hovering over pits and spikes, those platforms should be solid or at least have some type of function that shows they are about to collapse.
Graphics
With Wonder Boy Asha in Monster World being a remaster of the original game, the graphics have been updated to a more cell shaded style which makes the game more anime looking, just like in the original box art. The whole game is vibrant, bright and colorful as each world has its own unique zones. These zones are your stereotypical places such as jungle, fire, ice water, ect and have their own unique hazards and environmental puzzles that Asha and Pepelogoo have to solve to advance. The enemy monster sprites, while cool looking, are all a bit basic, some having elemental/palette swaps of the same creature used in the different zones. All in all the game kind of looks like a Ghibili movie and I’m ok with that.
Sound/music
Much like the graphics, the music for Wonder Boy Asha in Monster World also has been remastered and sounds really great. Each of the areas/levels have their own distinct theme, layered with a bit of Arabian influence.
Extras
The game is short on extras, other than collecting all of the life drops, which grants you an alternate ending. No boss rush mode, new game +, etc. However if you happen to decide that you want to buy the physical version of the game, the physical copy comes with a digital code to download the original version of the game, Monster World IV. The digital version however does not.
Wonder Boy Asha in Monster World is an excellent remaster of the original SEGA Master System game. Its remastered graphics and music are great, gameplay is simple yet fun and the story is enjoyable. There are a few minor mechanical issues I do have with the game but they didn’t affect my enjoyment. Extras are on the very lite side and the digital version of the game does not come with a code for Monster World IV, to which if you also want the original Master System game, you would have to buy the physical retail copy. Other than that, it’ll take about six hours to run through the game, which is a perfect length to pass an afternoon. If you are looking for something that is both old and new at the same time, I would suggest picking up Wonder Boy Asha in Monster World (especially the physical edition since it also has Monster World IV packed in).
