Monster World

Rumor: “Wonder Boy Collection” rated by the ESRB for Nintendo Switch and Playstation 4

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Continuing the trend of Wonder Boy (aka Monster World) getting a lot of love as of late, there is likely a new collection of the games that will be revealed soon. As revealed by this ESRB description, Wonder Boy Collection is a collection of four of the Wonder Boy/Monster World titles, with versions for the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch cited on the page. While the page doesn’t list the individual games, the description makes mention of alcohol like beer and cocktails being sold in a shop, which is likely a reference to Wonder Boy in Monster Land where one of the shopkeepers is a bartender lizard.

No other information has been revealed, such as pricing or other features, but the existence of this page implies that Wonder Boy Collection is far into development and will be released soon.

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“Wonder Boy – Asha in Monster World” Announced for PS4 and Nintendo Switch With Original Development Team

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A new entry to the Wonder Boy/Monster World called Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World has been announced has been announced for Playstation 4 and Nintendo Switch with the original developers attached to the project.

The game features Asha, the protagonist returning from Monster World IV for Sega Mega Drive along with her flying blue Pepelogoo as they set on an adventure to save the world and will be fully dubbed with characters described as “lively and chatty”.

Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World will be developed by the Artdink studio in conjuction with ININ Games, with several members of the original Wonder Boy team which includes the series creator, Ryuichi Nishizawa, original composer Shinichi Sakamoto, character designer Maki Ozora, and cheif creative officer Takanori Kurihara.

The full reveal for Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World is expected to be shown during the Gamescom Awesome Indies digital event at 7:00 p.m. CEST on Saturday 29th of August.

[Source: IGN Spain]

 

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Rumor: New Monster World IV remake in the works, will be announced at GDC 2020

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While the build up to GDC 2020 has been steady up to it’s March 16th opening, the official website has been updated with a list of exhibits detailing the latest games from different developers. However when browsing the list of developers and games, one currently unannounced title is listed as “Wonder Boy Universe: Asha in Monster World“. No specifics have been detailed on this title, but the name implies that it will be related to the Mega Drive game Monster World IV and is confirmed to be developed by Studio Artdink. Artdink for reference is a development studio best known for the A-Train series of train simulator titles, along with experimental games such as No One Can Stop Mr. Domino and Aquanaut’s Holiday.

We likely won’t get any official word until GDC 2020 officially opens, but in the meanwhile you can play the original Monster World IV on the SEGA Genesis Mini to pass the time.

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Final 12 Mega Drive/Genesis Mini Lineup Revealed Including Darius MD and Tetris, Accessories

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It’s the last 10– no wait… 12! Yes, the last 12 games set for the SEGA Genesis Mini and the SEGA Mega Drive Mini in all territories. SEGA has recently showcased on their most recent livestream the remaining games in the collection along with some other tidbits on accessories you can purchase for your miniature system including a carrying case as well as the ability to “dress up” your system in the tower of power with an attachable (non-functioning) SEGA CD and 32X units along with miniature cartridges of Sonic 1 and Sonic & Knuckles (Actual games not included) to your system. The last two games, Darius MD and Tetris appear as special bonus games. Darius’s inclusion is notable in that this conversion was never before produced and the mini system features official support from the Tetris Company to include the ultra rare Mega Drive conversion of SEGA’s Arcade Tetris.

[Source: SEGA of America Twitter, SEGA Mega Drive Mini Livestream]

Click below to reveal the last remaining titles in the line up as well as pictures of the accessories shown during the livestream.

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SEGA AGES Wonder Boy in Monster Land releasing on May 30th in Japan

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After SEGA has officially revealed information regarding to the upcoming SEGA AGES Wonder Boy in Monster Land, we finally have an official release date. SEGA AGES Wonder Boy in Monster Land is scheduled for a Japanese release on May 30th, or next Thursday as of this writing. As usual with the SEGA AGES titles, it will be priced at ¥925 (roughly $8.50) on the Japanese Nintendo eShop, and it will contain bonus content such as three separate challenges and options with the wiggle joystick trick, such as the ability to map it to a button or to disable it and challenge leaderboards.

[Source: Official Website]

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Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap introduces Wonder Boy and Wonder Girl

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The latest information regarding to Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap, and this time it’s showing off not only the titular Wonder Boy (aka Hu-Man), but also a female counterpart named Wonder Girl (aka Hu-Girl). Players have the option to freely switch between male and female versions by talking to everyone’s favorite smoking pig, and just like everything else in the game Wonder Girl will receive 8-bit sprites when switching to the “retro” style.

In addition, the official Playstation Blog post for the game goes into more details over concept designs for Wonder Boy/Wonder Girl and the animal transformations. The character designs were originally viewed from their sprite counterpart and given a modern interpretation, and adjusted several times until finalized to what we see in the final product. Wonder Boy and Wonder Girl in particular going though several revisions, partially because of Wonder Boy receiving several interpretations between games and versions.

Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap is slated for a Playstation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch release on April 18th, with a PC version arriving on an unspecified later date in 2017.

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Wonder Boy Returns, a remake of Wonder Boy coming to Steam

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The Wonder Boy/Monster World series has been getting an abnormal amount of love recently. On top of the new installment Monster Boy and The Cursed Kingdom and the remake of the SEGA Master System game Wonder Boy III: The Dragons Curse (which we wrote an article about), a new remake of the first Wonder Boy by Cyberfront Korea has been announced and set for a fall release on Steam called Wonder Boy Returns.

Long before the franchise became the copyright hell it’s known as today, the first Wonder Boy was a modest arcade game, with the goal to simply reach the end and chuck axes when necessary while collecting fruit to prevent your stamina from running out, with the simply premise of the titular Wonder Boy saving his girl Tina. Now enjoy the same experiences of the first Wonder Boy title with… erm… “modernized” visuals and music that really stresses the conventions of modern day PC gaming. But the interesting part though is that unlike the other revivals and remakes, this one actually does have a SEGA copyright with the game. Truly associating themselves with the highest quality games possible was their priority with this one.

[Source: Gaming on PC]

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Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s Trap remake revealed

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2016 continues to be the year of retro revivals, as a remake of the SEGA Master System classic Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s Trap has just been announced. Published by DotEmu and developed by Lizardcube and based on Westone Bit Entertainment’s original game, the Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s Trap remake is said to be made with the blessing of LAT and the cooperation of series creator Ryuichi Nishizawa. The game seemingly has no connecting with Wonder Boy and the Cursed Kingdom, despite also being made in cooperation with Ryuichi Nishizawa.

Interestingly, no mention of SEGA is made anywhere on the remake’s site, despite SEGA seemingly owning Wonder Boy. However, it is noted on the game’s website that “with the help of Ryuichi Nishizawa (Westone), Shinji Fujiwara (LAT), and a relentless commitment of DotEmu to untangle a bunch of documents covered in pixellated dustwebs, we have licensed the IP to create this new version (a first since 1994).”

The game has an unknown release date, and platforms are listed as consoles and PC. Check out the trailer above, and after the break read the full press release and check out some screenshots and artwork. More news on the remake as we hear it!

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SEGA Retrospective: From Wonder Boy to Monster World to Adventure Island and beyond

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Over the years, video game franchises have come in many styles. Platforming, fighting, puzzle, shooting, the list is never ending. But one thing many franchises have in common is that they have to start somewhere, setting up the foundation for future titles to follow up and improve on. However, on occasion, something happens down the line that causes the franchise to become twisted, causing things to become complicated. Copyright issues might make the prospect of new titles impossible so spiritual successors might be necessary (For example Bayonetta being the successor to Devil May Cry), or the franchise suffers from an identity crisis when localized like with Puyo Puyo, or games having inconsistent releases cause confusion like the infamous Final Fantasy I to VI problem.

By far one of the most curious cases is with a franchise called Wonder Boy (Aka Monster World).

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SEGA Games That Are Celebrating Big Anniversaries in 2016

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SEGA has created some highly popular and cult classic series of games that have stuck with people over the years. While most of you guys already know that Sonic the Hedgehog is celebrating his big 25th Anniversary this year, many other games get ignored because they aren’t as relevant as they used to be. Today we will list those mostly ignored video game franchises we all love. Did your favorite game make our list?

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Swingin’ Report Show #83: Monster Boy And The Cursed Kingdom Developer Interview

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Refresh your podcast playlists, because the SEGAbits Swingin’ Report Show podcast is BACK! On this episode George and Barry are joined by Fabien Demeulenaere, Director of Game Atelier, the French game studio working on the upcoming Monster Boy And The Cursed Kingdom. If that title sounds familiar, it is because Monster Boy is both a revival and sequel in the Wonder Boy/Monster World franchise, due out later this year to Playstation 4, Xbox One, and PC platforms.

In this exclusive first podcast interview for Fabien, he walks us though how the game transformed from a fan project to an official title in the franchise and talks about how the game both celebrates the franchise’s past and moves it into modern gaming. If you ever played a Wonder Boy or Monster World game on the Master System, Genesis, Mega Drive – or any other platform for that matter – this interview is a must listen.

Follow Monster Boy’s development by checking out their official site.

[Download] [RSS] [iTunes] [Archive]

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New Wonder Boy/Monster World game: Monster Boy and the Wizard of Booze announced

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The original creator of the Wonder Boy/Monster World series, Ryuichi Nishizawa, is working together with Game Atelier and FDG Entertainment to make a new game in the series called Monster Boy and the Wizard of Booze. Series composer Shinichi Sakamoto also returns for this new game. It doesn’t look like SEGA is involved, but it’s still very exciting news nonetheless.

This new sequel seems to have a lot in common with Game Atelier’s cancelled Kickstarter game Flying Hamster II, which was going to be a tribute to the Monster World series. It’s especially easy to compare the UI in the two games, and the silhouettes on the Monster Boy teaser site also look a lot like the transformations seen in Flying Hamster II. So it looks like that stuff from that game will be re-purposed for Monster Boy. You can expect the game later this year for PC, Playstation 4, and other unannounced platforms.

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