The Wonder Boy/Monster World series, a 90s Japanese classic, has already established a bit of a revival lately. Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World from developer Artdink and publisher ININ Games looks to carry on the series' newfound success but, with every remake being produced by different teams, simply getting the Wonder Boy name isn't enough to be a mark of quality. A remake of 1994's Wonder Boy IV, Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World sees young hero Asha embark on a journey to save the planet from mysterious evil forces. With her new companion, a blue monster referred to as a “Pepelogoo,” Asha must visit different lands, defeat a slew of enemies, and solve puzzles to restore balance to the planet.
Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World feels just like a platformer in the 90s, for better and for worse. The game keeps things incredibly simple. Players more often than not move either right or left through a level, combat consists of simple attacks and blocks, you collect coins and collectibles scattered around each level; it is a pretty bog-standard platformer. This is not a complaint, however. Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World revels in the simplicity, giving players a trip back to simpler times.
Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World does differ from old-school Mario and Sonic games in a few ways, however. The game's main “gimmick” may be the Pepelogoo. For most of the game, Asha's little blue buddy allows her to do a quantity of extra actions, for example double jump, glide, released fire, melt ice, and more. Players will likely become attached to the Pepelogoo very quickly, because it makes Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World stand out from other platformers and it is just plain fun to mess around with.
As players defeat monsters, open chests and explore each level, they'll find tons of coins scattered about. These coins can be used to buy upgraded shields, swords, armor, and health in shops. While one could mostly ignore these upgrades through the game, buying them makes things much easier over time. Having these upgrades available makes obtaining coins feel important, instead of just another score increase that most players won't worry about.
Fans from the original Wonder Boy IV won't be disappointed with Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World. The game is a mostly faithful remake of the original, draped in shiny new graphics. For the most part, the game's graphical overhaul works in the favor. The majority of the monsters, the Pepelogoos, and Asha herself look great. When you begin looking closely at environments and NPCs, however, things start looking a little muddy. Nothing hanging around looks bad, per se, but some from the characters just look significantly worse than others.
The game can also be dripping in charm. Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World features new Japanese voice acting making pretty much every character much more loveable than they have any right to be. Pair this using the cute animations that accompany most of the game's actions (I'll always love Asha's little dance she does when opening chests) plus you've got a game that will just generally cause you to smile.
While Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World begins fairly linear and simple, things obtain a bit more complicated as players progress. Levels become increasingly nonlinear and are full of puzzles that is one a bit more tedious compared to what they have to be. The Ice Pyramid level particularly will probably drive players up a wall, not due to the actual impossibility of the level, but the sheer amount of time they take to complete. Unless you've played the game before and understand what you're doing, it's possible you'll miss a lot of important collectibles on your way with the level, which results in a ton of painful backtracking and wasted time.
For the most part, Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World runs fairly well around the Switch. The game isn't everything graphically intensive and never much usually happens on screen at the same time, so there is no surprise there. Whenever you defeat an enemy that drops a lot of coins or multiple enemies take presctiption screen at once, however, the frame rate noticeably drops. Also, the frame rate during cutscenes can be abysmal, which really takes you out of the experience.
In true 90s fashion, Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World does not have an autosave feature. It can save you have sex within the remake than in the original, however, you still have to consciously achieve this. If you die, you must reload a save, so ensure that you are continually saving (or at least saving after beating levels). If you don't, you may end up having to replay hours of tedious levels (here's looking at you, Ice Pyramid), with no one wants that.
Fans of platformers will have a great time with Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World. While not revolutionary by any means, it's a good, old fashioned platforming action. Exist better platformers on the market? Sure, but not all things have to be Super Mario Bros. 3. The game's simple gameplay and comparatively short playtime allow it to be ideal for beginners and therefore are sure to bring a grin to veterans. Framerate issues and tedious levels keep it from as being a must-play, but if you've got a few hours to spare, playing Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World is a good way to spend them.
Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World is available May 28 on Nintendo Switch, PS4 and PC.*
*The digital version of Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World can be bought from the Nintendo and Sony stores and is published by STUDIOARTDINK. The boxed retail form of Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World comes exclusively using the original Monster World IV published by ININ Games
