Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked)
It’s been a beautiful time for Sega revivals as of late, with games like Streets of Rage 4 and Panzer Dragoon: Remake bringing back old classics. One of the most prolific has been Westone’s Wonder Boy/Monster World series, which has seen no less than three entries – first, a remake of the Master System game The Dragon’s Trap from 2017; a brand-new entry called Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom in 2019; and now in 2021, a remake of the Mega Drive game Monster World IV. A big difference to note is that the first two games were produced by French companies (Lizardcube and Game Atelier, respectively), while this new remake, titled Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World, comes from original developer Ryuichi Nishizawa and the team at Artdink. While the other games also opted for pure 2D graphics, this one uses cel-shaded polygonal visuals for 2.5D gameplay.
08/05/21
Wonder Boy, or Monster World as it is otherwise known, has proven to be the most enduring of video game franchises. Indeed, the first entry in the decade spanning series debuted all the way back in 1986 as an arcade game. Later this year the remake of Monster World IV, Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World, will be released. So, we thought it was an ideal time to have a chat with Ryuichi Nishizawa – Game Creator and Founder of Wonder Boy IP – and pick his brain on all things Wonder Boy.
TSA – Wonder Boy is a series that has been beloved by players for decades now, what is it that makes the franchise so enduring?