Wonder Boy in Monster Land, known by its original arcade release as is a platform video game developed by Westone and released by Sega in Japanese arcades in 1987 and for the Master System in 1988, with a number of other home computer and console ports following. The game is the sequel to the 1986 game Wonder Boy and takes place eleven years after the events in the previous game. After enjoying over a decade of peace on Wonder Land following the defeat of the evil King by Tom-Tom, later bestowed the title "Wonder Boy", a fire-breathing dragon called the MEKA dragon appeared; he and his minions conquered Wonder Land, turning it into "Monster Land". The people, helpless due to their lack of fighting skill, call for Wonder Boy, now a teenager, to destroy the monsters and defeat the MEKA dragon. Players control Wonder Boy through twelve linear levels as he makes his way through Monster Land to find and defeat the MEKA dragon. Players earn gold by defeating enemies and buy weapons, armor, footwear, magic, and other items to help along the way.
The arcade version of Wonder Boy in Monster Land amassed moderate sales, the Master System version received overall positive reviews in all aspects and has been highly regarded as one of the better titles in the Master System library. Reviews praised the game for its colorful graphics, smooth controls, gameplay, and replay value. Other ports received mixed reception: criticisms included very slow multi-load times on the home computer versions, sub-quality sound, and smaller play areas. The arcade version would later be re-released in emulated form as a digital download for Wii, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It had a sequel, Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap, released for the Master System in 1989.
Plot The plot of Wonder Boy in Monster Land follows the events in its predecessor, Wonder Boy. The game's main protagonist is a young boy named Bock Lee Temjin, known to his friends as "Tom-Tom". In Wonder Boy Tom-Tom's girlfriend Tanya was kidnapped by the "evil King" and was taken to his woodland kingdom; Tom-Tom set out to the kingdom, defeated the evil King, and saved Tanya. Word spread throughout Wonder Land about Tom-Tom's quest, and people bestowed upon him the title of "Wonder Boy".Instruction Manual, pp. 4–5.
Meanwhile, the Evil King was resurrected as the MEKA Dragon, who in turn established a powerful army. Additionally, the MEKA Dragon placed mind-controlling bracelets on the land’s various inhabitants and forced them to do his bidding. He also hired the Brothers of Knight (Red and Blue) to do his bidding. Tom-Tom heard of this incident and set off to kill the MEKA Dragon. The game ends with Tom-Tom defeating the dragon, leading up to a cliffhanger for the third game.
Gameplay In Wonder Boy in Monster Land, players control Wonder Boy as he destroys the monsters in Monster Land and defeats the MEKA dragon. When the player begins the game, Wonder Boy starts out in the City of Wonder Land without any items or gold, but to give him a chance, at the beginning of the game, the city's mayor gives him a sword and a revival potion and sets him off on his own.Instruction Manual, pp. 24–34. The game is divided into twelve levels, and each of them has its own unique features, items, monsters, and secrets. These levels include towns, valleys, deserts, islands, and castles. Players use the D-pad to move Wonder Boy on the main screen, to enter doors by pressing upward, and to use Magic Weapons by pressing downward. The D-pad is also used to select between various items when in a shop. Players also have two buttons: one which makes Wonder Boy attack with his sword and buy items in the shop; and one which makes Wonder Boy jump and skip through storylines.Instruction Manual, pp. 12–14.
Wonder Boy has a life meter which consists of a series of red hearts; he starts the game with five red hearts. Whenever he sustains damage those hearts turn black. When all the hearts turn black, Wonder Boy dies, and the game ends. Players score points whenever Wonder Boy defeats enemies and collects certain treasures, and at certain point intervals Wonder Boy receives an additional life heart.Instruction Manual, p. 16. Players earn gold throughout the game in order to purchase weapons, magic weapons, and other items in shops and rooms. Gold is obtained from enemies, while some are hidden in odd places such as trees and clouds. The game has an "Hourglass Timer" on the top of the screen; whenever the Hourglass Timer runs out, Wonder Boy loses some life. The Hourglass Timer can be refilled by collecting hourglasses or by visiting hospitals or taverns.Instruction Manual, p. 18.Instruction Manual, p. 60. In the ZX Spectrum version of the game, a candle represents the timer.
In the Master System version of the game, pressing the pause button on the console takes players to the Status Screen which primarily shows what items they currently have. Other information displayed in the Status Screen include types and strengths of weapons and armor equipped; gold; life remaining; special items collected; and types of "Magic Weapons" collected and their quantities.Instruction Manual, pp. 18–22. Magic Weapons include bombs that roll on the ground, fireballs that fly through the air, small tornadoes that run on the ground and attack enemies, and "thunder flash" which damages all enemies on the screen.Instruction Manual, p. 46. In the game's other versions except for Famicom version, all gameplay information is displayed on the left and top edges of the screen; there is no need to access a separate screen.
Throughout the game, the player must investigate the surroundings through finding and entering doors. These doors contain shops where players can buy equipment, rooms which provide additional information needed in the quest, traps which contain powerful enemies, and exits to the next level which can be opened after finding a key. Some of the doors in the game are hidden and can only be found through trial and error. At the beginning of the game, shops are visible and are clearly marked with the appropriate signs. Later on in the game, as Wonder Boy gets closer to the MEKA Dragon, the shop doors become unmarked while others are traps set by the level's bosses; near the end of the game, many of the shops are invisible and contain more powerful weapons. There are four types of shops throughout the game: boot shops allow the player to buy boots which make Wonder Boy jump higher and run faster, armor shops contain armor which makes Wonder Boy incur less damage from enemy attacks, shield shops contain shields which allow him to repel fire from enemies, and magical shops allow players to purchase Magic Weapons. There are also various rooms in the game which the player can enter and receive additional assistance in the quest: taverns where players can buy drinks and receive information from the bartender, Fortune Teller rooms where players may receive information about future events, and hospitals which allow players to refill their life meter and Hourglass Timer for a small price. Other rooms contain a boss in which the player must defeat to get the key to the next level, to earn additional gold, or to upgrade to a more powerful sword.Instruction Manual, pp. 36–50.
There are many items and treasures located throughout the game. Many of these treasures are obtained by defeating enemies and include the following: gold; golden water jugs, necklaces, scales of justice, harps, mirrors, and crowns which increase the player's score; hourglasses which refill the Hourglass Timer; hearts which refill the life meter; gauntlets which temporarily double Wonder Boy's attack power; helmets which temporarily provide additional protection from enemy attacks; Wing Boots which allow Wonder Boy to fly over obstacles; Revival Potions; and magic mantles which make Wonder Boy temporarily invisible. Other special items hidden in the game which the player must find include letters, the flute, various charms, the bell, and the ruby.
Development
Wonder Boy in Monster Land was created by Ryuchi Nishizawa and Michishisto Ishizuka, two of the three members of a newly founded company called Escape. After the release of the first Wonder Boy game, they rebranded the company as "Westone": the first letter in Nishizawa's name means "west", while the first on Ishizuka's name means "stone". Nishizawa, originally an arcade game developer, was trying to take advantage of the quickly emerging role-playing video game genre, with games such as The Black Onyx, Wizardry, and Dragon Quest. He tried to create a game that fused together arcade and RPG elements. Two earlier games Nishizawa had played which fused arcade and RPG elements were The Tower of Druaga and Dragon Buster from Namco, but he was "irritated" with how those games were designed. He also had an issue with there being "no one to talk to" during the dungeons in Wizardry as well as the stages in The Tower of Druaga and Dragon Buster.
The jungle backdrop was overhauled and replaced with a medieval one with castles and caves. As with RPGs, he intended for the player to start with no items or strength, and for players to buy items, spells, health, and better equipment. Later in the game's development, Shinichi Sakamoto came on board to compose its soundtrack; in an overview of the series by IGN, they said that the music "was a sigh of relief for those still haunted by the repetitive loops of the arcade original", adding that it contributed to the RPG style and that would establish the standard for all future Wonder Boy games in the series.
Ports and remakes The game would be published by Sega in 1987 and released in Japanese arcades. It ran on a Sega System 2 board based on a Z80 processor that runs at 4 MHz, with audio provided by two SN76489 (also known as SN76496) chips that run at 4 MHz each. It used raster standard graphics and monaural sound. Upon its release for the arcades in Japan in 1987, Wonder Boy: Monster Land had slow sales, but it would eventually pick up to become a decent seller.
Before Sega published it on its own console, Hudson obtained the rights and program from Escape (Westone) and published it on the PC Engine under the name Bikkuriman World in October 1987. Since Hudson did not have the rights for the Wonder Boy franchise, the story and graphics were changed to fit the Bikkuriman franchise instead, while keeping the same gameplay. Sega ported the game to its Master System console in 1988, where in Japan it was titled Super Wonder Boy: Monster World. Elsewhere, it was faithfully released as Wonder Boy in Monster Land, though there exists a cartridge variant in North America with the label Super Wonder Boy Super Monster Land. Jaleco published a Famicom port in Japan in 1988 titled Saiyūki World, developed by NMK, which spawned an independently created sequel, Saiyūki World 2, released in North America as Whomp 'Em. It was also ported by Images Software for the Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, and ZX Spectrum and published by Activision in 1989. The Activision-published version bore the title of Super Wonder Boy in Monster Land on their packaging artwork. Hudson Soft released a version of the game titled Super Adventure Island for mobile phones on . The Master System version was released for the Wii's Virtual Console service in Japan on , in Europe on , and in North America on . Sega released the arcade version for the Virtual Console, PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade (along with The Revenge of Shinobi, Alex Kidd in Miracle World, the arcade port of Super Hang-On, Monster World IV, and Wonder Boy in Monster World) as part of its third Sega Vintage Collection package in May 2012.
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