Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap Review

Genre: Side-Scrolling, Action-Adventure
Players: 1
Playtime: 5 hours (Includes beating the game and finding 3 of 6 hidden charm stones on Normal Mode.  Also tried Easy Mode for comparison -- Did not have will to try Hard Mode)

Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap is a remake of the 1989 game Wonder Boy III, originally released on the Master System.  For being based off a game that is 28 years old, the core design of this game holds some strikingly good bones and structure to it.  That isn't to say it doesn't fall prey to some pitfalls of older, frustrating game mechanics, but I can see why the good folks of Lizardcube and DotEmu wanted to revisit this retro classic adventure.



In fact, the love and affinity for this game is shown with the inclusion of one of the game's central mechanics, which allows players to seamlessly switch between retro and updated graphics / audio at the press of a button.  The ease and smooth transition of this effect is stunning to behold and really highlights the great degree of effort and work that was put into this remake.  So let's take a closer look at this ambitious restoration and see how it stands today.

Art & Animation

One of the first aspects that will stand out in this game thanks to its graphics switching mechanic is just how beautiful this game looks.  With hand-drawn traditional animation and its unique cartoon styling, the characters and world are bursting with life and charming personality.  From the exaggerated expressions of struck enemies to the quick pivots your main character performs when suddenly changing directions, this game is full of subtle and beautifully crafted, animated touches.  Given the limited information the original game depicts some of these set pieces and scenery, it is amazing to see how some of these landscapes are so creatively adapted and yet never feel out of place.  For some (such as myself), this impeccable art style may be enough to justify diving into this game.  Fortunately there is more to be enjoyed provided in this package.

Music

Though the music can be a bit repetitive when backtracking through certain sections in the game, there is a whimsical charm than cannot be denied in these catchy tunes.  Take a listen to a few of my favorite tracks below as you read the rest of this review:

This cheerful melody is played in the main town, which players will frequent to and from as they veer off to new areas, buy gear, or later in the game change forms.  Even after spawning in this town after meeting an unfortunate demise, this song does the trick to lift your spirits quickly and to try again.

One of the adventuring tunes when exploring The Underground.  This delectable tango perfectly carries over the fantastical feel of this world, while replicating the tug and pull that is carefully maneuvering these treacherous tunnels.

These quiet and thoughtful tunes take place in the Nurse's quarters and The Gallery.  Music has never been so smooth or so satisfying.

Combat & Exploration

The core gameplay mechanic in this game is that with each dragon boss you defeat, the player is then cursed and transformed into another form, such as a fire-breathing lizard or a nimble mouse.  Each transformation changes the way in which players engage combats and navigate the world.  There are already an impressive variety of enemy types to be found in the game, some of which have various challenging move sets.  Combine this with your various forms in which you yourself have varied attack reaches and maneuvering, the combat in this game is quite engaging and will require repeated play to master.

Similar to the Metroid or Shantae series, these newly gained abilities with each transformation put new perspective in previously explored areas and play perfectly into the labyrinthine nature of navigation in this game.  Eventually, players will discover a room in which they can transform between any gained form at will, which opens up the world even more so, though at this point in the game it is mostly for hunting secrets, as the newest transformation gained still is key to progressing towards the game's conclusion.  Still, for a 2D side-scrolling adventure, the game holds a surprising amount of secrets of which I have still yet to discover.

Humor

From smoking pigs wearing eye-patches to suggestive nurses wishing you bad will for their business, this game boasts a delightful and quirky sense of humor.  If you look to the original version, you can see this delightful charm in the character design already.  But with this remaster, they've added amusing dialogues as well in every shop and infirmary, each script unique to the location and which form you happen to be visiting in.  This keeps the game fresh and always good for a chuckle.

Choice

Also, a big kudos to the developers for the power of choice given to the players.  From visuals to audio, from difficulty to even gender, the ability to choose is given freely and happily.  They even go the extra mile for when selecting the girl gender by changing the main title to Wonder Girl in the opening credits.

Speaking on the difficulties, some may note that this game is quite brutal.  I personally found Normal Mode to be quite challenging, but mostly fair.  If interested in Easy Mode, the main difference looks to be that enemy movements are a bit slower, making them more manageable to dodge and attack.  However, ninjas are still deadly pains in the butt in either mode.  Beware!

Bosses

While the bosses in this game are beautifully designed (who doesn't love a pirate dragon?), they are unfortunately simple and uninteresting fights due to the fact that they are given only a single attack pattern.  It would have been nice if they could have added some more variation or intensity as you chipped away at their health.

This epic pirate dragon deserves more than just jumping and throwing hooks in a repetitive pattern.

Checkpoints

The game is probably most frustrating in that any time you get a game over, you are sent back to the main village.  This can sometimes mean quite a deal of backtracking to get back to where you are.  This could have been amended if you could unlock shortcuts or way points to certain areas, but I suppose the world isn't really big enough to necessitate that.

More frustrating though, your items and potions disappear with each game over, in which there is no way to load back to a previous save state where you were more equipped.  At least you retain your gold which helps to progress in better gear for added defense and power, but as the potions are so difficult to obtain, it makes any game over in which you gave it your all using all your potions all the more deflating in defeat.

Inventory

Whenever changing forms in this game, you'll be surprised as to why you are suddenly taking more damage or dealing less effective hits in combat.  That may be because your weapons and armor have different stats depending on your form, which the game leaves up to the player to realize.  A minor gripe yes, but this annoyance could have been avoided if equipment could be specified to each form, or if the game did a better job at communicating stat changes.

Navigation

Being a maze-like game, I can understand them wanting to capture the feeling of being lost, but a map system would have been a welcome feature.  Even if only by the simplest of means.

Clocking in at around 5 hours, Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap may not be the longest adventure, but it certainly is a memorable one.  And the developers of this game clearly have fond memories of this game, of which they were able to masterfully bring to life with an abundance of fantastical art and style to spare.  This game surely marks a new golden standard for retro remakes to come, and hopefully, this will not be the last we see of these forgotten heroes that is Wonder Boy (and now Wonder Girl)!

If you have any questions or thoughts about this game, please feel free to comment and discuss below.  Thanks.  And happy gaming!