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Overview
Despite being Hudson’s Vol.2, this was in fact released almost a month before The Kung Fu. It’s a conversion of what most people know as Wonder Boy in Monster Land, and it’s as perfect a conversion as you’re likely to get. This game takes a different pace from the first Wonder Boy game, being more of an adventure with a slower pace and more strategy. You start the game with barely a thread on and are given a sword by some wise looking dude who lives in a tree - so far so good. It is then your task to travel through the various platform-based levels defeating monsters and evil bosses along the way. Each enemy you kill leaves behind a coin or money bag (these are also at various hidden locations if you jump at the right spot) and shops will offer you armour, shields, weaponry and go-faster shoes. You can also pop into a bar and top up your energy if you can afford it. Levels are time limited (shown by an egg-timer on the left) so you need to be quick, or energy is taken away from your heart meter.
Comment
As mentioned, this is an extremely accurate conversion from the arcade
- the sound in particular is spot on and the music has not been changed
like it was in the Master System version of the game. Bikkuri Man World
is pretty good fun, but it does have its limitations - the basic look may
put some people off, sometimes the bosses can be frustrating and there are
points in the game where it would be very advantageous to be able to understand
the Japanese text. However, it has a little more depth than your standard
arcade-style platformer and will take some time to beat it. Graphics are
simple, but well drawn for the most part and there is some good music, with
one track in particular (caves) that I think is great. As one of the early
Hudson games, it really is essential for collectors.
sunteam_paul
You say...
This is a conversion of Sega's Wonderboy in Monster Land, and it's a really accurate one too. The only differences being some of the sprites were changed to match another franchise for reasons I can't explain. Still, the colour and music are spot on here. This marks a change from the arcade style platforming of previous games, and introduces a less frenetic exploratory style, with secrets, shops, and stat-boosting equipment. It's hard to say what this is similar to, since I think it might be a progenitor of this style of game. But all said and done, it's a fantastic conversion, and I feel like it's stood the test of time, despite a fairly basic look.
soop
Cheats/Tips
CONTINUE: After dying, push UP+RUN on the title screen to continue from the same level. |
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