got about six hours in and just really didn't feel like continuing. The games fun and all, but nothing has really hooked me and all the transformations feel incredibly basic. The movement itself also isn't very fun and nothing about the story is engaging. Presentation is great tho!
Difficulty: 4/10
My time: around 18 hours
Platinum N°: 148
Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom is a metroidvania game where you must traverse a kingdom whose population has been turned into animals, and you must catch the culprit and restore everything back to normal. Along the way, you will gain the ability to transform into a pig, a snake, a lion, a dragon, and a frog, each with unique abilities that will allow you to solve puzzles and overcome challenges to progress.
The path to the platinum trophy consists of exploring the map 100%, finding all the hearts, opening all the chests in the game, completing the secret dungeon, obtaining all the pieces of the golden set, among other things.
I really enjoyed this game, the puzzles are varied and some are quite challenging. The animations and characters are also well-done, making it a game that is definitely worth playing.
My time: around 18 hours
Platinum N°: 148
Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom is a metroidvania game where you must traverse a kingdom whose population has been turned into animals, and you must catch the culprit and restore everything back to normal. Along the way, you will gain the ability to transform into a pig, a snake, a lion, a dragon, and a frog, each with unique abilities that will allow you to solve puzzles and overcome challenges to progress.
The path to the platinum trophy consists of exploring the map 100%, finding all the hearts, opening all the chests in the game, completing the secret dungeon, obtaining all the pieces of the golden set, among other things.
I really enjoyed this game, the puzzles are varied and some are quite challenging. The animations and characters are also well-done, making it a game that is definitely worth playing.
great little platformer
gorgeous aesthetics, wonderful music, and a very fun platformer! the exploratory stuff is very well implemented and it’s super fun playing around with the new animal forms as you’re given them
The last leg of this starts throwing out all these weird obtuse gimmicks that definitely soured my experience near the end, but the game overall was still a really fun time.
The last leg of this starts throwing out all these weird obtuse gimmicks that definitely soured my experience near the end, but the game overall was still a really fun time.
The first real Wonderboy sequel in a quarter century is up there with the best metroidvanias, despite some small quirks, and really plays like the version of Wonderboy 3 that lives in our rose-tinted memory.
It positions itself as a proper reimagining of Wonderboy 3: The Dragon's Trap, presenting a good modernized version of the same gameplay elements, only far more accessible. Unlike the 2017 makeover of the same game by specialists DotEmu, which was weighed down by the fact of being an audiovisually refreshed 1:1 port of the 1989 Master System game, with all the connected issues tied to ancient game design, Monster Boy is a brand new game and knows what to keep and what to change.
What it keeps are the multiple animal forms, now visually remixed and greatly expanded: while the lion remains, with the added ability to dash in all directions, the ceiling-walking mouseman is now a venom-spitting snake that can cling to mossy surfaces and squeeze through narrow gaps; the pirana man is now a frog, whose tongue can be used to swing like a rope, interact with valves and switches and, hilariously, become confused if trying to use it on a toad; the flying birdman is now a fire-spewing dragon which also includes the dragon form from WB3, freeing up one slot for the pig, able to use magic and tools, as well as sniffing out invisible secrets.
What the game chooses to change are the many annoyances that made WB3 a bit of a mess to play: gone is the frustrating grind for random coin and health drops, gone are the endless treks back to the shapeshifting room (replaced with a glorious on-the-fly system which massively increases the depth of the level design), gone is the confusing world layout, now conveniently managed via an easily readable map with fast travel points. About 2/3 through you will also unlock the ability to warp from almost anywhere, which greatly facilitates the copious amount of backtracking.
Combat is fairly simple as per series tradition, though there is a surprising amount of depth to it thanks to the requirement to swap forms, especially during boss fights. Sometimes this ends up feeling finicky, especially when you are required to switch to snake form in midair to stick to a mossy wall, which might require a few tries too many before succeeding. Not all bosses are created equal either, with some being much more inspired than others.
The developers wisely decided to retain the look and feel of the absolutely gorgeous 2017 game, and they succeed for the most part, though something is lost in translation here: there is something about the hand-painted look of that game that these sprites and backgrounds can't quite replicate, beautifully drawn and animated though they are.
Similarly the soundtrack, which is also based beat by beat on the outstanding remixes from the 2017 game, comes off as a bit less inspired, sometimes even a bit tone deaf, like in the case of the boss fight theme, which is anything but threatening. It does feature a great electric organ theme for the haunted mansion that could easily pass for something out of Michiru Yamane's Castlevania music portfolio.
At 20+ hours of play time it's also a huge game, definitely a step up in content from the rest of the series. There are dozens of secrets to find and plenty of equipment to choose from, with set bonuses and all.
There is a lot here, this is far from a bare minimum effort sequel, in fact it's a clear labour of passion that goes above and beyond the call of duty for such a project. Refer to the 2021 Monster World 4 remake for an example of how wrong this could have gone, and, luckily for us, didn't.
Recommended.
It positions itself as a proper reimagining of Wonderboy 3: The Dragon's Trap, presenting a good modernized version of the same gameplay elements, only far more accessible. Unlike the 2017 makeover of the same game by specialists DotEmu, which was weighed down by the fact of being an audiovisually refreshed 1:1 port of the 1989 Master System game, with all the connected issues tied to ancient game design, Monster Boy is a brand new game and knows what to keep and what to change.
What it keeps are the multiple animal forms, now visually remixed and greatly expanded: while the lion remains, with the added ability to dash in all directions, the ceiling-walking mouseman is now a venom-spitting snake that can cling to mossy surfaces and squeeze through narrow gaps; the pirana man is now a frog, whose tongue can be used to swing like a rope, interact with valves and switches and, hilariously, become confused if trying to use it on a toad; the flying birdman is now a fire-spewing dragon which also includes the dragon form from WB3, freeing up one slot for the pig, able to use magic and tools, as well as sniffing out invisible secrets.
What the game chooses to change are the many annoyances that made WB3 a bit of a mess to play: gone is the frustrating grind for random coin and health drops, gone are the endless treks back to the shapeshifting room (replaced with a glorious on-the-fly system which massively increases the depth of the level design), gone is the confusing world layout, now conveniently managed via an easily readable map with fast travel points. About 2/3 through you will also unlock the ability to warp from almost anywhere, which greatly facilitates the copious amount of backtracking.
Combat is fairly simple as per series tradition, though there is a surprising amount of depth to it thanks to the requirement to swap forms, especially during boss fights. Sometimes this ends up feeling finicky, especially when you are required to switch to snake form in midair to stick to a mossy wall, which might require a few tries too many before succeeding. Not all bosses are created equal either, with some being much more inspired than others.
The developers wisely decided to retain the look and feel of the absolutely gorgeous 2017 game, and they succeed for the most part, though something is lost in translation here: there is something about the hand-painted look of that game that these sprites and backgrounds can't quite replicate, beautifully drawn and animated though they are.
Similarly the soundtrack, which is also based beat by beat on the outstanding remixes from the 2017 game, comes off as a bit less inspired, sometimes even a bit tone deaf, like in the case of the boss fight theme, which is anything but threatening. It does feature a great electric organ theme for the haunted mansion that could easily pass for something out of Michiru Yamane's Castlevania music portfolio.
At 20+ hours of play time it's also a huge game, definitely a step up in content from the rest of the series. There are dozens of secrets to find and plenty of equipment to choose from, with set bonuses and all.
There is a lot here, this is far from a bare minimum effort sequel, in fact it's a clear labour of passion that goes above and beyond the call of duty for such a project. Refer to the 2021 Monster World 4 remake for an example of how wrong this could have gone, and, luckily for us, didn't.
Recommended.
This review contains spoilers
8.5/10
Excellent game. The art style isn't my thing, but the presentation is so high quality that I kind of liked it anyway. It nails the metroidvania staples, with satisfying exploration, tons of secrets, and fun abilities to unlock. I especially liked the lion form - running around with that just feels good. Boss battles all feel unique and exciting too. Some pretty good music as well, with the exception of the town theme which is a little too cutesy for my tastes.
Excellent game. The art style isn't my thing, but the presentation is so high quality that I kind of liked it anyway. It nails the metroidvania staples, with satisfying exploration, tons of secrets, and fun abilities to unlock. I especially liked the lion form - running around with that just feels good. Boss battles all feel unique and exciting too. Some pretty good music as well, with the exception of the town theme which is a little too cutesy for my tastes.
divertidisimo y un backtracking mejor que el de la mayoría de metroidvania del mercado
I love a good Metroidvania, and this one was certainly satisfying. The art is gorgeous and there's a lot of rewarding stuff to unlock and explore. I found the music to actually be pretty repetitive, causing me to mute the game after playing for a few hours, but that may just have been a few of the areas. I also felt like having to constantly change animal forms did slow the flow of the game. Having to swap would interrupt any action I was in the middle of, it would have been nice to have a cleaner way to swap without breaking my flow. There were also some frustrating segments with checkpoints that were too far apart, but overall the game was a lot of fun. Glad I remembered I'd picked it up on Stadia before the service shuts down.
Was looking forward to playing this one because it reminded me a lot of Wonder Boy in Monster Land, a game I played when I was a kid. I believe that is the idea behind this game, but turns out it takes too much inspiration from it. It seems like it tries to be retro to a degree to which it ignores 20 years of improvements in game design philosophy. Didn't play it for all that long. Was very boring.
I had little hesitation at the beginning as it felt very old-school but the moment you get out of the sewer it really opened up with the shapeshifting mechanic and I was hooked. This is one of the rare metroidvanias I 100% and I think that speaks for itself. Special mention for the soundtrack which is gorgeous and suits perfectly the vibrant world.
If I had something negative to say it's that the story is very basic and forgettable.
If I had something negative to say it's that the story is very basic and forgettable.
It's a pretty good game but my GOD if it also isn't annoying or frustrating sometimes.
Game Atelier here did a great job bringing Wonder Boy in a Modern way that's way more fun for old and newcomers, especially when it comes to the Music, Visuals and gameplay (for the Most part)
it's far from my favorite Modern Metroidvania (especially when there's Ori 2, Luna nights, Metroid Dread and Bloodstained) but still like the game tho.
Game Atelier here did a great job bringing Wonder Boy in a Modern way that's way more fun for old and newcomers, especially when it comes to the Music, Visuals and gameplay (for the Most part)
it's far from my favorite Modern Metroidvania (especially when there's Ori 2, Luna nights, Metroid Dread and Bloodstained) but still like the game tho.
Un metroidvania divertido, repleto de secretos, buena jugabilidad y mucho encanto.
Good overall. My main issues were the occasional difficulty spikes mostly driven by high enemy damage; there were long periods where I would make constant progress punctuated by little difficulty spikes where the game decides that if you haven’t bought the right equipment you can die in two hits.
Loses a mark per the Kangaroo Court system for having both a slippy slidey ice world and control reversing power downs.
Loses a mark per the Kangaroo Court system for having both a slippy slidey ice world and control reversing power downs.
You know those flowcharts for “What movie should I watch”, or “What game should I play”? Imagine one for search-action games, where the first box would ask if you've played Super Metroid. With that obligation out of the way, the question would be why you enjoyed it. If it was for finding fun new abilities and items, then go to Symphony of the Night. If it was for the action or atmosphere, go to Hollow Knight. If it was just for the joy of going on a journey, Ori and the Blind Forest would be the place to go. No matter what aspect you enjoyed the most, the recent explosion of the genre means there’s at least one game that fully focuses on it, which puts me in a tough spot for recommending Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom. It’s a game that can’t be placed anywhere near the top of the chart, a game that focuses more on being generally pleasant rather than focused. There certainly is a lighthearted mood to enjoy, but the zones are the unimaginative roster of grasslands/temple/ocean/jungle/ice/fire/etc that wouldn’t appeal to those wanting a thick atmosphere. There are a couple fun abilities to use, but the majority could be viewed as Samus’ powers simply broken into pieces. Your lion form has a dash that lets you charge through certain blocks, the pig form has bombs to break other ones, it’s the same stuff you’ve seen before presented in a superficially different way. The challenges are a little more difficult than the average game, but it’s never due to mechanical skill comparable to Hollow Knight, but rather little “gotcha” moments like an enemy swinging in from off-screen to knock you into a pit at the end of a lengthy platforming section. It’s not that any of this kills the appeal though; if someone told me they were interested in the game I certainly wouldn’t dissuade them, it’s just that I just find it difficult to imagine who that sort of person might be. The best I can guess is someone who just loves the genre, but has already played all the classics. So, I give it my recommendation… but only after you’ve played all my other recommendations. See you in a few years!
At 89%, maybe one day will come back.
Awesome return to the Wonder Boy series that mostly satisfied me, feels like a natural step up for the series. Some of the music is REEEEEEALLY good
Metroidvania agradável, mas não muito difícil.
Uma aula em nostalgia.
Como um sucessor espiritual da série Wonder Boy, Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom entende o que torna a série tão encantadora e entrega um jogo de plataforma divertido e interessante, com seus próprios toques de modernidade e personalidade.
Como um sucessor espiritual da série Wonder Boy, Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom entende o que torna a série tão encantadora e entrega um jogo de plataforma divertido e interessante, com seus próprios toques de modernidade e personalidade.
Old school with a new school radial menu clunk.
Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom is great old school stuff. A spiritual successor to Wonder Boy, it delivers in full. But it isn't just a homage to a previous time, it's full blown well designed. There is a ton to do and find. It opens up smoothly with new wrinkles all the time. It's a great balance of tight platforming and puzzles and challenges. There's a ton of difficulty here that is all fair. You actually earn everything you get while you explore. Everything from the platforming to the bosses are inventive and diverse. You can easily break the 20 hour mark in a playthrough. It is a complete game experience. That experience is just lacking some quality of life.
And when I say quality of life I mean it just isn't a fun interface. I'm not complaining about the challenges. Again, they're all fair and fun. It's just those fun experiences are not a fun experience to play with a lot of the time. The radial menus, menus, and radial menus within menus are just unforgivably awful. You change monster types, magic spells, weapons, armor, shields, bracelets, and boots "on the fly" VERY regularly in this game. They all are implemented on radial menus or radial menus within the pause menu. And none of them are conducive to a d-pad. Remember, we're talking old school here. This game feels better on a d-pad. But. The radial menus do not play nice with the d-pad since most of the time they contain more than 4 but less than 8 items. So you switch to thumbstick. And a lot of the gameplay charm is lost. These radial menus feel like a very late addition to the game to avoid an inventory menu (that is sitting there unused on the last page of the pause menu). This one design failure made the entire experience clunky. To further compound the issue, only monster type and spells are hotkey (R2/L2 for the former, R1/L1 for the latter) accessible. The rest are in the pause menu. This is wasting buttons and time. At the very least weapons should've had a hotkey too. And then monster or spell change isn't available in the pause menu. It's all very clunky and you will be hitting the wrong menus a lot.
I also am personally not a huge fan of the art direction. The cutscenes and charater/enemy sprites are great. But I found the background and environments lacking the same detail and care. It felt like two different art styles. But I still appreciate the approach over just making it look retro or something. So that's a nitpick at best.
Ultimately I had enough fun and appreciated the old school challenge. Whether it was spite or desire, I 100%'d the game. Though I did have to resort to the internet to find a few of the switches for the whole "corked well" puzzle. Then check again for the switch directions even though I noticed the correct clue and swear I tried it both ways. And finally I did miss "buy something from Zeke" and had to look that up because 20+ plus hours later I forgot there was a shop in the very first door of the game. But I still think I earned that fake digital "platinum trophy". I just wish the game had a better menu solution than the split radial menus and pause menu radial menus. It was so painfully obtuse and ruined the flow. Felt very out of place.
As annoyed with it as I got, I think over time as I get further away from my frustrations, I'll appreciate this game more with rose-tinted glasses. It was a well made classic-feel game with classic challenges and tight controls. Made me feel young again! ...And also so very very old. Radial menus man...
Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom is great old school stuff. A spiritual successor to Wonder Boy, it delivers in full. But it isn't just a homage to a previous time, it's full blown well designed. There is a ton to do and find. It opens up smoothly with new wrinkles all the time. It's a great balance of tight platforming and puzzles and challenges. There's a ton of difficulty here that is all fair. You actually earn everything you get while you explore. Everything from the platforming to the bosses are inventive and diverse. You can easily break the 20 hour mark in a playthrough. It is a complete game experience. That experience is just lacking some quality of life.
And when I say quality of life I mean it just isn't a fun interface. I'm not complaining about the challenges. Again, they're all fair and fun. It's just those fun experiences are not a fun experience to play with a lot of the time. The radial menus, menus, and radial menus within menus are just unforgivably awful. You change monster types, magic spells, weapons, armor, shields, bracelets, and boots "on the fly" VERY regularly in this game. They all are implemented on radial menus or radial menus within the pause menu. And none of them are conducive to a d-pad. Remember, we're talking old school here. This game feels better on a d-pad. But. The radial menus do not play nice with the d-pad since most of the time they contain more than 4 but less than 8 items. So you switch to thumbstick. And a lot of the gameplay charm is lost. These radial menus feel like a very late addition to the game to avoid an inventory menu (that is sitting there unused on the last page of the pause menu). This one design failure made the entire experience clunky. To further compound the issue, only monster type and spells are hotkey (R2/L2 for the former, R1/L1 for the latter) accessible. The rest are in the pause menu. This is wasting buttons and time. At the very least weapons should've had a hotkey too. And then monster or spell change isn't available in the pause menu. It's all very clunky and you will be hitting the wrong menus a lot.
I also am personally not a huge fan of the art direction. The cutscenes and charater/enemy sprites are great. But I found the background and environments lacking the same detail and care. It felt like two different art styles. But I still appreciate the approach over just making it look retro or something. So that's a nitpick at best.
Ultimately I had enough fun and appreciated the old school challenge. Whether it was spite or desire, I 100%'d the game. Though I did have to resort to the internet to find a few of the switches for the whole "corked well" puzzle. Then check again for the switch directions even though I noticed the correct clue and swear I tried it both ways. And finally I did miss "buy something from Zeke" and had to look that up because 20+ plus hours later I forgot there was a shop in the very first door of the game. But I still think I earned that fake digital "platinum trophy". I just wish the game had a better menu solution than the split radial menus and pause menu radial menus. It was so painfully obtuse and ruined the flow. Felt very out of place.
As annoyed with it as I got, I think over time as I get further away from my frustrations, I'll appreciate this game more with rose-tinted glasses. It was a well made classic-feel game with classic challenges and tight controls. Made me feel young again! ...And also so very very old. Radial menus man...
+ Stunning artwork and animations make exploring the world a joy.
+ Great pacing and sense of exploration without overstaying its welcome or relying on backtracking.
- Some frustrating spikes in difficulty.
- Occasional cases where it's not obvious what the game is asking of the player.
+ Great pacing and sense of exploration without overstaying its welcome or relying on backtracking.
- Some frustrating spikes in difficulty.
- Occasional cases where it's not obvious what the game is asking of the player.
Did a great job of taking Wonder Boy's (especially The Dragon's Trap) gimmick of different animal transformations and working it into a much more traditionally structured Metroidvania. It's one of those games where everything just clicks together to make a great experience. Might be a little pricy, but it's four years old now it probably goes on sale a lot.
100% in-game completion rating. A beautiful, excellently designed Metroidvania, with a focus on platforming gameplay and simple but enjoyable and varied puzzle-solving, while still evoking the satisfaction inherent in exploring and discovering the secrets of a well-realised world. Shifting between different animal forms is a creative mechanic for learning new combat and traversal skills and, while the early parts of the game feel a little restrictive, with a little persistence this soon opens up.
This game was a bit of a revelation: the Game Atelier title is a little gem that gives lessons in level design to the more emblazoned AAAs with a fidelity and respect for Nishizawa's original work that does not distort but rather enriches the franchise, bringing it into the present without forgetting tradition. It is a game full of lights where the shadows of a few small moments of frustration are lost in a triumph of color, humor and fantasy.
I had a ton of fun with this game. Nearly everything about it was absolutely delightful. It had some parts that were a bit frustrating that brought it down a few notches for me but overall it is a very pleasant game I would recommend to anyone that likes platformers/metroidvanias.
Played for about 2 hours and man, I do not like this one. It feels like it took the shortcomings of old-school games and made it frustrating on purpose. Checkpoints don’t heal you and even when you die you still don’t respawn healed - healing costs money and there’s no reliable way to earn money. Level design is poor and both movement and combat feel sucky as well. Do not recommend
7/10
A beautiful tribute to Wonder Boy wrapped up in a slick and attractive package. The art style is the real attraction here, with colorful cartoony sprites bounding across endless fields, valleys and pits. The level design is subtle, with an emphasis on jumping puzzles, tight combat spaces and kinetic motion. Monster Boy keeps its ambitions simple, its enemies patterned and its music bopping.
Beautiful artstyle and great music, but unfortunately does nothing better or new compared to lots of other games in the genre. Ended up abandoning due to bunch annoying design decisions.
It's one of the better games of this type. Some of the puzzle solving was a bit obtuse and the boss fights were a bit trial-and-error at times, but still fun throughout. Only 17 hours long and I did a bit of treasure hunting in there too.
when the entire gimmicks of the franchise are the major things that holds the game back