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Hey all you retro gamers! In this episode of RetroActive we look at the Sega Genesis classic Wonder Boy in Monster World. A video game that released early in the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive lifespan and has been on a lot of compilations but still flies a bit under the radar when compared other games of the era. If you enjoy your classic side-scrolling action games with a bit of RPG flair it is worth checking this game out. Watch the video and learn why!
I always loved Adventure Island and its sequels as a kid, it blew my mind to find out that it actually originated as Wonder Boy. So how does Wonder Boy for the Sega Master System compare to Adventure Island for the NES?
8-bit Vs.
After reading an earleier piece about Adventure Island from Crabmaster, and having not played much of it or its SMS counterpart Wonder Boy I decided to do my own comparisons of the two ports and share my opinions.
Adventure Island Vs. Wonder Boy
Prologue
First off, a small introduction. Both of these games are ports of a Sega arcade game entitled Wonder Boy. I have not played the arcade game, so I won't be comparing either of these ports to the original. As a young Nintendo acolyte, I didn't have any opportunites to play SMS games, so this gives me a great chance to get to know some titles and how they stack up.
Gameplay
I will freely admit that I didn't play either game until the end, but as the core gameplay mechanics don't vary much from stage to stage I feel confident in my comparison. I find that both versions play basically the same. The major changes are that the NES version contains hidden eggs and a bigger variety of items and an extra power up. The SMS version contains more stages (10 on SMS against 8 on NES), of which the last stage can only be reached by collecting all of the Doll items from each stage.
Winner: Tie
Graphics
The SMS extended graphic capabilities really shine here. The colors are fantastic, the sprites are small and well designed. I have no problems understanding what the enemies are or what object I am picking up.
The NES on the other hand fairs poorly in comparison. The sprites are larger, with the eggs that contain power-ups looking ridiculous in size. Color limitations lead to more bland looking enemies, and from playing the SMS I know what they are supposed to be, but I question if I would if this was the only version I played. For some reason the skate board power up stands out the most to me, as the sprite looks very bad compared to the SMS.
Winner: Wonder Boy
Sound
The SMS music is unfortunately extremely dull and repetitive. Sound effects are decent, but are nothing special.
The NES on the other hand has much better theme music, and I found the tunes sticking in my head. The sound effects are sufficient.
Winner: Adventure Island
Control
The SMS version requires the run button to be depressed to get the high jump, which is required on a regular basis to avoid enemies and collect items. This can make it difficult as the run button is also used to throw axes, so jumps and attacks can get tricky with many enemies present. Other than this, the controls on either system are the same.
I do prefer the NES control with a major point for me being able to pause from the controller, so I do take this into account.
Winner: Adventure Island
Difficulty
The SMS version automatically allows for infinite continues, which is absolutely needed if you plan to play through on the actual console, especially if you are out to collect all of the Dolls. The difficulty ramps up slowly and steadily. The only frustrating point for me being the platforms that can drop quickly with no real differentiation in look from standard ones. This leads to many deaths just to memorize the layout of each stage, but with the continues flowing freely I didn't find this to be a major issue.
The NES game on the other hand starts out much more difficult than it's rival. Many enemies are larger in size making them harder to avoid, new enemies are present, and some enemies have tougher attacks. For example, snakes that are stationary obstacles in the SMS version are larger and have a venom attack in the NES rev. Without a secret item and code, you cannot continue in this version. While the trick isn't hard to perform in order to continue, I find this an irritating decision.
Winner: Wonder Boy
Fun
Obvoisly fun is the most subjective measure here, but I thought it very important to include it. While the basis of the game is so similar, I honestly enjoyed the SMS version more. It was more forgiving, was more pleasant to look at, and I didn't find the control issues to overcome any of this. If I could only somehow graft on the NES music, it would have been perfect.
Winner: Wonder Boy
Conclusion
So as you can see, I have to give this fight to the SMS. I'm glad I took the time to get to know these games, and it really seems logical that a port of a Sega arcade game should end up better on their machine. No doubt Adventure Island is the most well known version, but I highly encourage you to snuggle up with the Sega cart and enjoy some play this winter.
Winner: Wonder Boy
So what do you think? If you have played both versions feel free to chime in with your thoughts.
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