Game Profile

After the defeat of the evil king, the kingdom of Wonder Land was a paradise…for a time. The peace was broken when a ferocious, fire-breathing dragon struck without warning and took over Wonder Land with a swarm of evil, monstrous henchmen, turning the once-peaceful land into the utterly chaotic Monster Land.

Unable to fight, the people now look to Wonder Boy. Realizing that he is Wonder Land's last hope, Wonder Boy sets out on an incredible journey to rid the country of the monsters and defeat the "invincible" evil dragon. Guide Wonder Boy through various environments and dungeons, and defeat enemies using Special Weapons and Spells.

Game Review

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Review

USA Sat, 24 Jan 2009 by Darren Calvert

After the defeat of the evil king, the kingdom of Wonder Land was a paradise…for a time.

Sega’s follow-up to the legendary Wonder Boy on the Master System took our hero Tom-Tom out of his former prehistoric setting into a medieval fantasy world. This game started out life as an arcade machine and also got ports to home computers and the..

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User Comments

Dazza

1. Dazza United Kingdom 29 Jul 2008, 10:40 BST

This was one of my favourite Master System games back in the days. What a great game, yes it wasn't as slick as Wonderboy III but it was so much fun to play.

Ragnor

2. Ragnor New Zealand 29 Jul 2008, 12:22 BST

Ahahaha, that cover art is so bad xD

But yeah, now I'll finally be able to see the end of this game properly, since it links into the beginning of the third :p

Speaking of which, I would totally buy the SMS Wonder Boy 3, even though Dragon's Curse is basically better in most ways. Nostalgia and all that

KeeperBvK

3. KeeperBvK Germany 29 Jul 2008, 16:24 BST

I played this in the HEY arcade in Tokyo and I thought it was pretty neat. How close is this port to the original?

Tony

4. Tony United States 29 Jul 2008, 19:30 BST

Its amazing how much people make fun of the SMS's box are with the white grids and the bad pictures, but people love the Sega Genesis box art with the black grids and the edgy game covers.

Anyway somone at Nintendo loves Wonderboy games, thats for sure.

Kelvin

5. Kelvin United Kingdom 31 Jul 2008, 08:13 BST

Well, to be fair, some of the really early SMS cover art was shockingly awful. This game is in the middle period, where it's not quite as awful as stuff like Choplifter, but the style hasn't grown up quite yet. Once we get to 1991 or so, the cover art has really improved.

Virus

6. Virus United States 31 Jul 2008, 08:35 BST

Wow, this actually looks like it is a good game. I wish I waited for this to be my first SMS game instead of Alex Kidd...

Ragnor

7. Ragnor New Zealand 31 Jul 2008, 13:09 BST

Yeah, the cover art progressivly got a lot better. I owned most of the better games from around the Sonic 2 SMS period, and all of them had good cover art

But oh man, the early ones would make you laugh at them over and over

Ricardo91

8. Ricardo91 United States 31 Jul 2008, 22:17 BST

That box art is hilariously atrocius. I'm sure that kid's face gave a few young children nightmares back in the day. And he's a bit big for a boy isn't he?

Mixer152

9. Mixer152 United Kingdom 18 Aug 2008, 05:52 BST

Yeah the old SMS box arts are pretty abysmal. I heard Wonderboy III Monster Lair was one of the worst WB games, but thats the only one Ive played and I really enjoyed it as a kid. This one doesnt look too different though. Im not sure whether to get it.

gamerwizz

10. gamerwizz United Kingdom 01 Sep 2008, 19:10 BST

Cant wait for this game to come out as this is the only game in the wonder boy series that I have never played hopefully it will come out sometime this month although its very rare master system games are released on the virtual console I think where due one dont you.

DDR Paladin356

11. DDR Paladin356 United States 19 Sep 2008, 19:53 BST

Epic fail on the box art. But this game is awesome!

President_Leever

12. President_Leever Sweden 29 Sep 2008, 06:08 BST

A very challenging game that introduced some of the series staples like shopping for equipment and treasure hunting. It's a shame it didn't get rid of some older mechanics in the process though, because searching for secrets and doing shopping is pretty hard to do when your life keeps draining away and there are NO continues to fall back on. And you still get point giving loot from enemies when all you really want is gold because it's so damn rare and everything is so damn expensive! The game ends up being as much about resource management as it is about platforming and fighting monsters.
Get the sequel, Wonder Boy III /Dragons Curse first. This isn't even the best version, as it plays extremely slow.
Btw, I wonder if the arcade game inspired Nintendo to make Zelda 2 the way it was or if it was the other way around?

tatemon555

13. tatemon555 Canada 04 Jan 2009, 15:46 GMT

Bad box art. I will probably get this, though.

Bass X0

14. Bass X0 United Kingdom 22 Jan 2009, 23:07 GMT

worst ever game for the master system? i doubt that very much, dfalco.

7th lutz

15. 7th lutz United States 23 Jan 2009, 00:05 GMT

Dfalco, It is not the worst game on the Sms.

There are far worse Sega Master games out there including the "great sports" series for the the Sms. I own and played over 70 sms games.

maka

16. maka Spain 23 Jan 2009, 00:48 GMT

I think this is the Wonder Boy I played on the Amiga back in the early 90s. Is it possible? From what I've seen in the video it does seem to be it but my memory is a bit fuzzy...

Will probably get it anyway as I've enjoyed the other Wonder Boy games on VC

Jogurt the Yogurt

17. Jogurt the Yogurt Canada 23 Jan 2009, 04:40 GMT

Come on, let's be fair to dfalco. He didn't say it's the worst game on the SMS... he said it's the "wrost"... ;)

quakster

18. quakster Finland 23 Jan 2009, 08:21 GMT

The C64 version of this thing kicked my arse. Time to pay back.

chunky_droid

19. chunky_droid Australia 23 Jan 2009, 11:57 GMT

SEGNESHGEGNESGNSUDBGYSDBYUVBCXBVXZ GIVE ME THIS GAME NOW!!!!!

I had the C64 version of this too quakster, I could only finish the game as long as I got Sphinx's question right because he kicked my arse otherwise. And that level with a lot of yellow in the background HATED my TV (played really loud fuzz through the speaker). I'm getting this as soon as it comes to the US.

slangman

20. slangman United Kingdom 23 Jan 2009, 12:09 GMT

The worst cover art I ever saw. I don't think i will get this though since the Wounder boy games don't interest me much at all.

Retro_Gameplayer

21. Retro_Gameplayer United Kingdom 23 Jan 2009, 17:40 GMT

ive played it for a few consoles quiet good too a classic

Bass X0

22. Bass X0 United Kingdom 23 Jan 2009, 19:02 GMT

slangman...
http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/bigboxshots/6/588176_85860_front.jpg

Drake

23. Drake Netherlands 23 Jan 2009, 19:04 GMT

No no no, this is clearly the worst boxart ever :p

nintendo87

24. nintendo87 United States 23 Jan 2009, 20:51 GMT

i agree with Drake WTF is up with that box art!!

Luigi La Bouncy

25. Luigi La Bouncy United Kingdom 24 Jan 2009, 12:38 GMT

I'm curious about this game but can't decide whether to get this or the mega-drive version...

The first level looks the same but there seems to be more things going on in the megadrive version. mmmmm?

slangman

26. slangman United Kingdom 24 Jan 2009, 13:00 GMT

Now i can't decide which is the worst box art. Although Zllion looks far too basic to capture my eye. :P

Will

27. Will Ireland 24 Jan 2009, 19:36 GMT

Which Wonder boy game was on C64?

Drake

28. Drake Netherlands 24 Jan 2009, 22:39 GMT

The original Wonder Boy and Wonder Boy in Monster Land were both on C64.

Adamant

29. Adamant Norway 26 Jan 2009, 09:05 GMT

slangman, the Master System was a haven of horrendous box art. This game is above par as far as the system is considered.

chunky_droid

30. chunky_droid Australia 26 Jan 2009, 13:06 GMT

Does anyone know if the Master System version had the nurse say "Shit!" when you told her three times you didn't need medical attention? I remember her saying that in the C64 version I had when I was a young'n.

@Drake: The game was so bad it put itself in a headlock?

And as for box-art, at least the guy looks happy to be killing that red knight that's not even in the game :)

slangman

31. slangman United Kingdom 26 Jan 2009, 13:16 GMT

I suppose the dodgy box art is fairly normal for the SMS. Even so i still think WBIML has the cheesiest box art ever created for a Master System game.

niner

32. niner United States 26 Jan 2009, 17:36 GMT

Meh, another SMS title. I can't think of a single game on that console that I would pay money for. When is the SNES going to have a decent release?!

Adamant

33. Adamant Norway 27 Jan 2009, 01:05 GMT

The Red Knight is in the game. You find him in the hidden mansion on the island, and probably some later places as well.

chunky_droid

34. chunky_droid Australia 27 Jan 2009, 01:50 GMT

@Adamant, it must've been too long since I've played it. Unless it's just in the SMS version as I completed the C64 version time and time again way back in primary school. Then again, it's hard to tell what colour half of the things are in the C64 version

Stevii's Father

35. Stevii's Father Philippines 27 Jan 2009, 04:46 GMT

Keith Courage in Alpha Zones + Adventure Island = Wonder Boy!

Adamant

36. Adamant Norway 27 Jan 2009, 18:18 GMT

(actually, that wasn't even right - the Red Knight is the boss on level 3. Forgot what he looked like when I mademy previous post)

Mickeymac

37. Mickeymac United States 28 Jan 2009, 03:56 GMT

@niner

You mean all the other Super NES games released aren't good enough for you?

Well, if Fantasy Zone and Space Harrier weren't included in the Ultimate Genesis Collection, I could've had an SMS day today. Now I gotta wait for Fantasy Zone II and Sonic Chaos.

Wii is MYcrack

38. Wii is MYcrack Canada 30 Jan 2009, 22:16 GMT

viva sms

nintendo87

39. nintendo87 United States 31 Jan 2009, 22:44 GMT

just got this game today and its not bad but when u die it sucks you have to start all over

Adamant

40. Adamant Norway 02 Feb 2009, 17:22 GMT

Well, the game is designed around using your money intelligently and playing good through the entire game. Not starting over upon death would kind of kill the entire concept.

Plus the revival potion kind of acts as an extra life.

Plus, once you've learned how the game works, it's not particularly hard. I beat it fairly quickly.

DDR Paladin356

41. DDR Paladin356 United States 03 Feb 2009, 23:58 GMT

Ok, did anyone else notice that they changed the Hospital Cross to an H?

zss_shadow

42. zss_shadow Canada 08 Feb 2009, 16:52 GMT

Oh, but what about THIS box art? :P

Anyway, I loved the game when my uncle showed me, I think I'll get this game. Though there was a part in the last level with platforms where you could get permanently stuck so that was really annoying.

BananaJane

43. BananaJane Canada 11 Feb 2009, 05:30 GMT

Yeah, all master system games had horrible box art.

Turbo Genesis 64

44. Turbo Genesis 64 United States 29 Jun 2009, 03:45 BST

I think an 8 is too high for this game. I would give it a 5. It will entertain mildly for a week than you will forget you own the game. The game hasn't aged that well and plenty of the gameplay is very flawed and rough.

SKTTR

45. SKTTR Germany 05 Sep 2009, 04:14 BST

This game isn't bad. It's just very challenging.

One life, no continues, no save points, no passwords.
Only one resurrection potion you can have at a time.

After beating Wonder Boy (great classic) and Wonder Boy in Monster World (the best game in the series) this one seems to be the worst one.
I will download Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair soon and Wonder Boy III: Dragon's Trap when it's available.

But for now my score is:

Wonder Boy in Monster World ( 9/10 )
Wonder Boy ( 8/10 )
Wonder Boy in Monster Land ( 7/10 )

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