Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World does its job as a platformer, and nothing more. That is to its detriment but also to its benefit. Unimaginative platforming is balanced by the rousing puzzles. Being a faithful remake, you can feel the age.
2D Platformers are refreshing in today’s gaming landscape, as the market is flooded with open-world games and first-person shooters. Most platformers often fall by the wayside as they don’t stand out to games like Celeste. Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World rather falls somewhere in between. It resonates to me in its Legend of Zelda-like puzzles but doesn’t come close in depth. Master of none, jack of all trades may be the best assessment of Wonder Boy. It is important to note that Asha in Monster World is a shot-for-shot remake of Monster World IV, a game formerly only released for the MegaDrive (Genesis) in Japan. This game was originally made in 1994 and you can feel its age.
Getting into the story, you play Asha, a young adventurer who is trying to prove herself. Starting out in her home village you then trek into a forest and begin your journey. Along the way, Asha soon realizes she must help save her world from an evil force. She does not do this alone, though, about a quarter way through the game you unlock your companion, the blue Pepelogoo. Using her trusty monster friend to traverse different elements, Asha conquers all that stands in her way. The story is not much more than that simple premise. It makes sense, it has nothing more and nothing less. It was also a short story, supporting a game that could be beaten within a few hours.
I always welcome a female protagonist in games, it breaks up the norm and I believe is important for representation. What stood out to me though was the sexism in the dialogue. Many of the NPCs you talked to, belittled Asha and her skills because she was a girl. It didn’t happen a time or two, but rather quite frequently. A character you would interact with would say something along the lines of “you can’t do this, you’re just a girl”. I found this to be really off-putting and discouraging for a game rated E. In the end, Asha does overcome her peers putting her down, and triumphs over the enemies. The sexism may just be a residual effect of the game originally being from 1994 where this could have been seen as progressive.
The puzzles in the world were engaging and the best part of the game. Each biome has different puzzles that you need to solve in order to progress through the story. Often you would need to use your companion’s abilities in order to find the solution. I found that these puzzles never overstayed their welcome. In addition, they weren’t too challenging, which never made the game frustrating or even unplayable. If one got too much, I could simply go back to the start of the puzzle and try again.
Another notch on the pro list for Wonder Boy is the music. In addition to the different level designs, there were also different level themes. Every new theme that was presented was delightful. Some of the earlier themes were reminiscent of the Kokiri Forest theme from Ocarina of Time. Often when I play games with no voice-over, I end up listening to podcasts to fill the void. While playing Wonder Boy, I found myself listening to wonderful music and fun sounds.
The core gameplay of Wonder Boy is platforming and combat. Both turned out to feel their age. Simple jumps between platforms and the occasional glide were all that really encompassed the gameplay. The different enemies were bland and if you couldn’t defeat them with a simple slash, then the solution was to jump and slash. The game needs just a little more depth. There were magical slashes that did more damage, but maybe a more complex magic system would have enhanced the experience. Thankfully the puzzles break up the monotony.
