Various remakes and re-releases over the years have helped keep Wonder Boy in the headlines, but retro enthusiasts will be focused on the upcoming Wonder Boy Collection, which brings four classic games from the franchise to the PS4. As per the press release, the full selection includes the following games, “precisely ported to today’s home consoles and including extended features”:
- Wonder Boy (1986) – Help Boy to rescue his girlfriend Tina, who got captured by the evil King. Guide him carefully through different areas and battle the devious enemies that await you on your quest. Use a variety of items that help Boy on his adventure. Face the evil King in various battles to reach your aim and rescue Tina!
- Wonder Boy in Monster Land (1987) – Years after the adventures of Wonder Boy the beautiful peace in Wonder Land was destroyed once again by the invasion of a dragon with its evil monsters turning Wonder Land into Monster Land. Help Book to fight the monsters, defeat the dragon and restore the peace for the land and its people again. On your journey, you can collect equipment and magical spells to help you in your battles. But beware – every round has a time limit so you got to be quick!
- Wonder Boy in Monster World (1991) – Guide the young adventurous Shion and help him on his quest to defeat the evil BioMeka and his army of monsters that are threatening the land. However, Shion is not alone! Accompanied by the 4 spirits Priscilla, Hotta, Shabo and Lotta, he explores the different regions of Monster Land. Collect money, weapons, armor and magic spells to get stronger and defeat the evil!
- Monster World IV (1994) – The young girl named Asha sets out on her mission to save the four spirits that were captured by the evil wizards. With the help of Asha’s loyal companion Pepelogoo, they overcome every obstacle and fight their way through various enemies!
Wonder Boy and Wonder Boy in Monster Land are the arcade releases, while Wonder Boy in Monster World and Monster World IV are emulations of the SEGA Genesis editions. The improvements in this compilation include filters and shaders, rewind functionality, save states, and art galleries – so a well-rounded package overall.
The frustrating thing is that a limited Anniversary edition, flogged by Strictly Limited Games, includes 21 (!!!) titles, including various different permutations of the aforementioned games. This expands to numerous Master System and Game Gear ports, as well as both the Japanese and international ROMs. Annoyingly, though, this version is limited to just 2,000 copies on the PS4.
It’s a real shame that the more comprehensive option won’t be more widely available, but pre-orders are still available through here if you’d like to grab the complete package before it's gone forever. Alternatively, the lesser Wonder Boy Collection will release physically and digitally from 3rd June.
[source youtube.com]
Comments 15
Limiting the version with more games goes against the whole game preservation thing surely?!
I assume this means the digital release will also be the one with less games?
Let's hope for a comprehensive platinum!
@BlaizeV Yes, sadly.
Not much of a collection in digital form, I have the other games in various formats. Also, no Dragon's Trap is a big omission from a collection (I realise there is the nice new version, but should still be here).
@BlaizeV Something similar was done with the remake of Monster World IV, where only the physical edition came with the original Sega Genesis version of the game.
I might have picked this up, since this is a fun little series, but the FOMO shenanigans with the physical edition just makes me not want to give them any of my money.
Maybe SLG are helping funding the complete collection? Wonder Boy games have seen a ressurgence, but are still very niche games. I just dont get why 2000 units, I get that its called Strickly Limited Games, but they should do like LRG, a 6 weeks period of sales for some games.
Monster World IV is one of my favorite games but already have 2 ways to play it so I’ll probably pass on this.
Without the superior Master System version of Monster Land OR Wonderboy 3 ... i'm gonna have to dodge this one. Pretty poor collection actually.
The limited thing regarding retro is a dilemma. It sells the games, most of them to profit speculators probably, which makes money for the companies.
But on the other hand, if you suddenly find yourself wanting to play some old game on a whim one day, your only option is going to be some sealed/graded thing priced at a ridiculous amount if you missed the window.
This is awful, limiting digital media like this is pointless. These will just be scalped. Why not release the whole game digitally and limit the physical, doesn’t make sense to only fully release a version with limited games. No wonder people resort to piracy.
I'll pick up the regular edition digitally during a 50% sale, in no hurry.
Sadly not the first time this sort of thing has happened with this publisher. If memory serves they,(or offshoot ININ Games),had a ps4 port of the Megadrive Monster World IV with Asha in Monster World remake physical edition but remained stone silent on a separate digital release...now part of this.
Likewise SLG offered the Turrican Anthology Vol. 1 & 2 with optional new soundtracks & map features whilst ININ released Turrican Flashback (minus Turrican 3 Amiga & MD/Snes variants of the latter games)...been heavily delayed at over a year late for the Anthology versions...whilst delays can happen, they've been sidetrack doing MD/Snes cartridge versions too & made vague promises about "some sort of digital release",without spelling out what they'll include!🤔
Though not SLG,(was a Limited Run Games release), can also recall Night Trap 25th Anniversary getting a U.S. Digital release,but never got an EU/AU PSN release despite the Switch Eshop Version getting past the inconsistant Aussie Gaming regulators! 🙄
I support physical versions esp.,of smaller games that might not get a physical version otherwise... but I hate seeing paywalling of certain games purely behind a limited release with exorbitant international postage when they've obviously passed certification & should surely get a digital release too!🤔
What an absolute con — paywalling 17 extra games behind a heavily-limited physical edition (that will likely get bought up by scalpers and put on eBay for silly prices anyway), seems like the worst way to promote this collection. The digital edition feels like you're paying for an extended demo of the full package. You want to release a physical edition with loads of extra plastic tat? Go nuts, there's a market for that, but don't deny the actual games for people who only want to get the digital version.
Let’s enable scalpers! Yay!
While I don't need all 21 games in a collection, a more curated list than just 4 would be much better. Especailly as they have them all working. It is more work to remove them than include them.
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