Чудо-Бой III: Ловушка Дракона

1989 action adventure video game

the 2017 remake

Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap, known as Monster World II (モンスターワールドＩＩ, Monsutā Wārudo Tsū) in Japan, is a platforming action adventure video game developed by Westone as part of Sega's Wonder Boy series. It was published by Sega and released for the Master System in 1989 and for the Game Gear in 1992 as Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap. It was ported by Hudson Soft and released in 1991 for the TurboGrafx 16/PC Engine under the name Dragon's Curse. It was also ported in 1993 by Brazilian company Tec Toy under the title Turma da Mônica em o Resgate, with the game retooled to include characters from Brazilian comic book series Monica's Gang (Turma da Mônica). A remake developed by Lizardcube and published by DotEmu, titled Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap, was released in April 2017. The game takes place after the events of Wonder Boy in Monster Land, in which Wonder Boy has been cursed by the Mecha Dragon and must locate the Salamander Cross to lift it. The game is nonlinear and features varying landscapes in which players must navigate. Players find items and clues needed to access different parts of Monster Land, and they can transform into other forms and gain different abilities. Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap received wide acclaim from gaming magazines upon its release. It was praised for its colorful and cartoon like graphics, rich sound and diverse sound effects, and varied and addictive gameplay. Criticisms include sprite flickering in the Master System version as well as slippery controls. It won Electronic Gaming Monthlys "Best Game of the Year" award for the Master System in 1989. Reviews from gaming magazines have described the game as one of the best Master System and 8 bit titles of that era.

Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap takes place immediately after the events of Wonder Boy in Monster Land, Wonder Boy travels into the Mecha Dragon's lair in order to slay him. (Some sources refer to this creature as the "MEKA dragon".) However, upon doing so, he is inflicted by a curse that transforms him into "Lizard Man". In the game, the player controls Wonder Boy as he tries to undo this curse by journeying across the land, defeating other dragons, and finally defeating the Vampire Dragon to obtain the Salamander Cross – the only object that can remove his curse. After completing the first level in the game (a simplified version of the final level from the preceding game Wonder Boy in Monster Land), the player begins as Lizard Man from Alsedo, a town in Monster Land, and the gameplay becomes nonlinear. From there, the player explores and finds items and clues needed for Wonder Boy to access different parts of Monster Land. Gold and additional secondary items can be found by defeating enemies and opening treasure chests. With gold, players can buy additional items and better equipment in shops and restore their life meter in hospitals. Items with question marks displayed cannot be bought unless the player has "charm", which can be increased by collecting Charm Stones or by equipping certain items. In the game, the player uses the directional pad to move Wonder Boy left or right, crouch down (only possible as Hu Man or Lizard Man), or to enter doors. The buttons on the controller are used to attack enemies and to jump. Wonder Boy can attack with his main weapon or with secondary weapons by holding down on the directional pad and pressing the attack button. Pressing the pause button brings up the Status Screen (and pauses the game if Wonder Boy is fighting a dragon). Wonder Boy has a life meter shown on the top of the gameplay area as a series of hearts. When all hearts turn black, Wonder Boy dies and the game ends, but if he has a life potion ("medicine vial" in Dragon's Curse) remaining, he will revive with some of the hearts refilled. After the game ends, the player is taken to a "continue screen"; there the player has an opportunity to win a free life potion before restarting the game at the town. Players can visit the town's church to receive a password in order to continue the game at a later time. The password saves the player's current form, equipment, and amount of gold; but it does not save any secondary weapons or life potions in stock. Dragon's Curse has a "file cabinet" which allows players to store passwords into the game's memory. After defeating a dragon, Wonder Boy changes form, and his abilities change. He turns into Lizard Man after defeating and being cursed by the Mecha Dragon in the first level. At that point, he loses all equipment and all hearts except one. Piranha Man can swim freely underwater and can access underwater places (such as the ship) which the other forms cannot, Lion Man attacks enemies with his sword by slashing from directly above to directly below him allowing him to attack targets other forms cannot hit because all of them except for Lizard Man simply thrust their sword, and Hawk Man can fly freely in the air but takes damage if he enters water. It was first released for the Master System in 1989 in North America and Europe. The game was then released to the PC Engine in Japan 1991 4 19 under the title Adventure Island (not to be confused with the Adventure Island series of games for the Nintendo Entertainment System); it was released for the TurboGrafx 16 that same year by NEC under the title Dragon's Curse. Westone allowed Hudson Soft to publish the game provided they made no reference to the Wonder Boy series. In 1993, Tec Toy released the game in Brazil for the Master System under the title Turma da Mônica em o Resgate. Tec Toy replaced the sprites with characters from Brazilian comic book series Monica's Gang (Turma da Mônica), so instead of the player character turning into different creatures, he gets turned into different characters from the comics, relaying between them in order to rescue Monica, who disappeared after the previous game. During the same year, Dragon's Curse/Adventure Island was released for the Wii's Virtual Console service worldwide. The Master System version of Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap was released in Europe on 2009 9 10 and in North America on 2009 11 09.

Upon the release of the TurboGrafx 16 version Dragon's Curse to the Virtual Console in 2007, IGN's Lucas Thomas reviewed the game, comparing the opening sequence of the game to the opening sequence of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night; he proceeded to add that the game parallels with games in the Castlevania series, calling the game "a straightforward and simple 'Metroidvania' adventure" but with "several layers of unexpected depth". Thomas noted the game's popularity among fans and that it plays almost exactly the same as the Master System version despite graphics and sound improvements; at the time, there were no Master System games on the Virtual Console. He praised the game's rich sound, gameplay depth, and "colorful and cartoony" graphics, which "was perfectly suited to the TurboGrafx platform". Thomas again reviewed the Master System version of Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap when it was released two years later for the Virtual Console. In this review, he compares the gameplay to Metroid – more specifically the need to gather additional equipment and abilities to advance in the game. While he acknowledged that this version from one of the best Master System games as well as for any 8 bit system, he felt that the Master System's Virtual Console release had a reduced appeal. He said that the TurboGrafx 16 version Dragon's Curse had already been out for two years and that there was no difference in gameplay between the two versions, but there were improvements in graphics and sound in the TurboGrafx 16 version because of the system's superior capabilities. He also noted that the Master System version suffers from sprite flickering – something the TurboGrafx 16 version did not have. Despite the small differences in the two versions, he decided to give the Master System version the same rating as the TurboGrafx 16 version.

In June 2016, indie developer Lizardcube and publisher DotEmu announced a remake of Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap, simply titled Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap, which was released for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One in April 2017, with a release on PC to follow in June 2017. The game supports a different, modern visual style, but retains the same gameplay, level design and story. The game was developed in collaboration with series creator Ryuichi Nishizawa. A spiritual successor to The Dragon's Trap, titled Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom, is also developed by Game Atelier and published by FDG Entertainment for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Google Stadia, and PC. The game is also developed in collaboration with Nishizawa, though does not use the Wonder Boy name due to Sega owning the rights.