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Wonder Boy - Asha in Monster World Announced, Led By Series Creator

Stafford

Member
Those games were French, this one's Japanese.

Apparently this IS coming to PC (Steam) though. Official press release says it's a remake, not a new game, contrary to earlier reporting. A bit disappointing but I'm still excited.

But more and more Japanese games have been coming to Xbox. This is just fucked up. Guess I'll get it for Switch then.
 

CamHostage

Member
It's so strange that Wonder Boy has been phased out of his own series.
In a way its less phased out and more in tradition with the way Wonder Boy/Adventure Island has always had a bizarre history

Heh, yeah, what could possibly be more authentically true to the Wonder Boy / Adventure Island / Monster World / Monster Land / Monster Lair / Dragon's Curse / Saiyuki World / Turma da Mônica / Whomp 'Em franchise'ish than having even more brand convolution?

Having so many different new takes on the games is giving us a nice variety to choose from, though. If you're not sure about the way one developer chose to make a Wonder Boy game, just wait for the next one to come along... It is weird though that, of all these, the new Adventure Island line has garnered the least attention. Deservedly so, maybe (it looks pretty Flash-gamey, although I never actually played Adventure Island Returns or Adventure Island Returns Remix,) but Adventure Island was always the bigger brand as far as I knew.
 
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SALMORE

Member
just saw the trailer and i am a bit disappointed about the artstyle but I'll buy it regardless , finished the original a while & i enjoyed it
 

SkylineRKR

Member
Disappointing.

Graphics look worse than Monsterboy and Dragon's Trap. And this is a remake of IV, not a sequel. I don't see much reason to play this over the version I have on the Mini. Currently, this gives me Re-shelled vibes. Not as bad but just worse than the original.
 
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Xellos

Member
Not terrible, but nowhere near Dragon's Trap remake or Monster Boy. Choppy frame rate and low resolution too. Hopefully just a bad capture.

If nothing else, I hope the Mega Drive version is included since the 16-bit visuals still look good today.
 
Looks like utter crap! And to have the gall to put the line about it being made by the original devs......

When passionate indie devs from France made an homage and remake of your games and they look like this:
Monster-Boy-and-the-Cursed-Kingdom.gif


1588423187_762_Streets-of-Rage-4.gif


r2etzxqrlu65a8wmuxyd.gif


shamefurdispray2.jpg
 

Kazza

Member
Double disappointment:
1. Just a remake, not a new game (why, when the original still looks and plays great today?)
2. Horrible, cheap looking 2.5D presentation that looks much worse than the original.
 

SF Kosmo

Al Jazeera Special Reporter
Not surprisingly, this remake is visually exactly what would be expected from a suddenly announced game that's planned to release in only a few months. To be fair, the game could look worse, but it's certainly a good deal removed from the care given to the Wonder Boy III remake and Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom.


The aliasing and framerate are worrying here and speak to a game that is not in a polished state a few months from release. If this is the Switch version, it's a bit more understandable, but I don't know why you wouldn't choose better footage from a more powerful platform to showcase your game. Maybe the other ports are not as far along...

I don't hate it otherwise. If I can run the PC port at 1080/60 with nice AA, I'm sure I'll have a blast with it.
 

SkylineRKR

Member
Perhaps they kan KOF XIV it, but i doubt it.

The MD version is also on PSN. Get that instead, its a great game. And it looks excellent:

UmKhQ6D.png
 

BlakeofT

Member
I love the original game, it really is amazing. Don't think I'll be picking up the remake unless it gets a lot of polish though, or maybe if it includes the original game.
 

martino

Member
this looks and feel really far from what 2 previous game are (especially monster boy)
i think i'll pass
 
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quickwhips

Member
Damn so no xbox this time or will it be late? I bought the last two on xbox and really enjoyed both. I am not sure if the last two released late on xbox?
 

SkylineRKR

Member
Dragon's Trap art direction would be insta buy despite being a remake. Now I see no reason to buy this, from what I've seen it looks worse than the original.
 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
The aliasing and framerate are worrying here and speak to a game that is not in a polished state a few months from release. If this is the Switch version, it's a bit more understandable, but I don't know why you wouldn't choose better footage from a more powerful platform to showcase your game. Maybe the other ports are not as far along...

I don't hate it otherwise. If I can run the PC port at 1080/60 with nice AA, I'm sure I'll have a blast with it.

Why 3D? Why? :(...
 

Bullet Club

Member

Wonder Boy: Asha In Monster World Launches April 22nd For Switch In Japan​


Publisher G Choice and developer Studio Artdink have announced the release date for Wonder Boy: Asha In Monster World in Japan.

This 3D remaster of the classic title Wonder Boy IV is scheduled to launch on April 22nd for Switch in Japan. It will be available as a standard retail edition for 3,980 yen as well as a “Special Pack” edition for 5,980 yen. The Special Pack will include a copy of the game, as well as two art books and a collector’s box. A digital version will also be available for 3,480 yen.

Check out the new trailer below:




At the time of this writing, it is not known whether this April 22nd release date will also apply to the western version of the game. We will be sure to report back with more details as they come.

Source: Nintendo Soup
 
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SALMORE

Member
the game looks better now than the first time they showed it + it's not entirely a remake ! I've seen areas in the trailer that wasn't in the original game
 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
Characters look nice but the boxy, low detail backgrounds look like an N64 game in higher resolution.

This looks like a very skilled set of artists accustomed to 3D was given the task to remake the game with a modern 3D engine (albeit constrained by a portable console so... I wonder if this were XSX/PS5 exclusive if they could go crazy with the 3D budget and fill the word with more detail too).

The character modelling and shading is nice, animation (the running and jumping looks stiff and floaty)... not really... interestingly the same kind of happened with Bloodstained too. This would have been much better as a 2D game, but yes it would have costed more to make.
 
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nkarafo

Member
This looks like a very skilled set of artists accustomed to 3D was given the task to remake the game with a modern 3D engine (albeit constrained by a portable console
Portable console, you mean the Switch?

These 3D graphics are so simplified, even on the 3DS they would look bad. The Switch can do much better than that.
 
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TLZ

Banned

Wonder Boy: Asha In Monster World Launches April 22nd For Switch In Japan​


Publisher G Choice and developer Studio Artdink have announced the release date for Wonder Boy: Asha In Monster World in Japan.

This 3D remaster of the classic title Wonder Boy IV is scheduled to launch on April 22nd for Switch in Japan. It will be available as a standard retail edition for 3,980 yen as well as a “Special Pack” edition for 5,980 yen. The Special Pack will include a copy of the game, as well as two art books and a collector’s box. A digital version will also be available for 3,480 yen.

Check out the new trailer below:




At the time of this writing, it is not known whether this April 22nd release date will also apply to the western version of the game. We will be sure to report back with more details as they come.

Source: Nintendo Soup

This looks ok actually.
 
This looks like a very skilled set of artists accustomed to 3D was given the task to remake the game with a modern 3D engine (albeit constrained by a portable console so... I wonder if this were XSX/PS5 exclusive if they could go crazy with the 3D budget and fill the word with more detail too).

The character modelling and shading is nice, animation (the running and jumping looks stiff and floaty)... not really... interestingly the same kind of happened with Bloodstained too. This would have been much better as a 2D game, but yes it would have costed more to make.
You're giving Sega too much credit, this was obviously a super cheap effort and a cash grab similar to the Sega Ages collections on PS2.
Portable console, you mean the Switch?

These 3D graphics are so simplified, even on the 3DS they would look bad. The Switch can do much better than that.
I'm almost certain this was intended for the 3DS but got delayed because of that platform's demise and the rise of the Switch so they made the change, still looks like an amature job by a couple of minimum wage guys.
 
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Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
Portable console, you mean the Switch?

These 3D graphics are so simplified, even on the 3DS they would look bad. The Switch can do much better than that.
Not sure, if I imagine something like a proper high quality detailed and animated (evolved) game like Monkey Island 2/3 or Yoshi’s Island or many other 2D classics the level of complexity is not something I have seen matched easily in purely 3D games (even QuackTales remastered had 2D characters IIRC). I think you would also need good AA and not too low resolution rendering and 60 FPS which is a tall order for Xbox One and PS4 let alone Switch.

Still, yes Switch could do better than this.
 
Going back to the trailer from last year, it's hard to know how much of the choppy-looking frame rate and dirty visuals were due to the game itself or just a poorly delivered video, but either way, this new trailer does suggest slight improvements to the graphics. Asha's face has certainly been tweaked in some instances and given more expression, helping her to look less like a toy. Still, the game appears to be a budget effort. On the plus side, the original Genesis game is included and will be on-cart for the Switch version.
 
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SF Kosmo

Al Jazeera Special Reporter
I'll buy it just to support, but it reminds me a bit of those budget remakes of retrogames you'd see on PS2 and GameCube.


Ok, maybe it's better than that. But it does feel like an approach to remaking 2D games from a bygone era.

The thing that's killing me most is the framerate. I'll probably nab it on PC just to make sure I get 60fps.
 
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Fredrik

Member
Might buy if it’s on sale I guess but there are many other games I’ll buy instead, looks bad compared to Dragon’s Trap remake and Monster Boy.
 

Xellos

Member
Characters and environments look pretty good in the new trailer (could use some antialiasing), but the gameplay seems slightly too fast and the frame rate isn't smooth? Maybe it's just a poorly made video? I'd be fine with those graphics if the game runs well.
 
I think they should have just made a Sequel using the Mega Drive graphics and Engine.

Not that the Artwork is bad or anything, but I cannot imagine playing it when it is choppy as the game is pretty fast paced otherwise.

The original Westone Developers should have just done that instead of this remake as people are already saying how horrible it looks to play.
 
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