Year Released: 1994

Platform: Sega Megadrive/Genesis

Developer: Westone

This old gem back in 1994, created by a small group called Westone of Sega, is a Zelda 2 Clone done right. Westone itself had an interesting history: earlier on, they created Wonderboy for the arcade, also known as Adventure Island for the NES. The IP split into two directions: one is a linear fast-paced platformer (Adventure Island series) and the other is an open-ended adventure game influenced by the likes of Metroid & the infamous Simon’s Quest, dubbed as Monster World. Granted, I’ve never played the other Monster World series, but the acclaim the previous titles received may urge me to test out said series.

Monster World tells a tale of desert warrior Arsha, who seemed to be destined to get rid of the evil of the land by visiting the elemental-themed areas holding an elemental spirit who can help rid the aforementioned evil. It’s not Oscar material, but that’s more than enough to drive our heroine to go forth and fight, with sword and shield in hand.

The visuals scream cute. Arsha herself seem to emanate an amount of animated cuddliness, for someone who mercilessly slays the fauna of the world and stealing their coins. The world where Arsha quests in is basically an Arabian-themed wonderland, with old wise men in turbans and queens living in lavished palaces and mansions. Other environments also are pleasing to the eyes, like a water-themed pipeway level, a volcanic mountain, and a giant pyramid in the snow. Needless to say, it’s very colorful and fun on the eyes.

Our heroine also controls smoothly; she jumps, swings her blade straight, upwards and downwards, and sprints with ease. She also has a shield to ward her from projectiles and enemy attacks. Her arsenal of movements increase when she acquires a flying marshmallow-esque pet called Papalogu, which is probably Monster World-ese for “Flying Kirby stunt double”. The little blighter uses its wings to make Arsha float above wide chasms as well as double jump. Papalogu can also blow off smoke from candles too high to reach, shield you from fire above, and also be used as a launch platform for jettisoning lava or small steam cracks. Every level is designed properly to make use of the stay-puft-airborne pet in a creative yet questionable way because, really, what loving dog owner would stand on the lean body of their own poodle for a copious amount of time?

You’d think the RSPCA would be all over Arsha…

Speaking of which, the levels are well-designed, although some of them tend to get long-winded and repetitive (long tunnel, repeating the same jumping/ floating segments). Some of the bosses too can be a little bit too hard to hit, since Arsha’s sword has an adequate range, but that’s probably just me not being good enough. It also doesn’t help that the game is a Japanese exclusive title. Most of the action bits require no more than reflexes and platforming skills, but for the puzzles taking place in the town, either a good knowledge of Japanese or an FAQ would be handy.

You might be asking, “How, pray tell good sir, can I acquire a copy of this wonder?” You can start by clicking here. For that price Play-Asia offers, you also get the rest of the Monster World prequels for the PS2, as well as the first game WonderBoy, the first game before the inevitable IP split happened. 30 smackers is not a bad deal for 6 games.

So, dear readers, any thoughts and 2-cents on the Wonderboy/ Monster World series you’d like to share? Are the old ones worth getting into in this day and age?

An ode to Sir Mix-A-Lot (click for more)

Technorati : a look back, metroidvania, monster world IV, westone