REVIEW - Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap - What is the Secret of Your Power?

It's not often I get to play a game from my childhood without digging out the necessary console and its spaghetti of wires. (And crossing my fingers that the ravages of time haven't reduced the inner workings of the console to dust) Thankfully developer Lizardcube understands this issue and saw fit to remake 1989s Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap. (Technically it's Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap but I'm not about to be that arsehole)

You are Wonder Boy (or Girl) and you've set out to defeat the evil Mecha Dragon in his lair. Unknown to you there is a terrible curse that comes with your victory. Striking him down releases a magic that transforms the hero into a half-man/half-lizard. While it's cool to suddenly have scales and the ability to breath fire it would be better to, you know, be a normal human. (Eh, actually...) Now you must travel across the land defeating the other dragons and being subjected to new curses and new forms. I suppose you could argue this is where Skyrim got 100% of its inspiration. (Minus the shape changing hero) Yup, that seems totally plausible. Well done me for pointing it out to everyone.
There's not much in the way of plot. You are plopped into this fantasy world equipped with a sword and a shield and left to get on with the game in all its platforming glory. Coming across a seemingly impassable wall or a jump that you can't quite make is the games way of saying "Come back later". Going in the wrong direction can get you rewarded for your adventurous spirit with a chest full of treasure, however.

Above are two pictures of the very start of the game. The artwork for the remake is amazing. Every scene looks like the panel from a comic. The animations for both your character and the enemies are simple but at the same time fluid enough to make it look like you're watching a cartoon. Then with a press of the R2 button the screen shifts to reveal the original 8-bit game in all its nostalgic glory. Clicking the R3 button converts the music and sound effects to the original chiptune soundtrack. Everything is as it is was 28 years ago.

Pop into this menu on the pause screen and you can even apply scan line to turn even the shiniest 4K TVs into the CRT behemoths we all know and love. (Well, I know them but love might be too strong a word)
Starting this game brought back a tonne of memories. Most of which consist of handing the controller to my mum because dear lord is this game tough. But not tough as you might expect from a game nowadays. Its difficulty lies in its trial and error attitude to gameplay that was a major feature back in the day. Every level has a set amount of enemies and those enemies move in a certain way. Some of them jump and bounce across the screen while others shoot at you from afar. It's up to you as the player to get used to these patterns in order to advance. At the beginning of the game, you get given the option of Easy, Normal and Hard. These are really just to factor in how hard the enemies hit you before you get Game Over.

Yes, much like this Game Over screen that I've now seen more times than I care to admit. It hasn't been a deterrent, however. Knowing that it's my own skill at the game that's holding me back rather than some in-game stats pushes me forward. Knowing that I'm not going to have to spend the next hour or so of the game grinding for XP is strangely refreshing.

Compared to the original 1989 version the controls have been tightened up to help you navigate the often treacherous environments. Don't get me wrong, there are points a string of swears have shot from my mouth when a jump has been mistimed over and over. Like I've said, much like the combat, the level design is all about learning the patterns. At one point not too far in you are greeted with lava pits (hooray said no one ever) and enemies that have a tendency to knock you into them. I stopped playing the game for about an hour, collected myself (from the gibbering wreck I had become) and tried again. It was all good. At a mid-point in this section, you receive an item that makes the entire area so much easier to deal with. For an older game, it still knows how to reward its players and when a section is tough it will provide something to ease your torment. (Eventually) Something a fair few games released today could take a lesson in.

Bosses in the game are tricky. To defeat them you just have to hit them in the head until the health bar says 0. However, I feel I've gotten lucky with a few of them. While I've been talking about patterns and using them to overcome obstacles I have little to no idea what each bosses pattern was. It was almost a battle of attrition, I would hit them and hope that them hitting me wouldn't end my game. Not a bad thing by any means, I just couldn't get into the proper swing of battle.

Would I recommend Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap to you? Yup. You're damn right I would. If you're like me and enjoy a bit of nostalgic gaming or if you're just looking for a fun platformer to mess about with then Wonder Boy is your game. As I've said the artwork is beautiful to look at and the gameplay while challenging at times, it is rewarding.

Available to download for PS4 (£15.99), Xbox1 (£15.99) and Nintendo Switch (£17.99).

[Hello, quick note at the bottom here to see how you're feeling about the pictures in the review. Figured out how to get them from the PS4 to the laptop. Too many, need more, feedback is super. Much love]