Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World (Nintendo Switch)
Official GBAtemp Review
Product Information:
- Release Date (NA): May 28, 2021
- Release Date (EU): May 28, 2021
- Release Date (JP): April 22, 2021
- Publisher: ININ Games
- Developer: Artdink
- Genres: Action-Adventure Platfomer
- Also For: Computer, PlayStation 4
Game Features:
Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World is an action-adventure platformer developed by Artdink and published by ININ Games for the Switch, PS4, and Steam. Asha in Monster World is a remake of the Japan-only Monster World IV for the Sega Mega Drive, making this Asha’s first appearance for Western audiences, excluding a fantastic fan translation of the original. Sporting gameplay enhancements and a new 3D look, is this trip to Monster World worth your time or a stop worth missing?
On the Wind
The Elemental Spirits of Monster World have been imprisoned and sinister forces seek to shroud the land in darkness. Elsewhere in a small village, a young girl named Asha, who dreams of adventure and becoming a warrior, hears the pleas of the Elemental Spirits on the wind. With her family and village's blessing, she sets forth on a journey to save not just the Spirits but all of Monster World.
While I am a fan of games with strong narratives and branching storylines, games such as this with a simple and linear story that's easy to follow certainly have their own perks. The story itself is particularly lighthearted, which with its cute anime aesthetic, isn't too hard to achieve. That's not to say it doesn't have its more serious moments but they are pretty far and few between. The game features a small cast of characters, such as the Lamp Spirit that Asha becomes master of and Purapril XIII, the ruler of Rapadagna City and descendant of Purapril from past Monster World games. As Asha progresses through her adventure, she gains a companion in a small creature called a Pepelogoo, a small spherical monster that floats by flapping its ears. While almost all are yellow, the one Asha befriends is blue, which is considered rare. Beyond that, most other characters are minor NPCs and vendors.
Gameplay in Asha in Monster World is largely unchanged compared to the original game. As you would expect, Asha must run and jump her way through Monster World in a side-scrolling fashion. Equipped with a sword and shield, she has one attack option on the ground and three when in the air; an upward stab, a downward stab and her standard ground slash. By pressing down while on the ground, Asha will pull her shield to protect herself from all manner of attacks. There is a limit to what physical attacks she can defend against but projectiles can be blocked indefinitely. As you progress through the story, new swords and shields become available for purchase using funds dropped from enemies. These increase her attack power, defense, and elemental resistance, the latter of which can completely negate the damage regardless of if she has her shield out. Asha starts with a small number of hearts and when they are gone, it’s game over. You can gain more hearts through two ways; purchasing and equipping new bracelets which will increase your pink hearts or finding Life Drops scattered across the world. For every 10 found, Asha will gain one blue heart, with a max of 30 hearts between the two.
Pepelogoo isn’t just there to float around and look adorable either. When Asha calls out for him, he will come straight to her and from there can provide a variety of different functions. If Asha jumps while she is still holding onto Pepelogoo, he will slow her descent and allow for an additional jump also. Some obstacles and puzzles will require throwing him to blow out a torch or freezing him to serve as a platform. It’s a nice little element and opens up some new exploration.
On the topic of exploration, much like the story itself, the stages are pretty linear. Not to say there aren't little secrets and hidden items, such as Life Drops, to find but as a whole is very much point A to point B. Stage design itself is quite well done and broken into individual sections, with each having its own gimmick and theme, with the Sky Palace probably being my personal favorite. While you can return to previous stages, once you reach a certain part of the story, navigating some stages will become impossible and will only allow you to play a stage to a set point. If you missed something, you may be unable to return to that area in that specific playthrough, which may be particularly frustrating for completionists.
A Charming Time
Given the previous version of Monster World IV was for the Mega Drive, it had some fantastic sprites and quite a bit of charm. Thankfully, the 3D models and environments in this remake retain a lot of that charm. It's not gonna be the best looking game but all of the characters look very much like they do in the original game and as a whole it looks good. Enemy design is faithful, down to the segmented appearance of some bosses. I didn’t notice any frame drops between docked and undocked as well. They also added voice acting, though it’s pretty much limited to a few cutscenes and a few bits sprinkled here and there. The only real issue I had with Asha in Monster World is localization issues. There is a decent handful of punctuation and grammar errors, spacing, or random capitalization. It doesn’t ruin the overall experience but it gives it a slightly less polished feel.
One thing we have yet to cover is the gameplay enhancements. One that has been mentioned already is returning to previous stages. In the original, there is a character called the Sage, whom Asha would have to speak with to save the game. In Asha in Monster World, however, you can save anywhere and anytime you’d like. Additionally, instead of two save files, you now have twelve so you can share a profile or maybe some save scumming if you missed something. They also added an easy difficulty, which grants more healing items and coin auto-collect. That said, on the normal difficulty there were so many healing items already, it seems a little unnecessary to include an easy mode as the game isn’t particularly difficult to begin with. The highlight of the enhancements is the addition of the Magical Hit. Each successful hit on an enemy will fill a gauge, that once full will allow Asha to deal a large amount of damage. Every sword varies on required hits to fill and damage dealt. I really like it and found it to add something new without changing the core gameplay much, though it does make things slightly easier with the increased damage.
A Wonderous World
Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World is a wonderful remake and game. Even with the enhancements, it’s faithful to the original and manages to retain a lot of the charm of Monster World IV. While it doesn’t have a particularly long playtime, upwards of between 6-8 hours, finding all Life Drops has its perks and some little secrets hidden in the game on subsequent playthroughs offers a nice bit of replayability. When it’s all said and done, this is an excellent trip to Monster World.
Side Note: Physical versions of the game come with the original Monster World IV on the cart for the Switch, while the PS4 physical release has a download code bundled. Something to think about if you consider picking this up.
Verdict
- Fun and simple gameplay
- Lighthearted story
- Enhancements fit
- Few grammar/localization issues
- Easy mode seems unnecessary
