Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World Reviews
Much as I wish I could rave about how amazing the game is, it’s unable to reach the heights I thought it capable of. But since the ending hints there’s gonna be a remake of the next game in the Wonder Boy series, I hope that can fully realize its vision while still being a balanced experience. A fun trip down memory lane, but hard to recommend for anyone other than expert platformers, especially for $34.99.
Asha in Monster World wears its retro heart on its sleeve, with the modern graphical overhaul only helping to increase its charm. For fans of classic games and platformers, it is definitely worth a shot, though you will need to be ready to overlook a few quirks.
Paying homage in a way that detracts from the experience, Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World is an unfortunate missed opportunity to introduce a classic to modern gamers.
An old game relying on old conventions is easily forgiven and forgotten. Asha in Monster World has no such excuse.
Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World is an entertaining game that plays faithfully to the 1994 Sega Genesis original. It has some mishaps with its new 3D look, but it’s still worth exploring once more.
Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World presents a fun and well-constructed experience. It denotes an excellent work by the producer in updating the technical and visual part, keeping some of the mechanics of the original game. Overall feeling of the project is that you are an elderly person in a rejuvenated body! Despite some minor flaws as a whole, it is noteworthy and respects the legacy of the SEGA classic.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Wonder Boy : Asha in the Monster World was an excellent game back in 1994. Unfortunately, today's remake isn't spicy enough. The game is a classic, but it fails to stand out in today's world especially considering the heavy competition on the market. It's mainly good for the nostalgia if your heart really wants to give it a go.
Review in French | Read full review
Not every game needs to be remade. That’s fine! Some games are fine as-is. Especially if the ensuing revisitation doesn’t do all that much new. Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World feels like a project that happened because Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s Trap inspired not one, but two good games in the 2010s. So now Asha is back and, while the game is fine, it doesn’t have the same level of improvements and investment.
Wonder Boy Asha in Monster World is a remastered version of Wonder Boy IV released in 1994. It is an action-platformer, meaning the player needs to navigate side-scrolling gauntlets of platforming. There are specific levels for the player to traverse, and enemies to battle along the way. Along with a blue Pepelogoo, become the hero the town needs in Wonder Boy Asha in Monster World.
the best way to replay one of the great SEGA titles
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Wonder Boy - Asha in Monster World doesn’t stand on its own as it is very dependent on the nostalgia factor.
Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World stands out as a pleasant journey packed with congenial level design, delightful visuals, and an uncomplicated but effective gameplay loop. While the combat is relatively mindless in execution, the incorporation of movement and attacking is so excellently done that this fault rarely muddled the exuberance I felt. If anything, though, I ultimately feel like there is a well of untapped potential, especially regarding the enemy design being as simplistically elementary as it was.
Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World works great as a remake as well as a stand-alone adventure title. It has some small flaws for this generation, mainly due to its somewhat outdated movement, but it is still an interesting take on such a classic and fascinating franchise.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Even if you bounced off the original for whatever reason, I do feel that Asha in Monster World is a much more approachable way to experience this wonderful adventure, and for those who are fans of the original and worried this would drain the charm out of it, there’s no need to fear on that front, either, as there’s plenty of charm here to go around! Definitely one of the biggest surprises of the year for me, and one that makes me honestly hope Monster World III gets a similar treatment!
Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World does a wonderful job of rekindling my love of the Monster World franchise and reminding me exactly why I fell in love with it in the first place. While the remaster doesn’t bring any new ideas to the table, it does put a wonderfully charming new coat of paint onto a game that deserves to be seen and enjoyed by a new audience. Old fans of this game should be pleased with the treatment it received, while newcomers can expect a classically crafted platformer adventure that’s short in duration but massive in charm. And I’m going to add in here that if you play this game and enjoy it, I beseech you to check out the other games in the Monster World line and Monster Boy in the Cursed Kingdom. You’ll thank me, and yourself, for having done so!
Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World offers us a great remake very striking visually in which all the material of the original game has been respected with great success. Despite that, being so inspired by the Mega Drive game does not add or subtract new content, which makes it can be a little lacking in content for a game of this generation.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World is a game very faithful to the original and that has respected its essence to the fullest, something that can be appreciated from minute one of the game. However, so much respect is a double-edged sword, since its remake, and like the original, has a simple, simple and partly predictable story and development. I am not saying that Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World is a bad game, on the contrary, it is very entertaining and fun to play, but being so simple it can easily be finished in 4 - 5 hours at most if we do not get stuck in something. another puzzle.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World is a brilliant modernised remake of the 1994 classic, Monster World IV. I personally found the story to be enjoyable, the visuals were beautiful and colourful, and the soundtrack made the experience much more exciting and adventurous. The few changes, such as the save mechanic, makes the game more accessible and user-friendly, yet removes the challenge and programmed frustration we see in the original, so you may or may not like the minor alterations. Speaking of, if you buy the game physically then you also get the original game free (on the Switch cart or via a code with the PS4 version). If you like classic action platforming games but want something a bit more visually appealing than retro pixel-art, Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World is for you!
So if you’ve only given this a passing glance when scrolling game trailers on YouTube and it’s not particularly floating your boat, be prepared for a decent player here but not one that’s going to dazzle you for months ahead.
Overall, Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World is just okay. There’s nothing innovative or outstanding about it and it doesn’t have quite the amount of polish you would expect from a modern remake. It’s very nice to look at and listen to, but that’s not enough to offset the rest of the game’s deficiencies.