Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World
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Critic Reviews for Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World
The Wonder Boy series gets yet more current-gen love with this big-hearted remake.
Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World earned its reputation decades ago as a fun action platformer, but this new remake does nothing to hide how much this classic has degraded with age.
Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World improves upon Monster World IV in every way.
Overall, there are parts of Asha in Monster World that are a little rusty, and the end product could've used more than just the tweaking we ended up getting. While fans of the Mega Drive game may enjoy revisiting it, they may also be disappointed that there's not a whole lot that's new. Still, the elements that made it such a classic in the first place - the endearing protagonist, the delightful game world - are still present, and all of that still holds up brilliantly even after nearly thirty years.
Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World is a basic platformer that never holds your excitement, with mechanics that just don't work anymore.
The fun of playing these games, especially these days, lies in the director, Ryuchi Nishizawa, whose approach to genre was one of precise and genial disregard.
The least accomplished of the recent spate of Wonder Boy games but it still retains a certain charm and offers plenty of reasons for the franchise to continue.
I also have to stress that Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World isn't a bad game. Some of the backtracking got annoying, but mostly it's just monotonous. The mechanics are tight enough, I just can't help but shrug at the final product. I'm always happy when an old title is given new life, but that doesn't mean I'm going to end up loving it.
