Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World Reviews
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.
Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World is a colorful action-adventure platformer. While it sticks closely to Monster World IV's established designs, its quality of life improvements and vibrant new visual are worthwhile.
Wonder Boy Asha in Monster World is a fun action-platforming adventure, but very much feels like a game of the 90s with a splash of paint.
Reskins of classic titles are both often very cool but a risky proposition in many regards when the original gameplay is left completely intact...
I honestly don't know if Wonder Boy IV was a real blast in 1994 since I could not play it then. What I know is that Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World is not a blast today. It's kinda average in everything it does, but what I really can't bear is how the new art style feels like a significant downgrade over the magical 16-bit pixel art.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Not the best possible remake for a Mega Drive classic largely unknown to Western players. After the good rehearsals seen during the technical remake of The Dragon's Trap, Wonder Boy Asha in Monster World struggles to impress in the same way. A gameplay that does not have the courage to dare, a difficulty too calibrated downwards and an unpired 2.5D graphic look leave a certain bitter taste in the mouth once you reach the credits.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World is fine. The core game mechanics may feel outdated for new players, but those who have played the original entry on the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive will appreciate how the game hasn't deviated from that blueprint. The presentation is fine in parts, but the game offers no incentives to keep playing once you finish it. Those with a fondness for the original will love this, but those with no memories of the game will find this to be lacking compared to the remake of Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap and the last sequel, Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom.
WORTH CONSIDERING - Fans of the original game on the Mega Drive/Genesis will no doubt appreciate all of the hard work that went into updating Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World for the modern era. Despite its wonderful animations and enchanting soundtrack, the gameplay and level design leave a bit to be desired. The game isn’t overly long and for $34.99 it’s hard to recommend this one to anyone that doesn’t already know what they’re getting into.
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.
The Wonder Boy renaissance continues with Asha in Monster World, a full remake of Monster World IV that brings our heroine and her platforming abilities to a new audience. This time around, it seems as though even copious amounts of style and charm can't make up for long hallways and minimal direction.
Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World is a decent remake of Monster World IV. It won’t replace it, since it doesn’t do everything better, but it does enough to improve on the foundation. The new features added make for a more enjoyable experience, but the developers could have gone further to make Asha’s adventure more than the sum of its parts.
The remake could've done much more to the original experience, the faithfulness to the original formula makes it hard to enjoy the game with its limited and very simple combat and outdated game design.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
New graphics, quality of life improvements and humour make Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World an enjoyable platformer. Its level of challenge depends upon player experience in the genre. It is unfortunately let down by the final level which had little challenge and numerous small issues that should have been easy to fix. It is a sound title on Nintendo Switch that could do with some tweaking to make it shine at its best, but for those who love the graphic style and just want to have fun there is plenty to enjoy.
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.
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.
Nishizawa and company could have updated a few old-school level designs and mechanics to improve the experience, but chose instead to preserve the identity of the original. The result is a remake that faithfully sticks to the established formula, warts and all.
Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World does exactly what it sets out to do. It recreates the original game in high definition, 3D style. But if you stack it up next to the other contemporary Wonder Boy titles, the inadequacies stack up quickly.
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.
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.
In the end, Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World is a mediocre game. Uninspired level design, frustrating movement controls, and permanently missable power-ups all contribute to a lackluster experience. When I think the best part of the title is the cute butt dance Asha does when she opens a chest, you know things are bad. Just play Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap or Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom instead.