Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap Reviews
We revisit one of the eShop’s earliest gems, a classic action-platformer and proto-metroidvania lovingly remade for the modern era.
"Surgeon's knife can make the difference."
Review in Finnish | Read full review
Wondetboy: The Dragons Trap Is a prime example of retro platformers nailing the basics today.
The decision point in this game should heavily factor in how well you believe you can put up with some dated gameplay concepts against your appreciation for a game that is absolutely incredible to look at. A nifty add-on feature allows you to toggle both the graphics and the music to their original versions and play through the game that way. Even though the original look is obviously much simpler I was surprised at the level of care put into its look even way back when. If you get frustrated remember you can always look up old save codes and start out a bit more juiced up, another nice classic touch thrown in for good measure. All said, Wonder Boy is a nostalgic romp accented by a memorable reskinned look worth checking out.
Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap is a great classic that has now gotten a new chance to shine. Even though this game is almost 30 years old, I was surprised by how well it holds up today.
Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap is a title that shows gamers that remakes can be an excellent idea if handled properly. Lizardcube has done an amazing job, masterfully updating the classic platformer's audiovisual aspect yet leaving its solid gameplay untouched so new fans can experience it the way it was meant to be.
A beautiful homage to a timeless platformer that packs two very distinct visions about game, art and level design. This is what remakes should aspire to be.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Wonder Boy is another remake of a game. It has everything 1986 classic had and adds on top of that. The game looks great, the simple gameplay is relaxing and demanding at the same time.
Review in Polish | Read full review
I simply have to commend Lizardcube for the effort they have put into Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap, even if it is a remake. A lot of other companies that remake older games can learn a thing or two from this developer. It looks great, sounds great and still plays wonderfully too. It was a great game in 1989 and whilst maybe some of that greatness has now gone, because games have simply moved on since then, it is still certainly a really fun game and one that I did not want to put down from start to finish.
Wonder Boy is a beautiful game built on the foundation of a classic, but that's just it, a foundation. Wonder Boy is almost a glorified painting at its core. It's beautiful and worth looking at, but won't be worth owning for most gamers. The core of the game is ok, but not amazing, and it never was. It could have been so much more with some work, but when they aimed to mirror the original 1 for 1, it limited all possibility for it to be something more.
Dated in some respects, polished and refined to a bright sheen in others, Wonderboy still manages to engage the player thanks to a solid fundamental core of simplistic but challenging combat, and a vast landscape to explore.
Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap is an excellent example of the right kind of remastering for a sprite-based game. Everything from the original is kept intact, with only a few changes that make the game more bearable in the modern era without affecting the difficulty at all. The presentation is what everyone will be talking about, however, as this game surpasses expectations, which is a bigger feat for an indie developer than a larger studio. The game length may be short initially, but the many secrets will keep you coming back, making this title a must-have for platforming fans of all types.
Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap is a great remake of a beloved classic. It's a great game, but as a direct remake, the gameplay does seem a bit old-school. I would love to see a new fresh game in the series… and it seems I'll be getting my wish soon thanks to Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom, which is a spiritual successor to Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap. It is being developed by Game Atelier and will be published by FDG Entertainment on PS4, so be sure to get Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap today to prepare you for that one as well!
Still, in a world of HD rehashing and the seemingly obligatory impulse to re-render old games with the latest in photorealistic graphics tech, it warms my heart to witness the stylistic human touch of Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap. It's a splendid homage, a playable history exercise, and an unexpected touchpoint for the expressive potential of hand-drawn animation in 2017.
Hadyn received a digital copy of Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap from DotEmu for review.
Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap may be out of its time – it's rock hard, a little obtuse, and won't lead you by the hand – but benefits from a stylish and sensitive makeover that stays painstakingly true to the mechanically perfect original. The Dragon's Trap is a remarkable thing, then. Not only is it a retro remake that's actually not crap, it's as good as the day it first came out and even holds its own against modern releases.
Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap is a great opportunity to look at one of the early games of the genre with a new hand-drawn graphics and a great soundtrack. If not for the lack of convenient maps and shortcuts next to the bosses and primitive by modern standards combat system, the game could claim the title of best remake of 2017.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap is a perfect example of a remake that's been done for reasons beyond simple material gain. Lizardcube have clearly put everything they have into making it unerringly respectful of the original – for good and bad – but this has all the look of a gorgeous modern indie platformer, while retaining the old-school gameplay that made it so memorable the first time around.
Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap is everything a remake should be: a thoroughly modern yet completely reverent update that preserves the soul of its inspiration for a new generation of gamers to enjoy.
As an introduction to the Wonder Boy franchise, you can't go wrong here. As a blast from the past, it will hit all of the right buttons.