Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World Switch Review

It is such a wonderful thing when older games are remade with a new coat of paint and a lot of extra love. We have seen titles over the years like The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening get this kind of treatment to much praise, and it looks like Monster World IV is following suit. Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World is a full 3D remake of the 1994 Japan classic, and outside of a Virtual Console release in 2012, this is the first time a retail release of the game is reaching western shores on a Nintendo console.

So does this remake of Monster World IV continue the positive trend of remaking classics? Let’s find out!

In Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World, you play as Asha, a young girl (I know, confusing) who embarks on a journey to become a warrior and save the spirits calling to her. It is a very simple narrative, and all of the characters are wonderful, especially the more fleshed out ones like Asha, her dad, the Sage, the genie, and more. You can tell very early that a lot of love was put into this world and its characters, and it shows.

One thing that many people will notice quickly is that all the voice acting is in Japanese. The voice acting is only subject to certain cutscenes, so most of the time you will be reading the text boxes anyway. I would have loved to see more voice options, but it was awesome to hear some of the characters have more life thanks to the great voice actors hired for their rolls. If you are not proficient in the Japanese language, though, it may be harder to appreciate how good the actors are.

After you ascend the tower and prove yourself to be a warrior, Asha is then requested by the queen to enter the temple and save the spirits. One by one, you find the proper medallion somewhere in the kingdom and meet some other requirements before entering the temple and engaging in the next area. It is a nice flow for the most part, but there is the oldschool issue of some areas feeling like they are way too long compared to others. Thankfully, this isn’t always the case, but when it does occur, it drags.

The gameplay itself is a mixture of sorts. For those who never played the original Monster World IV, Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World is a side-scrolling action adventure game with heavy amounts of combat and puzzle solving. SEGA released a series of Wonder Boy games back in the late 80s and early 90s, and we even saw a remake of Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap in 2017.

This one is a bit more unique, though, as it being the 6th title in the Wonder Boy/Monster World series, it boasted some enhanced abilities for its time, which included Asha’s upward and downward strikes while jumping. In today’s time, it does not feel so innovative and fresh, but the combat does feel better than most older games that get the HD remake treatment.

The most interesting thing about the gameplay here, however, is absolutely your little sidekick, Pepelogoo. Early in the game, you find an egg that you take to an alter, and upon presenting, it hatches and your little friend joins your journey. They love heat, they help Asha glide thanks to their wings, and they also give Asha the ability to double-jump. Pepelogoo can also serve as a platform at numerous points in the game, and it also is able to flip switches and blow out fires when prompted. Journeying with my Pepelogoo was genuinely the highlight of my experience with Wonder Boy Asha in Monster World, and it is hard for me to imagine how this game could work without the little guy.

Combat is simple in design yet difficult to master. Thankfully, since this is an oldschool game, enemies, including bosses, move in particular rhythms and are rather easy to fight once you understand exactly it is you are facing. Outside of your sword strikes, which can be enhanced thanks to the Magical Hit, Asha is also equipped with a shield that can deflect most anything in the game. The arms dealers do sell different shields that are more properly equipped to handle different elemental attacks, so eventually purchasing each of the shields will give Asha perfect defense of sorts throughout the game.

Temples are usually littered with enemies, and I am quite impressed with the wide array of enemy designs throughout the game. The bosses, particularly the mini-bosses, are big in scale and just plain fun to take down. Sadly, none of them pose a serious threat as long as you are patient in your attacking, but they are all still entertaining nonetheless.

These same temples areas are also quite maze-like and are often filled with puzzles. For me, these were hit or miss. Some areas are just way better designed than others, so when playing the more drawn out and exhausting areas, I did find myself getting bored and frustrated easily, particularly ones that forced me to fetch for items over and over again in order to progress. Some puzzles even require pretty sharp memory (Or at least the use of paper and pen), which is a fun throwback to games of old. These are some of the puzzles I enjoyed the most, especially the Ice Palace puzzles.

An oldschool element that I am not a fan of is manual saving. The only way to save in Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World is by pausing the game, selecting Save, and then choosing one of 12 save slots. The problem with this style is that it depends on you to stop and save instead of reminding you to do so via a save point like in Metroid or Castlevania games. And since there is no auto-save feature at all, dying at any point will reset you all the way back to your last save. For me, there were a couple times I was kicking myself because I forgot to save at appropriate points. I do blame myself, but this could have been handled better.

Temple areas are also riddled with blind jumps. Coin indicators would have helped tremendously, because the game just expects you to know you should jump down, even though it often looks like it might kill you. Yes, there are pitfalls, so when the game presents you with this, it is a bit mind boggling.

Health is handled strangely, but I really like it. Asha has two separate lines of health: one represented with pink hearts and another represented by blue hearts. The pink hearts are associated with the Bracelet you are wearing, and the blue hearts are earned after collecting life drops, little blue markers in the game, where 10 life drops rewards you with 1 blue heart permanently. This means that your heart count is increased by buying better bracelets and finding life drops, not from killing bosses like in The Legend of Zelda series. I found this approach to be rather unique and allowed me to gain health at a pretty relaxed pace compared to other games.

Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World is a great remake of Monster World IV. It has simple and yet challenging action, great boss fights, a nice mix of puzzles, a charming soundtrack, beautiful graphics, and a lovely cast of characters who have been given a voice for the first time. It is unfortunate that some nagging issues are still present in this remake, but thankfully the overall experience is top notch.

Whether you are diving into Monster World again or for the first time, it is very easy for me to recommend Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World, because this is a remake done right. And let’s be honest, give me a Pepelogoo in any game, and I will probably love it.

NOTE: The digital version of Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World can be purchased from the Nintendo and Sony stores and is published by STUDIOARTDINK. The boxed retail version of Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World comes exclusively with the original Monster World IV published by ININ Games.

Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World Review provided by Nintendo Link
Developer: MONKEY CRAFT
Publisher: STUDIO ARTDINK, ININ Games
Release Date: May 28, 2021
Price: $39.99, £31.49, €34,99
Game Size: 2.9GB