The original Wonder Boy came out under many
names although I’ll always think of the Sega rendition as the original
with the Hudson games being the bastardized versions.
The Master System version of Wonder Boy or Super Wonder Boy as it was
called in Japan (The original Wonder Boy was released on the Sega
SG-1000）is actually a pretty faithful copy of the arcade machine.
Featuring all the levels and enemies that could be found in it’s big
brother arcade version. Even the audio was pretty decent for the Master
System (Wonder Boy doesn’t make use of the FM sound chip).
Playability wise Wonder Boys is right up there with the best. Ok, it may
be simple with only using jump, fire and run and it may seem a little
easy on the first few levels but the further you get in to the game the
more skill you’ll have to pour in to it. Split second timing becomes
essential in the ice caves which to be honest really did piss me off.
Not only does our hero, Tom Tom have to look out for enemies taking away
his power but also take care of him self while traveling. You see, Tom
Tom is a hungry boy who quickly looses power if he doesn’t stuff a load
of fruit in to his mouth. So make sure you can grab as much as possible.
The daunting thing is that most of the fruit seems to be placed right in
the path of an enemy so you’d better have your hatchet handy to take
them out.
A true classic platformer from the simple days. Well worth the time it
takes to play it.
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