I can't imagine how it was to play this game on Game Gear back in the day, it looks almost perfect. I imagine that the people who played it in those days must felt amazed.
Retro Core I played it on the game gear and it was amazing! Except it was a friend’s copy and my Dad never bought me that game :( I only got around playing the game gear snk games on an emulator on my n-gage. And they lacked in looks they surprisingly made up in gameplay. I was hoping they would do the Chibi thing like on Game boy as I found those SNK games played quite well too, but pleasantly surprised. I would compare GG fatale fury and Samurai showdown to GBC Street Fighter Alpha.
Game Gear version looks awesome, and the SMS version of course. I had the C64 version back in the day and loved it - didn't matter too much about the content issues, it played smoothly and is well worth checking out if you like your 64.
All the computer versions were horrendous. This game was a favourite in the arcade among me and my friends and a couple of my computer owning friends used to phone me often, bugging me to take the Master System and Wonderboy over to their houses.
Funny you should say that. My Amiga owning friend always wanted me to bring my Master System over too. Wonder boy was one of the games We'd always play.
@@RetroCore Seriously? When I saw this game at first, I thought it was a PD game. A nice and fun one, but it couldn't come even close to the Amiga classics.
Believe it or not, the C64 version was absolutely good enough for 9 year old me at the time. In the mid 80s, you never expected a port to look too close to its arcade counterpart.
The Mark-III/SMS port is no doubt the best one, but the Game-Gear looks great too! It actually looks more detailed. I remember playing the arcade version in 1986.
Actually, the Famicom version was developed internally by Hudson. Arcade was indeed developed by Escape/WestOne, as you mentioned. Also, I know Ryuichi Nishizawa was a former UPL employee. Additional people also seemed to come from NMK.
Recently played the SG-1000 version and was really surprised about how good Wonder Boy is on this system. So much so I’m trying out other SG-1000 games for fun 😄 Great video as always Mark. The arcade version was the one I played the most.
The Master System and Game Gear versions of this game are particularly pleasing to watch/play. Two systems that too many people have never experienced. Thanks for another great episode of BOTP.
Someinterweb guy You're welcome. Yes, I agree that the Master System Wonder Boy is really good and even better than the arcade due to the extra levels.
No contest. Master System was the version of the game to play. I'm a grown man. I could never see "Master Higgins" as a replacement for the main character lol This was Sega's game!
Sega is and always was a publisher first, and they either supported developers or created their own. From my understanding the Sega owned development teams like AM2, AV, Sonic Team etc, run as seperate little companies under the Sega Umbrella. So it’s not that different of an arrangement. So if Sega was first to give this game a chance as publisher, why not feel more nostalgic for wonderboy?
The Master System version unfortunately is too easy in the first half (loads of enemies are missing) and towards the end changes the levels completely and becomes an almost entirely different game. Adventure Island, despite the different music and Master Higgins is much, much closer to the design of the original arcade game.
A wonderboy remake is in the works for the CPC although further development has been put on hold for now.There's already a playable demo out though: ua-cam.com/video/An2o7iDoptI/v-deo.html
I First played Wonder Boy in the arcades here in Australia it’s one of my favourite game. When I found out wonder boy was coming home to console my dad brought me my first Sega master system console and along with Wonder Boy and Wonder Boy in MonsterLand love theses games especially Wonder boy 3 Dragons Trap a great game
Me too. Wonder Boy was like the Street Fighter II of the 80s, in that it was in every second milk bar in Australia at the time. At the time I thought the Master System was almost arcade perfect. These days I know that's far from the truth. But it was a good port none the less.
Did you know Hudson Soft changed the character sprite to cash in on a well-known Japanese gaming celebrity? Takahashi Mejin was known as "Mr. 16-Shot" in the 1980s due to his incredibly fast finger speed.
Retro Core Whatever unflattering caricature that was necessary at the time I suppose (assuming Master Higgins is just some white guy who decided to escape civilization altogether to go live out on some tropical island, yet he still couldn't give up a few things like the skateboard or his ballcap)!
Awesome video. loved that. the master system port was the game that got me hooked on gaming. I got it with my sms back in 87 or 88. its my fav port. followed by the arcade port
One of my favourite games on the Master System and showed that it could do some quality platformers the could match Super Mario. Some of the best graphics on the Master System and the Wonder Boy series of games e.g. Monsterland, Monsterworld, Wonder Boy IV (which i'm currently playing on my phone), just got better and better. Wish Sega would bring back Wonder Boy.
On the surface, it was a very good port. Unfortunately it doesn't have the same tight controls of the arcade which makes all the difference. For example the arcade version's skateboard is great once you know how to use it, because you can control its speed mid air. Not so for the Master System version... Once you're in the air there's nothing you can do to control where you land. So it becomes a liability rather than a help.
well, sega kept and bought the original title of wonder boy character name Takahashi Meijin in the first place while Huston soft made a stupid move to change the character name to master Higgens. (note: I am ok calling him tom tom or takahashi Meijin only but not Master Higgins. why because calling him master higgins is not Important to me)
Hello, and thank you Retro Core for all those Battles of the Ports ! I just wanted to mention our work on Wonderboy remake for Amstrad 128Ko if some day you want to update this video. You can find the 1st level here : ua-cam.com/video/htsjhDm1NSw/v-deo.html. Don't hesitate to MP me for additional infos ! Best and happy new year !
I prefer the controls in the master system version than in the arcade one, I noticed some lag in the arcade, I don't know if it is bad emulation.. but it is enough to make it far more difficult
As a big Wonder Boy arcade fan in the day, I was very happy with the Master System port. But now that I've become very good at Wonder Boy arcade (thanks to MAME,) I couldn't possibly go back to Master System these days. It just doesn't control well. For example the arcade version's skateboard is great once you know how to use it, because you can control its speed mid air. Not so for the Master System version... Once you're in the air there's nothing you can do to control where you land. So it becomes a liability rather than a help.
There are a couple of modern ports now Gamecube/PS2 port of Adventure Island, Wonderboy Returns for the PS4/Steam (although that one definetly mixes up the later parts of the game)
Retro Core Also on the Game Gear port, sometimes that one is oddly under the title "Drancon's Revenge" (at least on the cart label and box). I know due to Classic Game Room, and a local game shop that used to exist had it as well.
The name "Drancon's Revenge" was used in the US only for the Game Gear version. I have o idea why. Maybe Wonder Boy sounded too "gay". Not PC I know but it does fit in with the more "Real man" image that seemed to be popular in the 90's.
I got this one in January 1993 along with my Game Gear, and, heck was the store clerk right when he told my parents not to buy me Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade and to got this one instead! Indy's game is almost unplayable, and this one still offers lots of challenge without being overly frustrating. It's all about memorisation and game physics.
This is how I know it's the weekend. I had to work so I'm late on posting a comment. I always though when I was younger "Wonder Boy was just a rip off of Hudson's Adventure Island!" How little did I know back then *lol* I only ever saw this a few times in the arcades here in town, and really played the Master System version more than anything. Keep up the excellent work!
RoryDropkick Hehe, yeah, I always kinew Adventure Island was a rip off of Wonder Boy. The funnything is that the first Adventure Island game I actually played was on the Super Famicom and I was thinking, man, what a rip off of wonder boy :)
I think this game was probably the closest thing to Mario-like platformers that one could buy for the Spectrum & Amstrad back in the day. Good thing there are much better homebrew games for these systems now.
Nope. As someone who's played them both (back in the day and the present) I can say they're two very different games under the surface. Super Mario Bros. requires playing at a more patient pace than Wonder Boy, which required you to move from left to right as fast as possible. The vitality bar in Wonder Boy combined with the skateboard mechanic, made this game the original "speed run" experience.
The thing with these old games brought to modern systems is that they are not ports, they are just the arcade ROMs released with an emulator with a fancy front-end. So they are identical with the arcade version. (I don't know about this one in particular)
weah the forgotten clone title called adventure island but I recognized the real original title called wonder boy tom tom also. because I don't like the title of the game called adventure island or character called Mr higgens what the hell or who the hell is Mr higgens?
Crest of Wolf is Riot Zone? I never knew that. It's a pretty dull game from what I remember. Pretty cool punk style art on the Japanese version thought.
I didn't mind the C64 version at all. I wonder why Sega, Westone and Activision didn't get together to do Amiga, ST and PC MS-DOS versions? It happened with other mid 80s arcade games
The MSX version is played at wrong 50hz frequency. The MSX version is also called "Adventure Island" or something like that.. the japanese characters at the title screen reads something like "Adventure Island" . Much like the famicom version. It's really weird indeed.
Ah, that's all to do with the license. It's a long story but it basically boils down to Westone owning the rights to the game with Sega owning the rights to the Wonderboy name and some rights to the game. This is why all other console Wonderboy games go under different names and character designs.
Yeah, I know the story, but its confusing as hell anyway. Even more when lots of Wonderboy games on PC-Engine were actually dony by Hudson itself... as the Adventure Island games .. and... durrr... :D
No matter what anyone says, the Hudson Soft NES version will always have the infinitely better soundtrack. Way better than Wonder Boy's bootleg carnival music!
Nice video there some bad port of there of this game and yea both the master system and famicom version are good with the master system version being the best.
My history with this series, well, it's not complicated. I have never played Wonder Boy games, but I played Adventure Island III and 1 on NES. AI III was one of my favorite games, when I was a kid, mostly because you could control dinosaurs and ride pterodactyls. I was all about dinosaurs back then. First AI, however, is one of my least favorite games I've ever played on NES. It's so difficult and boring. Usually, I appreciate certain difficulty, but original AI on NES goes beyond, what I consider to be fairly difficult and turns the whole game into challenge of annoying proportions.
Master Higgins might be a rubbish character but I much prefer Adventure Island to Wonder Boy on the Master System because it remains very faithful to the arcade game and doesn't screw around with the level design, whereas the Master System version might look and sound right but it's missing loads of enemies, some of the layouts are changed to make stages easier (like the clouds on stage 2) and the second half of the game goes way off the rails with stages being completely altered and then replaced entirely towards the end. For someone like me who's used to playing the arcade game, the Master System port doesn't feel right at all and is also much too easy to complete. And don't even get me started on the lousy Speccy version I grew up with, grrrrr.
I don't see what you have against Higgins. I always thought Tom Tom was way more derpy looking than him. Although that is possibly because I also thought that my friend's Master System copy of Wonder Boy was just a low-rent knock-off of Adventure Island (I thought that about a lot of Master System games when I was a kid because the box art was just so awful looking and the controller felt cheap).
SoulFunkRetro I did, loads of errors in this weeks show. No idea what happended to the logo size on the opening screen. THere also may text errors and a voice over error that wasn't removed :(
Retro Core you always put out fantastic videos though mate. They must take up so much of your time. Great content though. Thank you for keeping me entertained :-)
kaihedgie hahaha, I guess they just made a half arsed port to cash in as mostly is the case with the Euro home computer ports. The actual spectrum could have done a much better job at Wonder Boy.
Seriously! push up to jump was standard on the c64, if you had a c64 it was natural, it can not be viewed as a negative! Until these stupid reviews on UA-cam I didnt even know this has to be a negative! c64 joysticks only have one button, how do you think it could be solved to be able to jump and fire without pushing up to jump?
@@RetroCore japanese having two buttons also doesnt mean it was good, it doesnt have shoulder buttons, nor analogue thumob-joys, so those games are horrible to control.right? But this is just an example, c64 was older hw with no seperate button for jump, you are complaining for missing something that technically simply came LATER. c64 1982, NES 1985.
@@RetroCore also when will you complain that NES assigns the directions to the less agile left hand ? I couldnt believe how this awkward was for me when I tries to play some games in NES emu, why use the less good hand for directions? but you got your seperate jump button so all good I guess ? :D
I have the SMS and NES (Adventure Island) ports. I also have three copies of Adventure Island 4 for the NES. The later is a fan translated version of the Famicom original. I have three copies because each has a different label variation. I bought them years ago from the now defunct TheNESDump.
![(obsolete) [TAS] Wonder Boy in Monster Land (Arcade, Japan) in 14:05](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/1TFKrDYWA4s/mqdefault.jpg)
![Every Wonder Boy Game [Reviewed]](/img/n.gif)
(5:33) finally!! A ZX Spectrum game that doesn't sound of flatulence!
Nice history tidbit between Wonder Boy and Hudson.
I can't imagine how it was to play this game on Game Gear back in the day, it looks almost perfect. I imagine that the people who played it in those days must felt amazed.
Lord Alfajor I think they did. Fatal Fury 2 played on a Game Gear also looks amazing.
Retro Core I played it on the game gear and it was amazing! Except it was a friend’s copy and my Dad never bought me that game :( I only got around playing the game gear snk games on an emulator on my n-gage. And they lacked in looks they surprisingly made up in gameplay. I was hoping they would do the Chibi thing like on Game boy as I found those SNK games played quite well too, but pleasantly surprised. I would compare GG fatale fury and Samurai showdown to GBC Street Fighter Alpha.
Love this game, the original one.
I grew up with Adventure Island and didn't know that they were pretty much the same game until I started collecting retro games in my 30s.
I was the other way around at first. The first time I saw adventure Island, I thought it was some sort of knock off of Wonderboy 😅
Game Gear version looks awesome, and the SMS version of course. I had the C64 version back in the day and loved it - didn't matter too much about the content issues, it played smoothly and is well worth checking out if you like your 64.
The arcade version also asks you to hold run to make the big jump, there's a mistake on that part of the video.
All the computer versions were horrendous. This game was a favourite in the arcade among me and my friends and a couple of my computer owning friends used to phone me often, bugging me to take the Master System and Wonderboy over to their houses.
Funny you should say that. My Amiga owning friend always wanted me to bring my Master System over too. Wonder boy was one of the games We'd always play.
@@RetroCore Seriously? When I saw this game at first, I thought it was a PD game. A nice and fun one, but it couldn't come even close to the Amiga classics.
Believe it or not, the C64 version was absolutely good enough for 9 year old me at the time. In the mid 80s, you never expected a port to look too close to its arcade counterpart.
The Mark-III/SMS port is no doubt the best one, but the Game-Gear looks great too! It actually looks more detailed. I remember playing the arcade version in 1986.
The arcade and Famicom versions were actually developed by WestOne, founded by former Tecmo employees.
Actually, the Famicom version was developed internally by Hudson. Arcade was indeed developed by Escape/WestOne, as you mentioned. Also, I know Ryuichi Nishizawa was a former UPL employee. Additional people also seemed to come from NMK.
Recently played the SG-1000 version and was really surprised about how good Wonder Boy is on this system. So much so I’m trying out other SG-1000 games for fun 😄 Great video as always Mark. The arcade version was the one I played the most.
one of the best retro gaming channel :D
Thank you for the kind words :D
Yeah!!
The Master System and Game Gear versions of this game are particularly pleasing to watch/play. Two systems that too many people have never experienced. Thanks for another great episode of BOTP.
Someinterweb guy You're welcome. Yes, I agree that the Master System Wonder Boy is really good and even better than the arcade due to the extra levels.
No contest. Master System was the version of the game to play. I'm a grown man. I could never see "Master Higgins" as a replacement for the main character lol This was Sega's game!
You're no man; you're a manchild. The concept of the game was created by Escape, not SEGA.
Umm…technically, it was made by Escape.
Sega is and always was a publisher first, and they either supported developers or created their own. From my understanding the Sega owned development teams like AM2, AV, Sonic Team etc, run as seperate little companies under the Sega Umbrella. So it’s not that different of an arrangement. So if Sega was first to give this game a chance as publisher, why not feel more nostalgic for wonderboy?
The Master System version unfortunately is too easy in the first half (loads of enemies are missing) and towards the end changes the levels completely and becomes an almost entirely different game. Adventure Island, despite the different music and Master Higgins is much, much closer to the design of the original arcade game.
@@TromaDogg yeah but it looks like shite
I could never see Adventure Island as the same game with Wonderboy
A wonderboy remake is in the works for the CPC although further development has been put on hold for now.There's already a playable demo out though: ua-cam.com/video/An2o7iDoptI/v-deo.html
Nice. Its always good to see old systems being utilised well.
I First played Wonder Boy in the arcades here in Australia it’s one of my favourite game. When I found out wonder boy was coming home to console my dad brought me my first Sega master system console and along with Wonder Boy and Wonder Boy in MonsterLand love theses games especially Wonder boy 3 Dragons Trap a great game
Wonderboy and Space Harrier are what made me get a Master System too 👍
Me too. Wonder Boy was like the Street Fighter II of the 80s, in that it was in every second milk bar in Australia at the time. At the time I thought the Master System was almost arcade perfect. These days I know that's far from the truth. But it was a good port none the less.
Did you know Hudson Soft changed the character sprite to cash in on a well-known Japanese gaming celebrity? Takahashi Mejin was known as "Mr. 16-Shot" in the 1980s due to his incredibly fast finger speed.
PinMike In some way, Hudson's adaptation of "Wonder Boy" could be seen as a vanity project for him.
PinMike No, I never knew that but I'm guessing this Mr. 16-Shoot wasn't a particularly good looking fellow?
He actually looks better old than he did young.
No surprise really if he did look like Master Higgins :)
Retro Core Whatever unflattering caricature that was necessary at the time I suppose (assuming Master Higgins is just some white guy who decided to escape civilization altogether to go live out on some tropical island, yet he still couldn't give up a few things like the skateboard or his ballcap)!
*Master System was arcade perfect and had FM sound to make it more closer* ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
I wouldn't say it was arcade perfect but it was close.
Awesome video. loved that. the master system port was the game that got me hooked on gaming. I got it with my sms back in 87 or 88. its my fav port. followed by the arcade port
steve36207 Same here. I played the hell out of the Master System game back in the day.
FC version is my fave because it was the one I was playing as kid but the MS version is undoubtly closer to the Arcade one.
Super adventure island on the snes had a killer soundtrack
That it did.
One of my favourite games on the Master System and showed that it could do some quality platformers the could match Super Mario. Some of the best graphics on the Master System and the Wonder Boy series of games e.g. Monsterland, Monsterworld, Wonder Boy IV (which i'm currently playing on my phone), just got better and better.
Wish Sega would bring back Wonder Boy.
Craig Wilson All the Wonder Boy games on the Master System werte very good. I was so surprised that Wonder Boy 4 even made it to the Master System.
MISTAKE: ZX spectrum is not at 5:53 it is at 5:34
J Waughtal So it is. Thanks for pointing that out. Just fixed the error.
Spent many a time on the Master System version of this.
the reason why i liked sega master system is that it was arcade perfect port of the original title of wonder boy in one of the series.
Well, they weren't really Arcade perfect but they were amazingly good ports. Wonderboy home is the Master System in my opinion.
@@RetroCore indeed.
On the surface, it was a very good port. Unfortunately it doesn't have the same tight controls of the arcade which makes all the difference. For example the arcade version's skateboard is great once you know how to use it, because you can control its speed mid air. Not so for the Master System version... Once you're in the air there's nothing you can do to control where you land. So it becomes a liability rather than a help.
There's also an Adventure Island port for the Game Boy and I think it's very good
well, sega kept and bought the original title of wonder boy character name Takahashi Meijin in the first place while Huston soft made a stupid move to change the character name to master Higgens. (note: I am ok calling him tom tom or takahashi Meijin only but not Master Higgins. why because calling him master higgins is not Important to me)
I actually completed this game on an MSX, game is Hard as nails...
That's some good skills you must have.
The sg 1000 sprite is terifying.
Hello, and thank you Retro Core for all those Battles of the Ports ! I just wanted to mention our work on Wonderboy remake for Amstrad 128Ko if some day you want to update this video. You can find the 1st level here : ua-cam.com/video/htsjhDm1NSw/v-deo.html. Don't hesitate to MP me for additional infos ! Best and happy new year !
I prefer the controls in the master system version than in the arcade one, I noticed some lag in the arcade, I don't know if it is bad emulation.. but it is enough to make it far more difficult
As a big Wonder Boy arcade fan in the day, I was very happy with the Master System port. But now that I've become very good at Wonder Boy arcade (thanks to MAME,) I couldn't possibly go back to Master System these days. It just doesn't control well. For example the arcade version's skateboard is great once you know how to use it, because you can control its speed mid air. Not so for the Master System version... Once you're in the air there's nothing you can do to control where you land. So it becomes a liability rather than a help.
7:44 Fish Bonus :D
There are a couple of modern ports now
Gamecube/PS2 port of Adventure Island,
Wonderboy Returns for the PS4/Steam (although that one definetly mixes up the later parts of the game)
The MasterSystem was so much more powerful than the other 8-.bit systems.
Didn't get the recognition it deserved.
Yes, it quite a beast but sadly as you mentioned lacked developer support.
Retro Core Also on the Game Gear port, sometimes that one is oddly under the title "Drancon's Revenge" (at least on the cart label and box). I know due to Classic Game Room, and a local game shop that used to exist had it as well.
The name "Drancon's Revenge" was used in the US only for the Game Gear version. I have o idea why. Maybe Wonder Boy sounded too "gay". Not PC I know but it does fit in with the more "Real man" image that seemed to be popular in the 90's.
Great game! Adventure Island good clone in NES good time.
I got this one in January 1993 along with my Game Gear, and, heck was the store clerk right when he told my parents not to buy me Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade and to got this one instead! Indy's game is almost unplayable, and this one still offers lots of challenge without being overly frustrating. It's all about memorisation and game physics.
Sometimes if the clerk is a gamer they will give you the right advice. The problem is, it's not always that easy to tell.
Retro Core Very true.
This is how I know it's the weekend. I had to work so I'm late on posting a comment. I always though when I was younger "Wonder Boy was just a rip off of Hudson's Adventure Island!" How little did I know back then *lol* I only ever saw this a few times in the arcades here in town, and really played the Master System version more than anything. Keep up the excellent work!
RoryDropkick Hehe, yeah, I always kinew Adventure Island was a rip off of Wonder Boy. The funnything is that the first Adventure Island game I actually played was on the Super Famicom and I was thinking, man, what a rip off of wonder boy :)
I think this game was probably the closest thing to Mario-like platformers that one could buy for the Spectrum & Amstrad back in the day. Good thing there are much better homebrew games for these systems now.
Nope. As someone who's played them both (back in the day and the present) I can say they're two very different games under the surface. Super Mario Bros. requires playing at a more patient pace than Wonder Boy, which required you to move from left to right as fast as possible. The vitality bar in Wonder Boy combined with the skateboard mechanic, made this game the original "speed run" experience.
It's also available on the Japanese psn store for ps4!
And it's an arcade perfect port!
The thing with these old games brought to modern systems is that they are not ports, they are just the arcade ROMs released with an emulator with a fancy front-end. So they are identical with the arcade version.
(I don't know about this one in particular)
Too bad this game was forgotten over the years.
weah the forgotten clone title called adventure island but I recognized the real original title called wonder boy tom tom also. because I don't like the title of the game called adventure island or character called Mr higgens what the hell or who the hell is Mr higgens?
Hudson Soft did the same with Riot City by recreating it for PCECD/TG-16 as Crest of Wolf in Japan and Riot Zone in North America.
Crest of Wolf is Riot Zone? I never knew that. It's a pretty dull game from what I remember. Pretty cool punk style art on the Japanese version thought.
Retro Core Of course. See also Riot City arcade.
10:28 *Casually approaches Wonder Boy.*
And another homecomputer port, where thy sky is black instead of blue.
I didn't mind the C64 version at all. I wonder why Sega, Westone and Activision didn't get together to do Amiga, ST and PC MS-DOS versions? It happened with other mid 80s arcade games
Me either. It's good in it's own right. Though no comparison to the arcade of course.
The MSX version is played at wrong 50hz frequency.
The MSX version is also called "Adventure Island" or something like that.. the japanese characters at the title screen reads something like "Adventure Island" . Much like the famicom version.
It's really weird indeed.
Ah, that's all to do with the license. It's a long story but it basically boils down to Westone owning the rights to the game with Sega owning the rights to the Wonderboy name and some rights to the game. This is why all other console Wonderboy games go under different names and character designs.
Yeah, I know the story, but its confusing as hell anyway. Even more when lots of Wonderboy games on PC-Engine were actually dony by Hudson itself... as the Adventure Island games .. and... durrr... :D
"Huuurrr durrr Hudson Soft bad"
Enjoy your trip to the Hall of shame.
No wonder why Mark put the disclaimer on his recent BotPs....
No matter what anyone says, the Hudson Soft NES version will always have the infinitely better soundtrack. Way better than Wonder Boy's bootleg carnival music!
16:58 Also, there's an ass growing from that tree
An ass growing from a tree is quite normal for a Japanese game of the late 80s :)
Heheheeh! True, sort of!
I know it's just like the SG1000 but you should add Colecovision's version.
I like the pcengine version even though is not a direct port
If you're able to turn the music off, I might consider playing this on the sms.
I love the Wonderboy looks, but damn the Stage 1 music is an ear grating, I rather prefer Adventure Island soundtrack.
There ws a jump on the speccy version that was undoable.
Nice video there some bad port of there of this game and yea both the master system and famicom version are good with the master system version being the best.
Retro Tuna Yeah, the Famicom looks a little washed out plus Master Hiigins looks dumb :p
My history with this series, well, it's not complicated. I have never played Wonder Boy games, but I played Adventure Island III and 1 on NES.
AI III was one of my favorite games, when I was a kid, mostly because you could control dinosaurs and ride pterodactyls. I was all about dinosaurs back then. First AI, however, is one of my least favorite games I've ever played on NES. It's so difficult and boring. Usually, I appreciate certain difficulty, but original AI on NES goes beyond, what I consider to be fairly difficult and turns the whole game into challenge of annoying proportions.
You see, for me it was the opposite. Adventure Island in my eyes was
the cheap imitation and in all honesty it is since WonderBoy came out
first ;p
Retro Core I never saw WonderBoy as an imitation, because, I simply did not know about it. ))
I Play this on NES
Master Higgins might be a rubbish character but I much prefer Adventure Island to Wonder Boy on the Master System because it remains very faithful to the arcade game and doesn't screw around with the level design, whereas the Master System version might look and sound right but it's missing loads of enemies, some of the layouts are changed to make stages easier (like the clouds on stage 2) and the second half of the game goes way off the rails with stages being completely altered and then replaced entirely towards the end. For someone like me who's used to playing the arcade game, the Master System port doesn't feel right at all and is also much too easy to complete. And don't even get me started on the lousy Speccy version I grew up with, grrrrr.
Sega master system 2nd best arcade number 1
Agreed.
Alfredo Figueroa Yep, but I do like that the Master System has some extra levels. Pretty cool for such an early game.
Music in adv island is way better
I don't see what you have against Higgins. I always thought Tom Tom was way more derpy looking than him. Although that is possibly because I also thought that my friend's Master System copy of Wonder Boy was just a low-rent knock-off of Adventure Island (I thought that about a lot of Master System games when I was a kid because the box art was just so awful looking and the controller felt cheap).
Lol, can't argue about that famous Master System clip art 😂
I prefer adventuer island, the music is better, and I don't care about the character looking different.
steve36207 you need to watch this buddy :-)
SoulFunkRetro I did, loads of errors in this weeks show. No idea what happended to the logo size on the opening screen. THere also may text errors and a voice over error that wasn't removed :(
Retro Core you always put out fantastic videos though mate. They must take up so much of your time. Great content though. Thank you for keeping me entertained :-)
Cheers matt buddy :) il be watching this later
SoulFunkRetro They do indeed take a while to produce and as you can guess by the many errors in this show, I was pretty busy this week.
I can report ps2 version is pixel perfect.
It should be, it's emulation of the Arcade ROM.
@@RetroCore just mentioned it as its not in the list.
For some reason I can't stand the game's music... which makes the Famicom version the winner by default ;)
custardo Poor Wonder Boy ;(
Westone isn't pronounced West-One, it's "weston" (i.e. ウエストン).
Tempora158 Yep, I should have checked the Japanese first.
Adventure Island is superior to Wonder Boy, change my mind.
Master Higgins is about the worst rip off game character of all time.
He looks so goofy.
Where's game boy version?
Good god, who keeps porting these arcade games to the effin' ZX Spectrum? They look *terrible*
kaihedgie hahaha, I guess they just made a half arsed port to cash in as mostly is the case with the Euro home computer ports. The actual spectrum could have done a much better job at Wonder Boy.
Adventure Island was poop wonder boy was better
Yep, no argument there. The main protagonist in Adventure Island always looked retarded to me.
Retro Core lol yeah always looked so unhappy
Retro Core 🤣
Seriously! push up to jump was standard on the c64, if you had a c64 it was natural, it can not be viewed as a negative! Until these stupid reviews on UA-cam I didnt even know this has to be a negative! c64 joysticks only have one button, how do you think it could be solved to be able to jump and fire without pushing up to jump?
I know it was standard. Doesn't mean it was good. Having two buttons just like Japanese computers or arcades of the time was the better solution.
@@RetroCore japanese having two buttons also doesnt mean it was good, it doesnt have shoulder buttons, nor analogue thumob-joys, so those games are horrible to control.right? But this is just an example, c64 was older hw with no seperate button for jump, you are complaining for missing something that technically simply came LATER. c64 1982, NES 1985.
@@RetroCore also when will you complain that NES assigns the directions to the less agile left hand ? I couldnt believe how this awkward was for me when I tries to play some games in NES emu, why use the less good hand for directions? but you got your seperate jump button so all good I guess ? :D
I have the SMS and NES (Adventure Island) ports. I also have three copies of Adventure Island 4 for the NES. The later is a fan translated version of the Famicom original. I have three copies because each has a different label variation. I bought them years ago from the now defunct TheNESDump.
Ah, the days of buying multiple copies of the same game. I used to do that too.