Price: £29.99 eShop
Developer: Game Atelier
Publisher: FDG
Platform: (Switch/PlayStation)
Players: 1
Keywords: Purity, Simplicity and Beauty, not something every developer can pull off, and while many games strive to achieve one or all of them, most fail at some point.
Sega fans and Wonder Boy devotees in particular have been spoiled recently with
Wonder Boy The Dragon's Trap and now Monster Boy gracing the Switch's screen. Monster Boy started out as a Kickstarter for the Flying Hamster II game that quickly morphed into much more, so bonus points for ambition!
It has been a good few years in the making, but even with such simple source material as an 8-bit platformer, getting things just right has taken plenty of effort, having roped in the original creator Ryuichi Nishizawa to help out.
The result is sensational. What I have in my hands is gaming purity perfectly cast on a modern platform. Nothing feels complicated or distracting, there is just the game to behold and enjoy, and play in a pixel perfect, challenging yet friendly way.
Compare it to some modern games, where you need to sign in with a publisher account, wade through a zillion controls and then still not understand what the hell you're supposed to do, even as an instructor or guide chides you to get a move on. Monster Boy is the perfect antidote to all that silliness and complexity. At least at the start, dive further into this adventure and there's some classic gaming trickery to overcome.
The brief intro tale sees Uncle Nabu going bonkers and turning the people into animals including young Jin, who becomes a dragon, a pig, a frog, lion and a few other characters along the way, with different skills that prove useful across the many startlingly lovely levels.
Each level is painted in wonderful hues, with just enough depth to make it look modern while feeling like an old-school game. Music and sound effects also sound shiny and new, yet retro and classic. Its hard to put into words, but they're the effects I heard in my mind while the original game went bleep and bloop! The pesky varmints and bosses on the levels don't just die, each one has a beautifully animated death, before the pop off out of existence.
Getting into Character
Behind the plain arcade fun, the Plus button reveals a menu where you can choose your weapon, armour, clothes, boots to trick out the current creature to get past the latest obstacle. Launching fireballs, waving a sword around, or blocking attacks with the shield are all classic bits of game but enacted with such modern perfection.
The minus button reveals the world map, and its an extensive world to explore, packed with save points, healing zones, chests, truffles, and parts of key items. Other than that, you jump, fight and dodge with the chunky sprites all wonderfully animated, with slow hulking bosses who can suddenly slap you down with a special move or giant tentacle.
Monster Boy is also a game of doors and keys, with some areas needing to be unlocked, but it doesn't send you on long repetitive runs like the Metroidvania class of games, everything is nearby that you need, letting you focus on progress. Where puzzles block your path, the solution is usually only a lever or special block away, and the gold you collect can be spent in shops on essentials. Even so, enemies drop plenty of goodies as you explore the Green Fields so you're rarely short of equipment or ammo.
You can throw all the polygons and effects you like at some games, and they're often not much more than modern theme park rides. Monster Boy, in modern or original guise, is gaming, challenge and fun in a purer form, and a delight to explore on Switch or PlayStation.
Score: 4/5
