Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap Review (Nintendo Switch)

Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap, is one of the most iconic and sort after games on Sega’s Master System. As such, a great deal of care needed to be taken in order to make sure that the new version of the game lived up to fans expectations. We are happy to report that right from the off it is clear that pretty much everything is right from a retro fans point of view and very little of the core magic has changed from the original. 

For those who are unfamiliar ‘The Dragon’s Trap’ starts at the end of Wonder Boy in Monster Land where, as you deal the final blow to that games end boss, you are cursed to take the form of a lizard. You then spend the game exploring the world trying to return yourself to human form. As you explore you pick up other forms which grant abilities that allow you to explore previously unreachable places in a kind of Metroidvania lite way.

As you progress you can also pick up new armour, shields and swords that enhance your attack and defence stats. This along with extra hearts and perishable special weapons such as fireballs, arrows and whirlwinds form the basis of your offense against the many beasties you encounter along the way. As a concession to modern audiences equipment can now be purchased at any time rather than requiring magical stones to be found first. This certainly streamlines the experience for the better.

The game has been reversed engineered using the code from the original Master System game and so remains pretty much identical in terms of how it plays. This means Wonder Boy handles much the same in terms of leaping around platforms and the difficulty remains challenging. This may take some getting used to for those unaccustomed with 8-bit games but it’s certainly fair and beatable by most people. The one thing that is a very welcome removal is the flickering and slow down that haunted the original in places. The lack of other changes is a relief as the game holds up remarkably well in terms of core platform/adventure gameplay. 

The one thing it really is crying out for is some kind of quick save function as newcomers may soon tire of having to repeat sections over and over when they die. While you can save in the main village you will need to go on your adventure to a part of the world, defeat the enemy, and return in one piece in order to make sure you don’t lose and progress. The individual areas of the world aren’t huge so after practice it should be fairly straightforward but having to battle back to end of area bosses is something we’ve never been particularly fond of. As an added bonus the game accepts original passwords from the Master System version of the game. (As a side note – the developer didn’t have the rights to use assets from the Turbo Grafx version)

With the core experience the same the major new addition is the gorgeous graphical face lift the game has been given. Environments now look highly detailed and full of character and help to enhance the strengths of the game. There are options present to switch between the new and old graphics and music so you can play with any combination you like at the touch of a button. It also allows for a quick comparison between the old and new look of the game and the difference is unsurprisingly staggering. 

Overall, Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap is a considered and excellent remake of a classic game. A few slight changes to stream line the experience and a graphical overhaul were all that was really needed and the developer has taken great care to make sure the game is as faithful to the original as possible. The structure of the game is undeniably 8-bit but then that is no bad thing when the original is one of the most iconic games of the era. This does everything it sets out to do excellently and both fans and newcomers should have great fun exploring the world and taking on a game of rare quality.

Overall 8/10

Little Big Adventure Enhanced Review (PC)

Little Big Adventure is one of those games that we never quite got around to playing despite having bought it a few times. A cult classic, it has a loyal following and is fondly remembered by pretty much everyone who played it when it first came out. DotEmu have now released this enhanced and updated version of LBA but is it enough to make it work for newcomers?

Little Big Adventure follows the story of Twinsen who has been locked away by the tyrannical Dr FunFrock for having strange dreams about the end of the world. The evil doctor has taken over the planet and holds control through the use of clones which he uses to impose his rule. Twinsen’s first job is to escape from the prison and then set about finding out exactly what his dreams mean and what he can do to save the world.

The game is set out like a semi-isometric adventure where our hero enters and exits different areas via arrows around the edges of the scenes and everyone looks a bit like Weebles. You can talk to just about anyone and everything is voice acted which gives a solid feeling of a functioning world as the various inhabitants impart advice and general gossip to you. There are normally enemies roaming around as well which can be avoided by sneaking or punched and kicked. Shortly after the start you also get a magic ball thing you can chuck at them

The game plays out as an action adventure title where you have to go around and find clues about what to do and then collect objects and use them in order to progress. For instance – in one area you need to get the local people to trust you. They will then help you distract some guards which in turn allows you to get into a house.  It’s the sort of game that doesn’t really exist anymore but one that was very prevalent around the time of the LBA’s original release on the PC. However, it was always a unique adventure game and that feeling still remains to this day.

A number of changes have now been made to the game in order to try and bring it up to modern standards. The most obvious of these is the new set of control systems. We started out with mouse control which turns LBA into a sort of point and click game. However, it’s dreadfully un-intuitive and awkward to use. We found simple getting around the screen difficult and numerous times interactions with the environment simply didn’t work. After a while we found ourselves descending into clicking all over the place near interest points in the vein hope something would register as the right place to click.

Not to be defeated we switched to the gamepad control and everything immediately became about one hundred times better. With movement now under direct control and things like running, jumping and sneaking mapped onto the buttons the whole thing becomes a much more joyful experience. The original keyboard ‘tank’ controls can no longer be used however, so you’ll either have to play the original version of the game that’s included or get used to one of the new schemes.

There is also a new status bar added which displays things like health and magic and if you are in sneak mode or not. You now zoom in and out as well, which certainly helps but could have been further improved by allowing you to pan around your environment in the same way as games such as Baldur’s Gate. Far too often you are left at the edge of the screen not able to see what is right in front of you as the camera doesn’t really keep Twinsen centred but normally scrolls along when he reaches certain points.

A welcome chance is improved saving as it's all too easy to die or get captured. Although you can still only load them from the main menu screen.  While this does stop constant cheap use of the system it's still a bit annoying when you have to go out to the main menu just to load a game. A better system for working out where you are jumping or where exactly the magic ball is going to be thrown is also a very welcome addition.

The graphics haven’t been improved or filtered either so you get a sort of grainy jagged look to everything. That’s not a major issue on the face of it but it seems strange to release a new version of a game without giving it a bit of a facelift - especially when the original version of the game is also included. The map and objective screen could have really done with a facelift as well and we found it almost completely useless as everything just looked like pixelated blobs. A clear list of objectives and locations would have really helped.

It’s certainly not perfect but even as a relative newcomer to LBA once we got into it we really started to like it. The adventure itself is still very solid and there’s a unique humour and charm to everything. We also haven’t really played anything like it before which goes to show how original and unique the game really is. Ok, so more could have been done to make this a really special release but the gamepad controls at least make it playable for newcomers and the game underneath is certainly worth experiencing. With a bit of patience there’s still a lot of magic to be found here and we’d certainly recommend it to adventure game fans.

Overall 7/10

Colour Blind Issues - No
Review Code - Yes

Battle Fantasia Revised Edition Review (PC)

First arriving in arcades in 2007, Battle Fantasia has now been spruced up and brought to the PC market. The last time we played the game was back on the 360 a good few years ago so it seems a surprise that Arc Systems have decided to revive it so many years later. There are some improved visuals and other minor tweaks but this is really the same game as before just now available to a new audience.

The thing that sets Battle Fantasia apart from other games in the genre is its visual style. The game has a more comic book look than its stable mates such as Gulity Gear and Street Fighter. It’s reminiscent of games such as Dark Cloud and certainly creates a colourful and imaginative world. The backgrounds are especially good with lots of moving elements and the character designs aren’t too shabby either with a host of unique looking fighters. To accompany the visuals is an epic sound track and voice over.  It brings to mind Soul Calibur and certainly sets you up on an epic fantasy adventure. 

While the look and feel of the game are refreshing and very enjoyable they can’t quite mask the fact that the actual fighting is somewhat generic. The 3D models moving along a 2D plane struggle to create any real sense of speed or flow and matches can appear sluggish and somewhat predictable.

The systems at work aren’t particular deep or inspiring either. Aside from the ‘Heat Up’ mechanic (where you put your character into a sort of super mode), there’s nothing here that hasn’t been done before (and most of the time a lot better).  The characters themselves do redeem the experience somewhat as they are a little different but bouts lack the intensity you would expect more often than not. Currently the game is also suffering from real network problems with lag and disconnections an all too regular occurrence. 

The single player options are what we have come to expect from fighting games now. You have the standard arcade, training and survival modes and a story mode which further develops each characters adventure. Aside from a few extra lovely looking comic scenes this doesn’t really offer much different to the main arcade mode though but is an enjoyable way to experience the lore of the world.

Despite the games faults there is something endearing about it. The art style and presentation are of such a high standard that we found ourselves sticking with it for far longer than we probably would have done otherwise. There are little things like characters having hit points instead of just the generic energy bar and the epic sounding voiceover that show that thought has gone into trying to make something that’s stands out in a crowded market.

Overall, if you love fighting games then there is some fun to be had with this due to the fact it does a few things a little differently and has a unique look to it. We didn’t find it particularly deep or exciting over a long period of time but certainly dipped in for short bursts to experience the fantasy atmosphere that it whips up. It’s certainly not a bad game and there is so much potential here that a sequel would be welcome, but at the minute it’s hard to see it being played for long when there are so many alternatives already available. The fact the net code is currently in a real mess certainly won’t help it either.

Overall 6/10