Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap

The graphics are first rate, with beautiful, varied stages and interesting creatures. You'll encounter headless skeletons, cyclops, genies, crabs, ninjas, goblins, cobras, and dragon bosses. The only creature I do NOT like is the pesky "cloud" that always drops fire on you - he's a real pain in the butt. Defeated enemies drop items, and I like how the number of coins they drop has a random element. I also appreciate the wide selection of items you can purchase, including some expensive "mystery" items. Wonder Boy III is far deeper and more challenging than other Wonder Boy games, and it provides unlimited continues and a password feature. This may be the best game I've ever played on the Sega Master System.

Der zweite Teil der Monster World-Saga ist zweifelsfrei wie schon sein Vorgänger ein Garant für eine Menge Spaß. Für mich persönlich gehören die Wonder Boy-Spiele von Westone zum Besten, was die Geschichte jemals hervorgebracht hat, so dass ich Wonder Boy 3 - The Dragon´s Trap bzw. Adventure Island / Dragon´s Curse bedenkenlos die volle Punktzahl und das Prädikat eines Klassikers für die Ewigkeit vergeben kann.

This brilliant Sega game kept me up late for more than a few nights when I first got hold of it. The combination of adventuring, shooting and platform action results in one of the best games of it's type available on any console. The graphics are simply superb - especially when the hero changes into one of his many guises - Dragon Man is my favourite, since you can roast everything in your path with your fiery breath. The game is huge and there's loads to discover - one of the reasons why it's so amazingly addictive. If you're a new Sega owner, or simply missed out when this was released, make sure you add this to your collection.

Wonder Boy III : The Dragon's Trap est l'un des meilleurs jeux de plates-formes que l'on ait vu sur Game Gear et Master System. Il propose une aventure passionnante, dépaysante et un level design de génie. Le parcourir est très agréable, d'autant plus que la réalisation est une franche réussite, avec ses environnements variés et sa bande-son magnifique. Il est un exemple parfait de ce qu'étaient les titres les plus brillants de l'époque des consoles 8 bits. Si vous avez l'occasion de mettre la main dessus, surtout ne la laissez pas passer.

The Dragon's Curse was just one of an entire series of great games that never got the respect it deserved. If you are lucky to find this, or any of the other line of Monster World titles, give it a whirl. You won't be disappointed.

Immaginare oggi Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s Trap in chiave moderna ci porta a pensare che forse scavando nel passato si possono trovare valide idee per futuri giochi che uniscano generi diversi in modo originale, ma purtroppo sappiamo per certo che molto difficilmente rivedremo Wonder Boy affrontare le avversità in un’avventura epica e densa di atipicità come quella che vi ho appena descritto. Per fortuna il passato non è del tutto scomparso ed oggi possiamo ancora appassionarci con quello che circa 19 anni fa fece entusiasmare milioni di ragazzi.

Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap is a very creative game. The ability to change form keeps things interesting and fun. With the save feature you can take your time exploring and enjoy the game over an extended period of time.

Franchement, quand un jeu est aussi bien fait, la technologie s'efface. Car lorsqu'on est vraiment pris dans une partie, tous les paramètres de sprites ou autres, deviennent inexistants. C'est ce qui arrive dans ce jeu, ou, si on veut éviter les superlatifs dithyrambiques fatigants à la longue, il suffit de jouer, tout simplement.

Although bright and jolly backgrounds they lack detail but scrolling is smooth and, at the end-of-level monster stage, fast. Sprites are excellent, making great use of colour and with a cute cartoon look. Spot effects, produced by the Engine itself, are merely average but the music from the CD is brilliant, a mixture of funny, dramatic and speedy pieces.

Wonderboy III hebt sich deutlich von den beiden Vorgängern ab. Es wurde weniger Wert auf spektakuläre Grafik gelegt, dafür hat man spielerisch einen Gang hochgeschaltet. Die Mischung aus Geschicklichkeitstest und Abenteuerspiel ist bestens geglückt. Gerade die verschiedenen Eigenschaften der Wesen, in die Wonderboy nacheinander schlüpft, machen das Action-Adventure so attraktiv. Die freie Wahl von Kleidung und Schwertern (wenn man sie erst einmal gekauft hat), die sich auf Angriffsstärke und Widerstandskraft auswirken, sorgen für einen zusätzlichen Rollenspiel-Touch, der dem durchdachten Spiel bestens bekommt.

The Wonder Boy series has a strong fan following that still exists today. Dragon's Curse doesn't have the Wonder Boy branding, but it is almost the exact same game as the Master System hit Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap. Since the Virtual Console doesn't yet support the SMS, this is as close as fans are going to get for now – and seeing as this version is graphically and audibly updated, it's not such a difficult compromise.

Wonder Boy III is a very jolly looking game with some nicely shaded backgrounds overlaid with colourful cartoon-like sprites, the Boy himself being particularly well-drawn. Animation is weak on some characters but effective on others and the game only scrolls on short, CinemaScope corridors, and then with a judder, albeit a minor one. It's still one of the best looking Sega games around but do you really want to spend 28 quid on it?