Wonder Boy in Monster World

aka: Chō Eiyū Densetsu Dynastic Hero, Dynastic Hero, Wonder Boy 5: Monster World 3
Moby ID: 7950
Genesis Specs
Buy on Genesis
$49.97 used on eBay
Buy on Windows
$0.99 new on Steam
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Description official descriptions

Monster World was once a peaceful region. Then, the peace was shattered by an invading army of monsters. A young man named Shion vowed to defeat them and make his land peaceful again.

Wonder Boy In Monster World is the third game in the Monster World spin-off series, originally known as Wonder Boy 5: Monster World 3. It puts the player in control of Shion in his quest to save Monster World from the evil hands of BioMeka. It controls like a standard platform game - run, jump, and kill enemies. The game has light RPG elements such as talking to townsfolk, collecting money to buy items, upgrading your life, and equipping a variety of armor and weapons - staying very close to the Zelda format. You can save your game to continue your quest at a later time.

Spellings

  • ワンダーボーイⅤ モンスターワールドⅢ - Japanese spelling
  • 超英雄伝説ダイナスティックヒーロー - Japanese PCE (TurboGrafx) CD title spelling

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Screenshots

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Credits (Genesis version)

17 People (9 developers, 8 thanks)

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 81% (based on 30 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.5 out of 5 (based on 48 ratings with 1 reviews)

Marriage of Wonder Boy II:Monster Land and Wonder Boy III:Dragon's Trap produces inferior game

The Good
The graphics, villages, towns, castles, deserts, snow fields etc. are often very nice. I like Dragon's Trap's idea of having a central town as your base from which you explore in all directions, some directions blocked until later in the game. Here your base is Purapril Castle/Town. Like Wonder Boy II, you play as "Wonder Boy" for the whole game, no transforming into beast-men, though you're a different Wonder Boy now, "Shion", a supposed descendant of "Bocke Lee Temjin", the previous Wonder Boy. The usual Wonder Boy music composer Shinichi Sakamoto has made some more nice background music, including new productions of his previous Wonder Boy music. I also like that they built on MEKA-Dragon from the previous games, this time having the BioMeka, alien monster up in space(it is perhaps MEKA-Dragon in a new form as he appeared to escape in a flying saucer at the end of Wonder Boy II, in the original arcade game anyway).

The Bad
First the game doesn't play very well. Wonder Boy's sword is too short, causing you to often swing and miss, before learning to time it better. And your defence is often very weak, causing your hearts to run out quickly and are given potions that don't fully restore. You're forced to repeatedly kill enemies to raise money for stronger armour. Then there's the story and the objective. A lot of the time you are travelling in a certain direction just because a somebody suggests you go that way. You just have a vague concept of some evil master controlling the invaders of Monster World. It's a bit of a hollow victory when you're praised for saving everyone when you don't really build much connection with the people and can't really appreciate the danger they're in.

The Bottom Line
I'd say the game has its moments and is probably worth one playthrough, but not without save states to make progress quicker.

Genesis · by Andrew Fisher (697) · 2020

Trivia

Turma da Mônica na Terra dos Monstros

A version of this game was released in Brazil called Turma da Mônica na Terra dos Monstros, which translates to "Monica's Gang in Monster Land". Instead of Shion, you played Mônica, a character based from a famous Brazilian comic, which still makes a lot of success with the kids. Other characters from the comics also appear in the game, such as Anjinho, Cebolinha, Magali and Bidu.

Awards

  • Power Play
    • Issue 02/1993 – #3 Best Genesis Game in 1992

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Rogee.

TurboGrafx CD added by Kaminari. PlayStation 3, Windows added by Sciere. Macintosh, Linux added by Foxhack. Wii added by gamewarrior. SEGA Master System added by Katakis | カタキス.

Additional contributors: nullnullnull, Katakis | カタキス, Mumm-Ra, Patrick Bregger, Dawgbb, Kam1Kaz3NL77, Jo ST, Kayburt.

Game added December 16, 2002. Last modified February 7, 2024.