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Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap

aka: Adventure Island, Dragon's Curse, Monster World II: Dragon no Wana, Wonder Boy III, Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap

Description official descriptions

Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap is a direct sequel to Wonder Boy in Monster Land. When Tom-Tom defeats the MEKA dragon, the wounded beast casts a spell on him, turning him into a Lizard-Man. To regain his original human form, he has to find the Salamander Cross, hidden by the Vampire Dragon in Monster Land.

Unlike its predecessor, this side-scrolling platform game is not divided into sequences of levels. The protagonist is allowed to go anywhere, as long as he has the right shape or equipment. During his quest, Tom-Tom has to defeat various dragon bosses. Each win will give him a new shape with new abilities such as flying, swimming, walking on ceilings, or clinging to walls. These abilities also allow the player access to new parts of the world. The possible shapes are Lizard-Man, Mouse-Man, Piranha-Man, Lion-Man, and Hawk-Man, and the main abilities are defined by attacking power, defense points, and charm points (needed for equipment by collecting charm stones). Also, certain blocks can only be destroyed by specific weapons or are only accessible to certain shapes.

The basic actions consist of attacking and jumping, and in the status screen, it is possible to equip swords, shields, and armor. Special attacks include fireballs, tornadoes, arrows, boomerangs, and thunder strikes. Along the way, the player collects keys (only one at all times) and gold left behind by defeated creatures, and places need to be re-visited sometimes to access new areas. Equipment and items can be bought in towns. A password is given at the beginning of each town to continue from there.

The Game Gear version has minor tweaks to level layouts to accommodate the smaller resolution better. Prices of shop items have also changed.

Spellings

  • アドベンチャーアイランド - Japanese PC Engine spelling
  • モンスターワールドII ドラゴンの罠 - Japanese spelling

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Credits (Game Gear version)

8 People

Director
Programmer
Designer
Sound composer
Designer (GG version)
Sound composer (GG version)
Assistant director (GG version)

Reviews

Discussion

Subject User Date
Similar games? Unicorn Lynx (181289) 2012-05-08 01:23:40
Remake vedder (64356) 2016-09-14 18:39:55

Trivia

1001 Video Games

The SEGA Master System version of Wonderboy III: The Dragon's Trap appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Turma da Mônica em: O Resgate

The 1993 Brazilian version Turma da Mônica em: O Resgate by Tec Toy features a different protagonist. Tom-Tom has been replaced with Mônica, a girl with a powerful strength and her blue rabbit sidekick toy Sansão (Samson in the English version), which her arch-enemy Cebolinha (Jimmy Five) is always plotting to steal and make knots on its ears. This was based on the comic Turma da Mônica (Portuguese for "Monica's Gang"), created by Maurício de Sousa. This licensed version has no animals forms, but the opponents are still the same.

Awards

  • Electronic Gaming Monthly
    • December 1989 (Issue 5) - Best Sega Master System Game of the Year
  • Power Play
    • Issue 01/1990 - #3 Best Master System Game in 1989
    • Issue 02/1993 – #3 Best Handheld Game in 1992

Related Games

Wonder Boy in Monster Land
Released 1988 on SEGA Master System, Amiga, Atari ST...
Wonder Boy in Monster World
Released 1991 on Genesis, 1993 on SEGA Master System, 2012 on Windows...
Wonder Boy
Released 1987 on SEGA Master System, 1987 on Commodore 64, 1990 on Game Gear...
Monster Lair
Released 1989 on TurboGrafx CD, 1990 on Genesis, 2011 on Windows...
Dragon's Lair
Released 1990 on NES
Dragon's Eye
Released 1981 on Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore PET/CBM
Super Boy III
Released 1991 on SEGA Master System, MSX
Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp
Released 1994 on CD-i, Windows, 2011 on PlayStation 3...
Wonder Classic
Released 2001 on WonderSwan Color

Related Sites +

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 8265

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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by J. Michael Bottorff.

Game Gear added by Bock. Wii added by Sciere. TurboGrafx-16 added by Katakis | カタキス.

Additional contributors: Unicorn Lynx, Katakis | カタキス, chirinea, Sciere, Alaka, formercontrib, Patrick Bregger, Rik Hideto, Jo ST, FatherJack.

Last modified February 22nd, 2023.