The 2017 remake of the Sega Master System platformer, Wonder Boy 3: The Dragon’s Trap, is getting a new lease on life. Initially released last year on PC, Playstation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, it has been available both digitally and at retail for quite some time in North America. Switch and PS4 copies can be grabbed for $39.99. Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap for Playstation 4 and Nintendo Switch heads to major retailers across Europe, New Zealand, and Australia. It launches on April 18th for €39.99 / £34.99.
Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap replaces the 8-bit pixels of the original with high definition hand-drawn artwork. Developer Lizardcube, reverse engineered the original game code to produce the most faithful replication of character movement, secret door locations, and item drop logic. The remake adds a new playable character and a toggle to replace the remade visuals and music with the original’s pixelated graphics and sound.
Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap boasts a positive Metacritic average of 79 with a matching 7.9 user average. Pushsquare gave the game a 7/10 while concluding that it “is a ruthlessly faithful remake of the Master System classic that boasts a dramatic and beautiful audiovisual makeover. The game itself is still very enjoyable with a world map that’s fun to work through and a lean Metroidvania structure that introduces new ideas right to the end. The controls are quite loose, which can lead to some frustration, but by and large, this is a wonderful recreation that both fans and newcomers will enjoy“.
On the higher end of the scale, Worthplaying awarded it a 9/10, concluding the review with “Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap is an excellent example of the right kind of remastering for a sprite-based game. Everything from the original is kept intact, with only a few changes that make the game more bearable in the modern era without affecting the difficulty at all. The presentation is what everyone will be talking about, however, as this game surpasses expectations, which is a bigger feat for an indie developer than a larger studio. The game length may be short initially, but the many secrets will keep you coming back, making this title a must-have for platforming fans of all types“.