Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom
Developer(s)Game Atelier
Publisher(s)FDG Entertainment
Director(s)Fabien Demeulenaere
Producer(s)
  • Thomas Kern
  • Philipp Döschl
Designer(s)Ryuichi Nishizawa
Programmer(s)David Bellanco Lopez
Artist(s)Johan Lun
Writer(s)Miguel Vidaure
Composer(s)
SeriesWonder Boy
Platform(s)
Release
  • Nintendo Switch, PS4
    • WW: December 4, 2018
    • JP: August 6, 2020
    Xbox One
  • December 4, 2018
  • Windows
  • July 25, 2019
  • Stadia
  • July 1, 2020
  • PlayStation 5
  • December 2, 2021
  • Xbox Series X/S
  • August 2, 2022
Genre(s)Metroidvania, platform
Mode(s)Single-player

Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom is a 2018 platform game developed by Game Atelier and published by FDG Entertainment. Part of the Wonder Boy series, it was released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in December, for Windows in July 2019, for Stadia in July 2020, for PlayStation 5 in December 2021, and for Xbox Series X/S in August 2022. It was generally well received by critics.

Plot

A boy named Jin discovers his Uncle Nabu using magic to spread chaos across the kingdom, turning everyone, including his brother Zeke, into animals. While trying to stop Nabu, Jin gets turned into a pig. Learning from the king's court magician, Mysticat, about a way to return everyone to normal, Jin goes on a quest to recover five animal orbs from across the kingdom. Upon doing so, however, Mysticat takes the orbs from Jin and uses them to open the gateway to the Dark Realm for his master Lord Xaros, who had been manipulating Nabu to do his bidding. Venturing into the Dark Realm, Jin confronts Xaros and, with the help of his friends and the spirits of past Wonder Boys, manages to defeat him, restoring the kingdom to normal.

Gameplay

Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom is a side-scrolling adventure game in which players control Jin as he battles enemies and solves puzzles to progress through the story. Similar to the 1989 Master System game, Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap, Jin gains five different animal forms throughout the course of the game, which can be switched between at will once obtained. These include a pig who can sniff out hidden contraptions and clues; a snake who can spit venom, climb walls and enter small spaces; a frog who can swim, use his tongue to swing on hoops and carry items; a lion who can dash and break through blocks; and a dragon who can fly and spit fire projectiles. Jin's human form can warp and pass through obstacles. In addition to these forms, players can obtain weapons and armor from shops, many of which offer unique abilities and can be upgraded by finding gemstones. There are also various magic spells that can be used by Jin in either his human or pig forms. Defeated enemies may drop coins, hearts or magic resourcers.[1]

Exploration works similarly to "Metroidvania" titles, where the player goes through interconnected areas that require certain abilities in order to be accessed. Over the course of the game, the player gains access to fast travel teleporters that allows to quickly move from one area to the other. Exploration often rewards players with magic upgrades, health point increases and also pieces of the legendary golden armor, which upon collected can be forged by a blacksmith.

The game uses an auto-save system upon going through the save altars, which come in two variations: the normal save altar, and the angel save altar, which fully recovers Jin's health. Dying has no penalty, and the player will return to the last checkpoint without losing any progress; any items and coins obtained will be retained.

The game also features a map which provides information about various areas, and also shows places where the player is supposed to go at the current time. The map develops and adds new images as the player moves through the game.

Development

Monster Boy was originally created by Paris-based studio Game Atelier as a planned Kickstarter project titled Flying Hamster II: Knight of the Golden Seed, a sequel to the company's 2010 Flying Hamster.[2] The Kickstarter was cancelled and a partnership with FDG Entertainment was announced. After a year of silence, Game Atelier revealed that they had partnered with LAT Corp to officially incorporate the title into the Wonder Boy series. Since the trademark was held separately from the rest of the IP, a new title was chosen, combining Monster World and Wonder Boy: Monster Boy and the Wizard of Booze. The game was later retitled to Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom due to criticisms towards the previous subtitle's reference to alcohol.[3]

The game was developed in collaboration with Wonder Boy series creator Ryuichi Nishizawa, who also supported Dotemu and Lizardcube's remake of Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap. The game's soundtrack was composed by Yuzo Koshiro, Motoi Sakuraba, Michiru Yamane, Keiki Kobayashi, and Takeshi Yanagawa, with the main theme performed by Haruka Shimotsuki.[4][5] In addition to the original score, some rearranged music from past entries in the series by Shinichi Sakamoto was included. The soundtrack took two years to create, with over 40 pieces being included in the game.[6]

Originally set to use motion-based sprite animation for the characters, the developers announced in October 2017 that they would be switching to hand-drawn animated sprites.[7]

Release

In February 2018, FDG Entertainment announced they partnered with Sega to release the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 versions of the game as physical retail copies in North America, and launch them alongside the digital release on all platforms.[8][9][10] It was originally scheduled to release on November 6, 2018, worldwide,[11] however, due to "unforeseen difficulties" regarding the production of the physical copies, FDG Entertainment rescheduled the game's release for December 4, 2018.[12] However, only console versions were released on that date due to the developers' distribution contract to finish those versions on time, with the Windows version being released on July 25, 2019.[13][14]

The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S versions of Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom were announced in September 2020. They support free upgrade for existing owners of the game, and feature native 4K resolution at up to 120 frames per second.[15] The PlayStation 5 version was released on December 2, 2021,[16] and the Xbox Series X/S version followed on August 2, 2022.[17][18]

Arc System Works released the game in Japan on August 6, 2020.[19]

Reception

The game sold 50,000 copies within a week of its console release.[27] In January 2019, FDG Entertainment announced that the Switch version sold eight times more copies than the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions combined.[28]

It was generally well received by critics who praised its retro style and hand-drawn artwork,[29][30] and has a score of 86 on Metacritic.[31] NintendoLife noted the game's similarities to Wonder Boy, calling it a "sequel in all but name."[32] The publication later noted it as one of the best metroidvania games on the Nintendo Switch.[33]

References

  1. ↑ "Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom video showcases six whimsical characters". PC Gamer. August 16, 2016. Archived from the original on September 21, 2016. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Flying Hamster II (Canceled)". Kickstarter. Archived from the original on December 22, 2016. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Monster Boy arrives 2016, new subtitle, new screen!". monsterboy.com. Archived from the original on July 24, 2018. Retrieved April 25, 2019.
  4. ↑ "All OST Talents revealed". monsterboy.com. Archived from the original on August 11, 2017. Retrieved August 10, 2017.
  5. ↑ "Two Developers Are Bringing Wonder Boy Back With Two Entirely Different Games". Kotaku. Archived from the original on September 15, 2016. Retrieved September 15, 2016.
  6. ↑ @FDG_Games (May 20, 2018). "Fun facts: Monster Boy soundtrack production took 2 years! After 4 years of working on the game and play-testing it, we still love every of the 40+ music pieces that have been created for the game" (Tweet). Retrieved December 15, 2018 – via Twitter.
  7. ↑ "Monster Boy Development Blog". Archived from the original on April 1, 2019. Retrieved April 25, 2019.
  8. ↑ "We've teamed up with @Sega to release Monster Boy on physical cartridge & disc for #NintendoSwitch & #PS4 later This Summer". FDG Entertainment's official Twitter. February 9, 2018. Retrieved February 14, 2018.
  9. ↑ Whitehead, Thomas (October 24, 2016). "Monster Boy is Coming to Nintendo Switch, With Oceanhorn Also a Good Bet". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on October 24, 2016. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
  10. ↑ "No problem, unfortunately no physical release in Europe, only USA. Please consider to import it (it will run on EU consoles)". FDG Entertainment's official Twitter. July 25, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  11. ↑ FDG Entertainment. "Monster Boy finally arrives on November 6th, 2018". monsterboy.com. Archived from the original on August 22, 2018. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
  12. ↑ FDG Entertainment (October 4, 2018). "Monster Boy Release Date delayed to December 4". monsterboy.com. Archived from the original on October 6, 2018. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
  13. ↑ "Steam General Discussions - reason why PC version isn't out yet". Retrieved December 15, 2018.
  14. ↑ Romano, Sal (June 3, 2019). "Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom for PC launches July 25". Gematsu. Retrieved June 3, 2019.
  15. ↑ Romano, Sal (September 8, 2020). "Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom coming to PS5, Xbox Series". Gematsu. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
  16. ↑ Moyse, Chris (December 2, 2021). "Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom journeys onto PS5 today". Destructoid. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  17. ↑ Albigés, Luke (August 1, 2022). "Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom Xbox Series X|S upgrade "imminent"". TrueAchievements. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  18. ↑ @FDG_Games (August 2, 2022). "Go, get it! #MonsterBoyGame #XboxSeriesX The free "Smart Delivery" upgrade is now available". Twitter. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  19. ↑ "伝説の2Dアクションゲーム「ワンダーボーイ」シリーズ最新作！『モンスターボーイ 呪われた王国』パッケージ版発売決定！". Arc System Works. Retrieved May 14, 2020.
  20. ↑ "Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom for Switch Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
  21. ↑ "Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on April 2, 2019. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
  22. ↑ "Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved June 5, 2019.
  23. ↑ "Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  24. ↑ Pan, Alexander (December 11, 2018). "Monster Boy And The Cursed Kingdom Review - Fit For A King". GameSpot. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
  25. ↑ Scullion, Chris (December 5, 2018). "Review: Monster Boy And The Cursed Kingdom - The Best Wonder Boy Game Yet, Even If It Lacks The Name". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on April 1, 2019. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
  26. ↑ Ronaghan, Neal (December 3, 2018). "Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom Review". Nintendo World Report. Archived from the original on April 1, 2019. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
  27. ↑ @FDG_Games (December 12, 2018). "A huge THANK YOU for 50.000 units sold! We're deeply grateful and it's a big deal for us to see such an awesome support for premium and quality gaming 🤗❤️This also goes out to press members and reviewers who played and recommended" (Tweet). Retrieved December 15, 2018 – via Twitter.
  28. ↑ Grubb, Jeff (January 9, 2019). "Monster Boy sells 8 times more on Switch than PS4 and Xbox One combined". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on April 1, 2019. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
  29. ↑ Bryant, Paul (January 24, 2019). "Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom review for Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One, PC". Gaming Age. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
  30. ↑ Biggs, Tim (January 4, 2019). "Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom review: a land of wonder". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
  31. ↑ "Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom". Metacritic. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
  32. ↑ "Review: Monster Boy And The Cursed Kingdom - The Best Wonder Boy Game Yet, Even If It Lacks The Name". Nintendo Life. December 5, 2018. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
  33. ↑ "Best Nintendo Switch Metroidvania Games". Nintendo Life. December 16, 2022. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
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