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Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap is a platforming and action-adventure video game that was originally released for the Sega Master System in North America and the PAL regions. Later the game was ported by for the TurboGrafx-16/PC-Engine by Hudson Soft under the titles Adventure Island(JP) (not to be confused with the Adventure Island series of games for the NES) in Japan as well as Dragon's Curse in the North America release. Both the Sega Master System and TurboGrafx-16/PC-Engine versions were re-released for the Wii Virtual Console. A remake developed by Lizardcube and published by DotEmu, titled Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap, was released in April 2017.
Gameplay[]
The game is a hybrid platform and simple RPG as its predecessor; Being a home console game, both the score and the internal timer disappear and the character's energy decreases, and a password system (which can be obtained by entering the church in the first game area) is added, consisting of long strings of characters alphanumeric.
There are no more separate levels than in WBiML, but one big world: access to the various areas that make it apart from the starting area can only be gained through the various skills gained by transforming into various humanoid animals and obtained by buying certain weapons In the omnipresent stores. The game itself is not long enough to be completed, but it needs a certain mnemonic effort to remember the various places visited and the areas where you can use various skills, and includes alternative routes and secret sections.
The attributes attributed to the character (visible in the menu of the device) are strength, endurance, and charisma. The first refers to physical power, the second is related to the number of damage that can be experienced before losing energy, while the third is crucial in dealing with dealers. In fact, if the level of charisma is too low, traders refuse to sell their items, even though we have enough money.
Plot[]
The game starts with resuming Wonder Boy's final in Monster Land: Wonder Boy is located in the Dragon Castle (obviously made much shorter and simpler than the predecessor's infernal maze), armed all over and almost invulnerable. Once we have beaten the dragon, however, our hero is hit by a curse that turns him into an anthropomorphic lizard.
The aim of the game is to cross Monster World to return humanity to Wonder Boy, not before being passed through a series of other transformations into beaver animals.
Reception[]
Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap received wide acclaim from critics upon release. It received coverage in the September 1989 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly, where they provided a brief overview of the game and a summary of the events in Wonder Boy in Monster Land leading up to the game's plot. GamePro published a review of the game in its September–October 1989 issue, stating that "it's truly an adventure worthy of Wonder Boy". It received extensive coverage in both the January and February 1990 issues of VideoGames & Computer Entertainment, featuring an overview and a walkthrough of the game. The magazine praised the game for its challenge and overall look, which it says "will have you manipulating your control pad for days on end".
External links[]
- Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap at GameFAQs
- Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap at Nintendo's Wii Virtual Console page (North America)
- Dragon's Curse at Nintendo's Wii Virtual Console page (North America)
- Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap at Virtual Console Reviews
- Dragon's Curse at Virtual Console Reviews
- Dragon's Curse at Hudson Soft Virtual Console page (North America)
- Adventure Island at Hudson Soft Virtual Console page (Japan)
- Wonder Boy III Reference
- Wonderboy Land
- The Legendary Site
- Cheats and hints
| Wonder Boy series | |
|---|---|
| Main series | Wonder Boy • Monster Land • III: Monster Lair • The Dragon's Trap (Remake) • Monster World Monster World IV (Asha in Monster World) • The Cursed Kingdom • Returns • Collection |
| Related | Adventure Island • Sega • Hudson Soft • Westone • Whomp 'Em • Aggelos |