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Big news!

Wonder Boy - Asha in Monster World Announced, Led By Series Creator

IGN is excited to exclusively reveal the next game in the Wonder Boy series.

IGN is happy to reveal that a new game in the Wonder Boy series, Wonder Boy - Asha in Monster World, has been announced with members of the original development team behind the wheel.

A full reveal with gameplay is set to arrive later this week during the gamescom Awesome Indies showcase, which kicks off at 10am Pacific Time on Saturday, August 29 right here on IGN. In the meantime, you can see a sneak peek at some key art below, with more details about Wonder Boy - Asha in Monster World under that.

This next entry in the Wonder Boy series stars the titular Asha, the protagonist of 1994’s Wonder Boy IV. She is assisted by her flying, blue Pepelogoo (a creature also originally from Wonder Boy IV), and together the two of them must set off to save the world – what exactly is threatening it, however, we don’t know quite yet. Excitingly, this will be the first game in the history of the series to be fully voiced, with the announcement describing Asha and other characters as “lively and talkative.”

Wonder Boy - Asha in Monster World is being developed by STUDIOARTDINK alongside ININ Games, with members of the original Wonder Boy creative team at the helm. That includes series creator Ryuichi Nishizawa (who has returned to lead and direct this new game), original composer Shinichi Sakamoto (who will be producing the game’s sounds, this time around), character designer Maki Ōzora, and creative manager Takanori Kurihara.

The long-awaited sequel arrives after the success of 2017’s Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap (a remake of 1989’s Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s Trap), as well as the 2018 follow-up to the series, Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom. Wonder Boy - Asha in Monster World is set to release on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch at the beginning of 2021.

A Wonder Boy teaser site is currently live with a link for a mailing list, but more information and first gameplay will be revealed during the gamescom Awesome Indies showcase on August 29. You can watch gamescom Awesome Indies live starting at 10am Pacific Time right here on IGN, and follow all of our gamescom 2020 coverage here.

Source: IGN

 

[Mister Wolf]

Day one.

 

[Birdo]

It's so strange that Wonder Boy has been phased out of his own series.

 

[Newly Vacant]

It's so strange that Wonder Boy has been phased out of his own series.

Welcome to "progress."

Edit: Emphasis added.

 

[iconmaster]

It's so strange that Wonder Boy has been phased out of his own series.

It's so you'll wonder where the boy is.

Is Lizard Cube not involved with this one? That seems odd.

 

[Bullet Club]

It's so strange that Wonder Boy has been phased out of his own series.

True. He got pushed into the Monster Boy series.

 

[ShirAhava]

Not really feeling the new art direction Asha looks way younger now

 

[The Cockatrice]

Didnt play Wonder Boy but I loved Monster Boy. Hopefully they keep the metroidvania aspect in the new game as well.

 

[MiguelItUp]

I loved the first Wonder Boy so much. Played that and Alex Kidd on my Master System alllllll the time as a kiddo. I'm on board with all of these Monster/Wonder Boy games, they're so good.

 

[JunkerWoland]

Interesting that the game is just being unveiled, and it's already set to launch in early 2021. Hopefully, we'll be looking at a title similar in quality to its recent predecessors. I guess we'll see what's what this coming Saturday.

Is Lizard Cube not involved with this one? That seems odd.

Speaking specifically about the Wonder Boy franchise and not SEGA in general, Lizard Cube was only involved in the Wonder Boy III remake. This new game doesn't even have the same developer & publisher behind it as the more recent Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom.

 

[Holammer]

I'd call myself a big fan of the series, but I never seriously played MWIV. Fan translation has been available since forever so I'll have to dig that up.
I did play the other games religiously and back when the interwebs was new, I sent my copy of Wonderboy III to a guy in the UK so the roms could be dumped. Releasing the rom for it and Phantasy Star was a freakin' huge event back then.

 

[GymWolf]

Fuuuuck for a split second i read the title as monster hunter world sequel

 

[Xellos]

Great news! All of the Wonder Boy games are awesome.

 

[carlosrox]

So it's really Wonder Girl?

 

[DonF]

Is this related to monster boy and the cursed kingdom?
edit: ok, just read the last paragraph. The name scheme is so confusing with this series.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

I am ALL for this. Maybe I missed it, but who's publishing?

 

[JunkerWoland]

I am ALL for this. Maybe I missed it, but who's publishing?

The game is being published by United Games GmbH, but (according to the IGN piece) through their subsidiary ININ Games. Relatedly, United Games is the parent company of Strictly Limited.

 

[I Love Rock 'n' Roll]

I can't wait for that. I love Wonderboy since the 1st time i played it on Game Gear. Those sweat times.

 

[Saber]

Honestly I tried this game at that time, but never really get into no matter how many times I tried.

Maybe this one might get my attention. After seeing some gameplay, who knows.

 

[Soltype]

IGN is happy to reveal that a new game in the Wonder Boy series, Wonder Boy - Asha in Monster World, has been announced with members of the original development team behind the wheel.

I thought Westone was defunct

 

[cireza]

I hope that it won't get too much inspiration from Monster "Puzzle" Boy. These are supposed to be action games.

Why no Xbox and PC ? Third Party devs lol...

 

[INC]

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

Look at all dat whitewashing and racist stereotyping in that image!

Is REEEEE already having a field day with it?

Seriously, all the latest WB games have been amazing. I have very high expectations about this too.

 

[SALMORE]

Awesome news !! My favorite Wonder Boy game , finished it on PS3 a couple of years ago

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

I loved Dragon's Trap and Cursed Kingdom. These are better than the Shantae games IMO so I'm excited for the next one.

Bummer that we gotta wait for footage.

 

[alabtrosMyster]

Look at all dat whitewashing and racist stereotyping in that image!

Is REEEEE already having a field day with it?

Seriously, all the latest WB games have been amazing. I have very high expectations about this too.

To be fair we have people complaining about the girl being the character here (she was in the series in 1994).

I really need to play WB IV!

 

[SF Kosmo]

This leaked a while back for GDC but never materialized when the event was cancelled. We knew it was Artdink but the involvement of key Westone staff is new.

This is exciting! I have loved this series for a long time and for many years it felt like it was so niche you could scarcely find another fan, but all the new ports and the sequel and all that have gone a long way to see this series recognized for the classic it is.

Nishizawa has been kind of loosely involved in Monster Boy and Dragon's Trap remakes but hearing he's actually directing this one and joined by Sakimoto and Ozora is really exciting. These guys deserve another chance at this series now that interest has been revitalized.

 

[SF Kosmo]

I thought Westone was defunct

Yes, it existed as an IP holding company for a time but was dissolved and the IP rolled to another company. Ironically though, this seems to have had the effect of revitalizing the IP though as the new owners seemed a lot more willing to cut liscensing deals with outside devs, and these new games have helped to generate a lot of interest that wasn't there before. This appears to be another such deal but they have hired key staff from the series.

Interestingly, I don't think that these three have ever all worked on the same WB game together. Nishizawa worked on all of them except WBiMW, Sakimoto on all of them but MW4, and Ozora only worked on those two.

There is also a "lost" 90s Westone game that never got released that is finally coming out this year. Stuff like this probably wouldn't have happened has they not sold off the IP.

I loved Dragon's Trap and Cursed Kingdom. These are better than the Shantae games IMO so I'm excited for the next one.

Bummer that we gotta wait for footage.

Shantae, especially the first couple, was a wholesale rip off of Wonder Boy. Since then they've kind of swapped that for more basic Metroidvania tropes that make them interchangeable with so many other games.

 

[struggler_guts]

Not really feeling the new art direction Asha looks way younger now

Damn they done white washed her too.

Never played these so no nostalgia for it, new style looks like shantae which I like

 

[SF Kosmo]

Damn they done white washed her too.

Never played these so no nostalgia for it, new style looks like shantae which I like

She always had fair skin and blue eyes. Which are now purple, so I guess there's that?

It's a little hard for me to keep a straight face while debating the ethnicity of a cartoon girl with green hair and purple eyes, but if it makes you feel better, this is implied to be set in the same Monster World as the Medieval European-styled games in the series, but in a distant future where the culture has shifted. Despite the Arabian "theme" it is not explicitly set in a desert/mideast region and has the same diverse biomes as past games, too.

New style looks a little bit cuter/rounder, but that kind of squares with the series as a whole.

 

[Kazza]

This is exciting! I have loved this series for a long time and for many years it felt like it was so niche you could scarcely find another fan, but all the new ports and the sequel and all that have gone a long way to see this series recognized for the classic it is.

This was my experience too. I remember when I started getting back into gaming after a long break, looking at the gaming forums and youtube retro videos and thinking "why is no one talking about this legendary series?". It's great to see it come back alive.

I recently played MW4 for the first time on my Megadrive Mini, and was blow away by it's fun gameplay and charm. It was less of a "metroidvania" than MW3 or Dragon's Trap, with the small hub world giving you further access as you gained abilities, the the dungeons themselves being linear platform/puzzlers. I think the gameplay loop worked really well, and hope they do something similar here.

 

[Shadowplay1979]

It's so strange that Wonder Boy has been phased out of his own series.

Yea but the same time we have all these Wonderboy offshoots and remakes that have all been terrific and faithful to the series.

In a way its less phased out and more in tradition with the way Wonder Boy/Adventure Island has always had a bizarre history


There was also the original wonderboy/adventure island remake as well that flew a bit under the radar compared to the other two

* maybe its better it flew under the radar im sure there would have been a shit storm over this

 

[Shadowplay1979]

I loved Dragon's Trap and Cursed Kingdom. These are better than the Shantae games IMO so I'm excited for the next one.

Bummer that we gotta wait for footage.

I really hope the game after this is called WorldBoy: Wonder Monster

 

[lock2k]

I hope it comes to PC later.

 

[Oliade677]

Great to see the indie scene is still going strong.

 

[Orenji Neko]

Great! I loved original on Mega Drive.

 

[Touch fuzZy. get BizZay]

Releasing early next year, huh...any screenshots?

 

[theclaw135]

I thought Westone was defunct

The rights were split between Sega and Westone in a ludicrous fashion. Long story short, Westone confused everybody by licensing out the games in disguise with different names/characters.

 

[existensmaximum]

Holy fuck, this is incredible news! Both The Dragon's Trap remake and Monster Boy were amazing games!

 

[dave_d]

It's going to be weird playing a Monster World game given that the alien behind everything in the other games actually finally gets killed in MW4. Anyway day one.

 

[Shantae]

Hell yeah, yes please. Only game in the series I played was the remake of Wonder Boy The Dragon's Trap, but that was a pretty awesome game.

 

[D.Final]

Big news!

Wonder Boy - Asha in Monster World Announced, Led By Series Creator

IGN is excited to exclusively reveal the next game in the Wonder Boy series.

IGN is happy to reveal that a new game in the Wonder Boy series, Wonder Boy - Asha in Monster World, has been announced with members of the original development team behind the wheel.

A full reveal with gameplay is set to arrive later this week during the gamescom Awesome Indies showcase, which kicks off at 10am Pacific Time on Saturday, August 29 right here on IGN. In the meantime, you can see a sneak peek at some key art below, with more details about Wonder Boy - Asha in Monster World under that.

This next entry in the Wonder Boy series stars the titular Asha, the protagonist of 1994’s Wonder Boy IV. She is assisted by her flying, blue Pepelogoo (a creature also originally from Wonder Boy IV), and together the two of them must set off to save the world – what exactly is threatening it, however, we don’t know quite yet. Excitingly, this will be the first game in the history of the series to be fully voiced, with the announcement describing Asha and other characters as “lively and talkative.”

Wonder Boy - Asha in Monster World is being developed by STUDIOARTDINK alongside ININ Games, with members of the original Wonder Boy creative team at the helm. That includes series creator Ryuichi Nishizawa (who has returned to lead and direct this new game), original composer Shinichi Sakamoto (who will be producing the game’s sounds, this time around), character designer Maki Ōzora, and creative manager Takanori Kurihara.

The long-awaited sequel arrives after the success of 2017’s Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap (a remake of 1989’s Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s Trap), as well as the 2018 follow-up to the series, Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom. Wonder Boy - Asha in Monster World is set to release on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch at the beginning of 2021.

A Wonder Boy teaser site is currently live with a link for a mailing list, but more information and first gameplay will be revealed during the gamescom Awesome Indies showcase on August 29. You can watch gamescom Awesome Indies live starting at 10am Pacific Time right here on IGN, and follow all of our gamescom 2020 coverage here.

Source: IGN

Great news
I can't wait to see more

 

[AzureFlame]

Take all my money, this series is awesome.

 

[Bullet Club]

It is coming to PC, unsurprisingly.

In Japan, Wonder Boy: Asha in the Monster World will be published by G Choice, Studio Artdink’s recently announced new game brand. In the west, it will be published by ININ Games. As ININ Games only announced the game for PlayStation 4 and Switch, the PC version will likely be published by G Choice worldwide.

 

[Hendrick's]

Awesome. It’s crazy how good this series has been.

 

[Holammer]

Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World is a full remake of the 2D side-scrolling action game Monster World IV with FULL 3D GRAPHICS

 

[JunkerWoland]

While I wasn't expecting a remake of the Genesis game, with Artdink on development duty, I was more inclined to believe the title would feature 3D graphics. Recreating Monster World IV with 3D visuals isn't particularly exciting and may potentially stand in stark contrast to the lovingly handled Wonder Boy III remake. If anything, since this is a remake, maybe someone on the project or at SEGA will be thoughtful enough to bundle as an extra the emulated version of the Genesis release; considering Monster World IV isn't the easiest game to obtain digitally, it'd at least be a nice selling point.

 

[Link1110]

Welcome to "progress."

Edit: Emphasis added.

Umm..You DO realize this isn't a new character, right? Asha was in Monster World 4 on Genesis, right? Would you rather they change the main character of the remake for no reason?

 

[Stafford]

Wonder and Monster Boy all came to Xbox but not this?

Miss me with that bullshit. Why?

 

[SF Kosmo]

Wonder and Monster Boy all came to Xbox but not this?

Miss me with that bullshit. Why?

Those games were French, this one's Japanese.

Apparently this IS coming to PC (Steam) though. Official press release says it's a remake, not a new game, contrary to earlier reporting. A bit disappointing but I'm still excited.