We recently reported on the news that the classic Master System title Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap is getting a HD makeover thanks to publisher DotEmu and French developer Lizardcube.
Screenshots and a trailer have just gone live, showcasing the new HD graphics and epic soundtrack - both of which retain the same feel of the legendary 8-bit original. The game appears to a straight remake with better visuals and sound - fans will recognise some of the locations in the screens below.
No release date has been set, but the game is confirmed for PC and "consoles".
Here's the press release:
Description
A good curse makes a good game (or so they say)! turned into a half-human, half-lizard monstrosity by the Meka-Dragon, a lonesome adventurer is facing the challenge of a lifetime! In search for a cure, our mutated anti-hero will explore the many traps of Monster Land... and defeat many stuff-throwing, curse-wielding dragons. How many more transformations can one hopeful body survive, as it turns into a Lizard, a Mouse, a Piranha, a Lion, and a Hawk... The six different forms of our shape-shifting hero make up the cast of this non-stop action-adventure platformer!
Featuring
- A huge interconnected world!
- 6 playable forms for our shape-shifting hero, with different abilities!
- Dragons of all kinds! A Zombie Dragon! A Mummy Dragon! A Samurai Dragon!
- An eye-patch wearing shop-keeper pig who may or may not provide a sense of warmth and direction!
- Beautiful, hand-drawn animated graphics!
- A memorable soundtrack, based on Shinichi Sakamoto's originals, re-imagined and recorded with classical instruments!
- ...and more to be announced!
History - A cult classic
We took on making a modern version of the 1989 Master System / PC Engine cult classic created by Westone (Ryuichi Nishizawa, Takanori Kurihara, Hiromi Kurihara and Shinichi Sakamoto). With the help of Ryuichi Nishizawa (Westone), Shinji Fujiwara (LAT), and a relentless commitment of DotEmu to untangle a bunch of documents covered in pixellated dustwebs, we have licensed the IP to create this new version (a first since 1994).Imagine if Zelda, Metroid and Mario had a love child.
[source thedragonstrap.com]
Comments 39
I can't wait for this. It looks good
If nothing else, it certainly looks gooood!
Edit: Is there any reference to Wii U? You can't mention Zelda, Metroid and Mario and then not put it on a Nintendo system. That would be trolling.
looks lovely but I imagine this wont get a 3DS release meaning I wont get to play it 'consoles' is a bit vague
"Imagine if Zelda, Metroid and Mario had a love child."
...coming soon to PS4 and XB1.
Wow YES I want this. I'm hoping so bad for a 3DS version. Otherwise, provided I can carry over my current eshop purchases from Wii U to NX, I hope it comes out for Wii U too.
Oh wow this looks awesome.
Came for the Wonder Boy information, stayed for the Tenacious D tagline
@LandOfZeldtir Glad someone got it!
I still play Dragons Curse on the wiiU / Wii virtual console. I'm liking the art work and will be happy with a new release even if it is only a fresh coat of paint. The game is still as good today as it was in 1989.
Welp, like I mentioned in the earlier article, if the actual game looked as good as the promo art, I'd be on board... so consider me on board!
And leave it to a French dev [that's not Ubisoft] to deliver on that type of visual style.
@Damo But what about Young Nasty Man?
The art looks incredible!
Wait this isn't a Kickstarter game? XD I could have sworn it was.
Superb,loved this game way back in the day.Hard to be optimistic about a Wii U release though,guess we'll have to wait and see.
I've got The Kinks song in my head now
Wonder boy, some mother's son,
Life is full of work and blunder
Easy go, life is not real,
Life is only what you conjure.
Wonder boy,
And the world is joy, every single day.
It's the real McCoy,
Wonder boy.
Looks very nice.
That cloud with the sunglasses reminds me of Air Zonk
Also, game looks WONDERful, BOYiiiiiiiii!
@Churchy He was kicked out for having powers comparable to Wonder Boy.
SEGA......if you're reading this, if this game turns out good, I'll never insult you ever again!
I want to be excited but I can't help but wonder if this won't have the same charm as the original......
I prefer Monster World IV and V, but hopefully this will lead to those...
i love this game so much!!!! this remake looks amazing
Really cool. If it comes to Wii U I'll even buy it
Will the we5t one code still work I wonder? I loved the original game so I'm very excited about this.
Haven't heard of this game until now.
Looks good, and I'll take it. On any console. 😀
Ooo...looks great. Hopes it does well enough to continue the series.
Looks like a dream come true. Interesting that they choose the Master System green dragon but the Lion/Tiger man looks more like the TurboGrafx version but as a Lion not a Tiger. I think it's cool they gave the Pirahna man a more distinct look, turning him blue and less dragon like. Looks very impressive, my guess is it's coming to the NX and not the Wii U.
@Azikira That was a spiritual successor, Flying Hamster 2/Monster Boy. Looked promising: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=242752167
I don't know if it's still being made or if they cancelled it after the name chnge and failed kickstarter but i know i'd pick it up.
Man, this is so exciting. Of all the underrated games around, this is the biggest. I hope my pass-codes still work!
Looking pretty good!
@Churchy How about the power of flight?
YES! Now this news made my day!
@Kevlar44 It was turned into Monster Boy, actually: https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2015/01/segas_wonder_boy_lives_on_in_monster_boy_and_he_could_be_coming_to_wii_u
I do love the old pixel art, but this kind of 2D is really appealing. Looks very good so far. I'll miss the chip tunes, though. I'll definitely keep up with this one as development progresses. Looks like it will be on PC. Obviously that means Windows. Hopefully they'll do Linux and Mac as well so more people can play it without jumping through many hoops.
Honestly one of the best 2D games I've seen that isn't pixel art. I don't know what it is but a lot of hand drawn games just don't really catch my fancy, but this, I don't know, I spaced out trying to think of what it is, it just works. I'll probably get it on PC since a Wii U release is unlikely.
Looks absolutely incredible, if it plays as well as it looks we're in for something amazing.
Looking good, definite buy if on WiiU.
One of my favorite games series ever. Pity it's not getting a wider release across more platforms. I'm not too sold on the graphics, the style looks very similar to most other indie games these days.
has elly one notice that thare is some extremity specific gold totes in two of the pics don't know if it means something or not tho the amongst are 2016 and 1989
my guess is its the year the games coming out and the date the original game was released
Looks nice!
@lemonjellydude ...and it would look so good in 3D,
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