Guide: How To Find Every Charm Stone In Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap

If you want to get the best gear possible in Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap, you'll need to collect charm stones. There's a stone for each of Wonder Boy's cursed forms, and when you get them all you'll be able to purchase the best sword in the game. 

Without further ado, let's get to it.

Lizard-Man

Lizard-Man is the form you take at the beginning of the game, but you won't be able to get his charm stone until you're nearing the end of it. To get the stone, you need to have the Thunder Ring and the Lion-Man form. From town, climb the tower and head to the desert.

Once you've reached the desert, walk left until you reach a pit with a fire ant lion in it. Use Lion-Man's attack to kill the enemy, then drop into the water below. As soon as you drop, go to the right where you'll find a small room containing a few enemies, some breakable blocks and a door. After entering the door you'll be transformed into Lizard-Man and you'll be in The Unknown. Run through all the enemies and reach the door at the end to earn your reward.

Mouse-Man

Mouse-Man's charm stone is the most difficult one to reach in the entire game. To get it, you'll need to go to the underground and keep going left until you hit a dead end. At the dead end, jump onto the wall and scale it until you see a door. Jump off the wall and to this door, then open it to reach Mouse-Man's challenge in The Unknown.

This time around you're going to need to flex your platforming muscle to get through. We found this one to be quite frustrating, but all you need to do is make it through the platforms, killing enemies as you encounter them. The key needed to unlock the door at the end of the challenge can be obtained from the roper near it. Once you've got the key, make your way to the door.

Piranha-Man

The next stone is mercifully easy to get. As Piranha-Man, make your way to the beach and jump into the water at your earliest opportunity. Once you're underwater, swim left and you'll come upon an area with two blocks floating near the top of the screen. Stand on top of them and hold up to enter the invisible door located there.

Make sure you're well equipped, as the enemies located in there are strong. Cut your way through your foes and you'll have the key in no time.

Lion-Man

Lion-Man's charm stone is, like the one before it, found underwater. Again, like the one before it, you'll need to get to the beach. Once you get to the beach, keep going right until you reach the second screen, then jump in the water. Once you're underwater, you'll see the area pictured above. Break the blocks hiding behind the pink plant life and drop down to enter The Unknown. From there, just fight your way through the enemies to get the key, get to the door and get out.

Hawk-Man

Hawk-Man's charm stone is incredibly simple to get to; all it requires is for you fly to your right until you find the entrance, really. From town, fly up to the entrance to the desert and go in. After you're in the desert, just fly to your max altitude and go right (it takes quite a while) until you arrive in The Unknown.

Once inside, the challenge is essentially a flying obstacle course. Just keep navigating your way around enemies, fireballs and the water, which Hawk-Man is weak to. The last room will have two yellow ogres and three yellow frogs. One of the frogs will drop the key needed to open the door, so kill it and go claim your stone.

Hu-Man

Hu-Man's stone isn't hidden at all, actually. It's right in the center of town. During the ending, you'll see Hu-Man go into a house where there hadn't been a door before. Once you load up your post-completion save, that door will still be there, and going in it will take you to Hu-Man's trial. 

This is by far the most difficult trial in that the enemies are very powerful. You'll want to make sure you have good armor equipped as a few hits could spell your demise. The first two rooms are standard stuff, kill the enemies, get the key and continue on. Once you reach the third room, however, you'll need to take the right exit to get out. Head right until you see a block in front of a large pit. Break the block to reveal a jump pad, then use it to cross the chasm. Do the same on the other side, then use that to reach the small outcropping of blocks above, then break the topmost block to reveal a jump pad that will catapult you up into the next screen. 

You'll land on a small group of blocks with a hole to your left. Fall down the hole into the next screen, which is populated by a few yellow ninjas. Either kill or ignore the ninjas and continue to run left. You'll find a fire gem near a door that seems impossible to reach. Crouch down and let the fire gem's shots hit your shield, pushing you through the narrow gap near the door. All that's left now is to open the door and collect your final gem.

With that you've now found every gem Wonderboy has to offer. If you want to continue your adventure, why not grab all the hearts, too? Is there anything else you'd like to know about this retro remake? Let us know in the comments below.