Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom Launch Edition - Nintendo Switch

Okay, ya like Shantae? Or Metroid-vania kinda deals? You'll probably like this. Firstly, the game is gorgeous. It's got hand painted backgrounds and hand animated character art. Characters are super expressive and animated and fun. The gameplay is, well, like Shantae. You use transformations and spells to fight/platform and solve light puzzles. Now, ya might be thinking "I don't like the idea of it ripping off Shantae." Well, it doesn't. This is by the developers of Wonder Boy another game about a transforming guy or girl which was on the old Sega Master System. ANYWAY, it's quite a great game from what I've played. Great music, visuals and well, gameplay duh. So I don't sound like a visually focused review- I'll try and explain the gameplay a bit more. You go through the game gaining more and more transformations which all have their own perks and weaknesses. Pig can use magic but can't use weapons/special armor, Snake can fit through holes and climb ivy, spit acid and ram blocks, frog can use his tongue to swing across rings and also equip gear and so on. So, it all plays into how you navigate stages and sometimes solve light puzzles. I mean pretty simple stuff. Snake can swim, pig sinks, but pig can butt-stomp buttons. So, you'll swim in the water, change to pig and butt-stomp a button. Simple. Anyway, I've not beaten it so I can only say so much but having played WonderBoy all the way through and I'm several hours into this one and find it as enjoyable or more.

This modern revival of the Wonder Boy series was a nice surprise. I would like to call it a Metroidvania style game, but I think the series (and the game this one is most closely based on, Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap) pre-dates that term! In this game you switch between animal forms to use different abilities that let you unlock more of the world, with your goal being to solve the mystery at hand. The visuals are what first caught my eye, and it's like playing a cartoon. The sound is great too, and the gameplay is tight. This is not a short game either - you will be busy for a good while, especially if you're trying to collect all the equipment, songs scrolls, treasure chests, and get 100% exploration on your map. The only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is because the game gets old-school hard at times (you will die a lot), esp early on when you are not very strong and later in certain areas when you don't yet have the ideal armor. Some of the puzzles were pretty obscure too (an optional one in the main town was ridiculous) and I had to look online for some help, which I never do.

For those that don’t know Monster Boy is the spiritual and literal sequel for Wonder Boy. If you have played wonder boy before then you already know what is in store for you. If you haven’t then expect the following: a well designed platformer with a large somewhat open world in a similar vein of metroidvanias, beautiful hand drawn graphics and animation, more items/customization than wonder Boy, improved combat and controls compared to Wonder Boy, and a 15hr or so campaign. The game plays smooth, and controls are crisp. Easily one of my favorite releases on Switch for 2018.

Overall, this is a great game. Lots of attention to detail, charming and crisp hand drawn-esque graphics, pretty good controls, and a fair amount of content. It falls into the Metroidvania style somewhat, but it never feels like a Metroid or Castelvaina game at any point, for better or worse. The controls can be a tad finicky at times and the level design is annoying in some parts, but neither are big enough issues to knock the game down much. For the price, it's a lot of content and the goodies inside the case make it an easy game to recommend, but it's not perfect.

If you’re a fan of Wonderboy III then you will like Monster Boy. It plays like its predecessor, but expands upon it greatly with a lot more content, trickier puzzles, and more interesting uses of the different forms for the character. The only issue I have with the game is it takes a while to feel fun. I didn’t have the best time playing as the pig form, due to how tough the game felt. Since this was the first form, I wish the game were a little more forgiving at this point. After I achieved the second form the fun factor greatly improved.

This is a great action platformer with a challenging yet rewarding level of difficulty. The game allows you to transform into various animals or monsters, each with their own abilities, strengths, and weaknesses. Levels are uniquely constructed to utilize interesting dynamics in playstyle. You will have to use your monster forms' unique abilities to make it through each new level. The art style makes you feel as if you are playing an animated cartoon.

While Monster Boy is a side-scrolling adventure throwback to the 16-bit era, this is by no means a short & basic game like many of those. While you attack enemies & jump to platforms, this is a lengthy 20+ hour journey with role-playing elements. And while it pays homage to that era, the graphics are by no means simplistic. Yes, they're cartoony, but they're hand-drawn & gorgeous in motion. This is one of the best games of 2018, IMO. Buy it.

I was looking forward to picking up this I love the art style of this game I love hand-drawn games they look so much better the combat feels great this game is really funny handles extremely well fun puzzles creative fighting style I love switching out the characters for different things I highly recommend this game it's cheap and both fun I'm a physical collector so I had to get this one