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Ryuichi Nishizawa has just posted on Facebook a link to an article announcing that CyberFront Korea will be releasing Wonder Boy Returns on Steam:

http://www.gambitmag.com/2016/09/wonder-boy-returns-coming-steam

In a previous thread I had provided some information about the current state of the Wonder Boy trademark. In that thread it was discussed that CyberFront Korea had applied for the Wonder Boy trademark in multiple countries with the exclusion of Japan, where Sega still held the trademark. This was part of the mess that DotEmu had to resolve in order for Bock's remake of the Dragon's Trap to use the Wonder Boy name. I theorized that CyberFront may be planning to remake the Wonder Boy games rather than emulating them and that appears to be the case. The interesting thing is they not only hold the Wonder Boy trademark (excluding Japan), but they also hold the trademark for the name of every game in the series.

I am going to do some more digging and see what I can find out. I do have to say though, it is very exciting to see Wonder Boy get so much attention after so long. Wonder Boy fans have alot to look forward to with Monster Boy, Wonder Boy the Dragon's Trap and Wonder Boy Returns ... it's a bit like Wonder Boy overload, and no I'm not complaining ^_^

Edit: It seems to be coming at least to PC (Steam) and PS4 (Playstation Network). I don't think it is quite in the same league as the other 2 Wonder Boy games coming out, but it looks fun and at least there is some variation in the boss battles compared with the original. It's also good to finally find out why Cyberfront Korea acquired the trademark.

Thanks for the info Mr. Logbomber!

The remake of the original looks pretty nice, glad to see Wonder Boy back after all the years (I hope so much that the same will happen with Alex Kidd someday).

Is there a chance for Monster Boy to get the Wonder Boy name now? Maybe CyberFront Korea is a company that´s open for it, compared to Sega.

If Wonder Boy Returns comes to the Wii U, I´ll get it instantly.

Hmm... looks a bit like a low-budget Flash game, but I admit the artwork is very nice.

Yes it has a very 'mobile game' feel to it. I think the graphics are cute, but of course the new Monster Boy and Dragon's Trap games look considerably better.

I tracked down the original official announcement by CyberFront Korea on gamespress.com, which can only be viewed with a games press account. The unedited announcement was mirrored on gamasutra.com and I have added the 6 screen shots from the press release here (as they were not mirrored on gamasutra).

The press release

wonderboyreturns_1.jpg (543.57 KB)

Wonder Boy Returns 1

wonderboyreturns_2.jpg (556.94 KB)

Wonder Boy Returns 2

wonderboyreturns_3.jpg (678.99 KB)

Wonder Boy Returns 3

wonderboyreturns_4.jpg (664.55 KB)

Wonder Boy Returns 4

wonderboyreturns_5.jpg (1.1 MB)

Wonder Boy Returns 5

wonderboyreturns_6.jpg (617.38 KB)

Wonder Boy Returns 6

At least the classic Wonder Boy formula is getting some love! Both Monster Boy and Dragon's Trap are following the Monster World style of gameplay, which I love, but the Wonder Boy/Adventure Island gameplay is a nice return to form.

Just wish it had more animation and parallax scrolling.

AKA "The one with terrible animation". A big shame, since it sounds good and looks nice in stills.

They could zoom out the action a little, though.

The game now has an official webpage along with a facebook page:

http://cfk.kr/wbreturns/

https://www.facebook.com/wonderboyreturns/

It definitely isn't as good as the Dragon's Trap remake or Monster Boy, but it does look fun and I am looking forward to it. New areas and bosses ... I think it will be cool ^_^

Wow! Over 20 years with no new Wonder Boy/Monster World games, and now three new games from three different developers at the same time! That's quite insane!

And I agree the artwork looks cheaper than the two other games, but still looks like it could be a fun game.

tommy1983 wrote

Wow! Over 20 years with no new Wonder Boy/Monster World games, and now three new games from three different developers at the same time! That's quite insane!

Hehe, I certainly agree! I must say there is something very familiar about all of this, when you consider the Westone originals, the official Sega ports, the Sega licensed Activision ports and the Westone licensed Hudson ports, we are definitely back in familiar territory! The confusing history of Wonder Boy continues and I'm enjoying every second of it lol.

Logbomber wrote

The confusing history of Wonder Boy continues and I'm enjoying every second of it lol.

Agreed!

In addition I read in the comments here http://maxteam01.blogspot.no/2015/09/mwrpg-development-update.html#comment-form that MaxTeam will finally release their unofficial Monster World RPG this year. I know they've said that several times before though, but let's hope this time it's true.

At least it means they didn't vanish from earth's surface :p

It has been released! Downloading now ^_^

http://store.steampowered.com/app/523810

Edit: I don't mind the graphics they are fun and colorful, but wow this game is really, really hard! Even harder than the arcade and master system versions. It was hard enough in 1986, I don't think it needed to be harder in 2016.

A major update for the game is out, which they are calling version 1.0 and it currently has a 40% discount.

The original release was incredibly frustrating, much harder than the arcade version in terms of difficulty and that's saying something!

This new version has actually made the game playable, with improvements to various monsters such as the jumping frogs (which previously killed you 1 millisecond after they appeared), has more lives in 'Easy' and 'Normal' modes which were very needed, and has a pile of graphical changes ... I'm hesitant to say graphical improvements. Also Tina/Tanya is an unlockable character now, and she uses double boomerangs which is very cool. Version 1.0 overall is a significant improvement over what they originally released, and they seem to be listening to feedback from those of us who tortured ourselves playing the game.

It's now worth a look.

New video:

Store page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/523810

Logbomber wrote

and has a pile of graphical changes ... I'm hesitant to say graphical improvements.

Such as...?

They have added a new background layer that uses parallax scrolling, which looks good in some levels and a bit average in others. They have added effects like moving water falls. There is more variation in the way the levels look. They changed some of the levels to look darker like night time, similar to the 4th (boss) level in each area of the original.

You can also unlock and play as 'classic boy' which is a rip of the original arcade main sprite. It looks ... interesting. I think the idea was to appease the retro gamers who were flaming them. Lots of posts were deleted on the community hub in the first week after the initial release O_O

I honestly think they are trying really hard here to make this a good game. Unfortunately it's never going to be a good game, but it is playable now. The original Wonder Boy was always going to be the hardest of the series to introduce to a new generation. They really needed to drop some of the old arcade design, and make a new modern version. Of course a game like the Dragon's Trap is much easier to introduce to a new generation because the game was designed for a home console, rather than a mid 80's arcade game. I loved that era, and have a huge amount of nostalgia for many of the games from back then, but game design did improve significantly as home consoles became the focus rather than the arcade.

Logbomber wrote

I honestly think they are trying really hard here to make this a good game. Unfortunately it's never going to be a good game, but it is playable now.

why it can't become a good game ? the addition of the original sprite is great as the new sprite looks really bad (not a nostalgia point of view).

What I mean is it is not going to be overly successful. I am enjoying it for what it is, and as a huge Wonder Boy fan I want to like it, but it is only just 'OK', It's not a great game. But like I said it was always going to be challenging to bring the original Wonder Boy into the modern era, and I think this game hasn't quite done that effectively.

The original sprite is interesting as an unlockable.

523810_screenshots_20161124220449_1.jpg (336.04 KB)

Wow, I really hated the graphical "updates"... Some squares in the title screen and a huge wall of nothingness on the background of stage 1-1? And, no, the frog still doesn't behave like in the original. The first version played ok and looked good. This update plays ok and looks bad. Uninstalled.

The game seems to have low framerate, maybe it's just the video?

They did a "remix" of this, basically stripping out most of the new content to revert to a closer rendition of the arcade....

What's the general opinion of this remix around these parts?

I finished both versions and really they are both about as good as each other, it's nice that the Remix is more like the original but the other version had new interesting bosses which were cool. Either game is not really that great but they do help if you need a Wonder Boy fix.

By the way the non-remix version is still available on the Playstation store, but it was removed from Steam unless you had already purchased it.

Author	Message
Logbomber Joined: 06 Apr 2009 Posts: 207	CyberFront Korea to release Wonder Boy Returns game on Steam! Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2016 5:37 pm
Logbomber Joined: 06 Apr 2009 Posts: 207	Ryuichi Nishizawa has just posted on Facebook a link to an article announcing that CyberFront Korea will be releasing Wonder Boy Returns on Steam: http://www.gambitmag.com/2016/09/wonder-boy-returns-coming-steam In a previous thread I had provided some information about the current state of the Wonder Boy trademark. In that thread it was discussed that CyberFront Korea had applied for the Wonder Boy trademark in multiple countries with the exclusion of Japan, where Sega still held the trademark. This was part of the mess that DotEmu had to resolve in order for Bock's remake of the Dragon's Trap to use the Wonder Boy name. I theorized that CyberFront may be planning to remake the Wonder Boy games rather than emulating them and that appears to be the case. The interesting thing is they not only hold the Wonder Boy trademark (excluding Japan), but they also hold the trademark for the name of every game in the series. I am going to do some more digging and see what I can find out. I do have to say though, it is very exciting to see Wonder Boy get so much attention after so long. Wonder Boy fans have alot to look forward to with Monster Boy, Wonder Boy the Dragon's Trap and Wonder Boy Returns ... it's a bit like Wonder Boy overload, and no I'm not complaining ^_^ Edit: It seems to be coming at least to PC (Steam) and PS4 (Playstation Network). I don't think it is quite in the same league as the other 2 Wonder Boy games coming out, but it looks fun and at least there is some variation in the boss battles compared with the original. It's also good to finally find out why Cyberfront Korea acquired the trademark.

Gordman Joined: 21 Aug 2012 Posts: 363 Location: Berlin, Germany	Whoooo! Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2016 10:51 pm
	Thanks for the info Mr. Logbomber! The remake of the original looks pretty nice, glad to see Wonder Boy back after all the years (I hope so much that the same will happen with Alex Kidd someday). Is there a chance for Monster Boy to get the Wonder Boy name now? Maybe CyberFront Korea is a company that´s open for it, compared to Sega. If Wonder Boy Returns comes to the Wii U, I´ll get it instantly.

JomasterII Joined: 11 Sep 2016 Posts: 24	Posted: Sat Sep 24, 2016 9:56 am
JomasterII Joined: 11 Sep 2016 Posts: 24	Hmm... looks a bit like a low-budget Flash game, but I admit the artwork is very nice.

Logbomber Joined: 06 Apr 2009 Posts: 207	Posted: Sat Sep 24, 2016 12:30 pm
Logbomber Joined: 06 Apr 2009 Posts: 207	Yes it has a very 'mobile game' feel to it. I think the graphics are cute, but of course the new Monster Boy and Dragon's Trap games look considerably better. I tracked down the original official announcement by CyberFront Korea on gamespress.com, which can only be viewed with a games press account. The unedited announcement was mirrored on gamasutra.com and I have added the 6 screen shots from the press release here (as they were not mirrored on gamasutra). The press release wonderboyreturns_1.jpg (543.57 KB) Wonder Boy Returns 1 wonderboyreturns_2.jpg (556.94 KB) Wonder Boy Returns 2 wonderboyreturns_3.jpg (678.99 KB) Wonder Boy Returns 3 wonderboyreturns_4.jpg (664.55 KB) Wonder Boy Returns 4 wonderboyreturns_5.jpg (1.1 MB) Wonder Boy Returns 5 wonderboyreturns_6.jpg (617.38 KB) Wonder Boy Returns 6

JomasterII Joined: 11 Sep 2016 Posts: 24	Posted: Sat Sep 24, 2016 1:21 pm
JomasterII Joined: 11 Sep 2016 Posts: 24	At least the classic Wonder Boy formula is getting some love! Both Monster Boy and Dragon's Trap are following the Monster World style of gameplay, which I love, but the Wonder Boy/Adventure Island gameplay is a nice return to form. Just wish it had more animation and parallax scrolling.

ICEknight Joined: 03 Apr 2001 Posts: 601 Location: Asturias	Posted: Sat Sep 24, 2016 5:57 pm
	AKA "The one with terrible animation". A big shame, since it sounds good and looks nice in stills. They could zoom out the action a little, though.

Logbomber Joined: 06 Apr 2009 Posts: 207	Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2016 11:40 am
Logbomber Joined: 06 Apr 2009 Posts: 207	The game now has an official webpage along with a facebook page: http://cfk.kr/wbreturns/ https://www.facebook.com/wonderboyreturns/ It definitely isn't as good as the Dragon's Trap remake or Monster Boy, but it does look fun and I am looking forward to it. New areas and bosses ... I think it will be cool ^_^

tommy1983 Joined: 18 Dec 2009 Posts: 114 Location: Norway	Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2016 1:38 pm
	Wow! Over 20 years with no new Wonder Boy/Monster World games, and now three new games from three different developers at the same time! That's quite insane! And I agree the artwork looks cheaper than the two other games, but still looks like it could be a fun game.

Logbomber Joined: 06 Apr 2009 Posts: 207	Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2016 6:11 pm
Logbomber Joined: 06 Apr 2009 Posts: 207	tommy1983 wrote Wow! Over 20 years with no new Wonder Boy/Monster World games, and now three new games from three different developers at the same time! That's quite insane! Hehe, I certainly agree! I must say there is something very familiar about all of this, when you consider the Westone originals, the official Sega ports, the Sega licensed Activision ports and the Westone licensed Hudson ports, we are definitely back in familiar territory! The confusing history of Wonder Boy continues and I'm enjoying every second of it lol.

tommy1983 Joined: 18 Dec 2009 Posts: 114 Location: Norway	Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2016 8:50 am
	Logbomber wrote The confusing history of Wonder Boy continues and I'm enjoying every second of it lol. Agreed! In addition I read in the comments here http://maxteam01.blogspot.no/2015/09/mwrpg-development-update.html#comment-form that MaxTeam will finally release their unofficial Monster World RPG this year. I know they've said that several times before though, but let's hope this time it's true.

Kenneth Joined: 20 Dec 2004 Posts: 739 Location: Lyon, France	Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2016 9:06 pm
	At least it means they didn't vanish from earth's surface :p

Logbomber Joined: 06 Apr 2009 Posts: 207	Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2016 2:41 am
Logbomber Joined: 06 Apr 2009 Posts: 207	It has been released! Downloading now ^_^ http://store.steampowered.com/app/523810 Edit: I don't mind the graphics they are fun and colorful, but wow this game is really, really hard! Even harder than the arcade and master system versions. It was hard enough in 1986, I don't think it needed to be harder in 2016.

Logbomber Joined: 06 Apr 2009 Posts: 207	Posted: Thu Nov 24, 2016 2:44 am
Logbomber Joined: 06 Apr 2009 Posts: 207	A major update for the game is out, which they are calling version 1.0 and it currently has a 40% discount. The original release was incredibly frustrating, much harder than the arcade version in terms of difficulty and that's saying something! This new version has actually made the game playable, with improvements to various monsters such as the jumping frogs (which previously killed you 1 millisecond after they appeared), has more lives in 'Easy' and 'Normal' modes which were very needed, and has a pile of graphical changes ... I'm hesitant to say graphical improvements. Also Tina/Tanya is an unlockable character now, and she uses double boomerangs which is very cool. Version 1.0 overall is a significant improvement over what they originally released, and they seem to be listening to feedback from those of us who tortured ourselves playing the game. It's now worth a look. New video: Store page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/523810

ICEknight Joined: 03 Apr 2001 Posts: 601 Location: Asturias	Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2016 11:25 am
	Logbomber wrote and has a pile of graphical changes ... I'm hesitant to say graphical improvements. Such as...?

Logbomber Joined: 06 Apr 2009 Posts: 207	Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2016 6:06 pm
Logbomber Joined: 06 Apr 2009 Posts: 207	They have added a new background layer that uses parallax scrolling, which looks good in some levels and a bit average in others. They have added effects like moving water falls. There is more variation in the way the levels look. They changed some of the levels to look darker like night time, similar to the 4th (boss) level in each area of the original. You can also unlock and play as 'classic boy' which is a rip of the original arcade main sprite. It looks ... interesting. I think the idea was to appease the retro gamers who were flaming them. Lots of posts were deleted on the community hub in the first week after the initial release O_O I honestly think they are trying really hard here to make this a good game. Unfortunately it's never going to be a good game, but it is playable now. The original Wonder Boy was always going to be the hardest of the series to introduce to a new generation. They really needed to drop some of the old arcade design, and make a new modern version. Of course a game like the Dragon's Trap is much easier to introduce to a new generation because the game was designed for a home console, rather than a mid 80's arcade game. I loved that era, and have a huge amount of nostalgia for many of the games from back then, but game design did improve significantly as home consoles became the focus rather than the arcade.

vbt Joined: 21 May 2007 Posts: 161	Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2016 10:20 pm
vbt Joined: 21 May 2007 Posts: 161	Logbomber wrote I honestly think they are trying really hard here to make this a good game. Unfortunately it's never going to be a good game, but it is playable now. why it can't become a good game ? the addition of the original sprite is great as the new sprite looks really bad (not a nostalgia point of view).

Logbomber Joined: 06 Apr 2009 Posts: 207	Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2016 6:22 am
Logbomber Joined: 06 Apr 2009 Posts: 207	What I mean is it is not going to be overly successful. I am enjoying it for what it is, and as a huge Wonder Boy fan I want to like it, but it is only just 'OK', It's not a great game. But like I said it was always going to be challenging to bring the original Wonder Boy into the modern era, and I think this game hasn't quite done that effectively. The original sprite is interesting as an unlockable. 523810_screenshots_20161124220449_1.jpg (336.04 KB)

mateusbond Joined: 19 Aug 2006 Posts: 102 Location: Brazil	Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2016 2:29 pm
	Wow, I really hated the graphical "updates"... Some squares in the title screen and a huge wall of nothingness on the background of stage 1-1? And, no, the frog still doesn't behave like in the original. The first version played ok and looked good. This update plays ok and looks bad. Uninstalled.

Landale Joined: 22 Aug 2005 Posts: 45 Location: Sweden	Posted: Sun Nov 27, 2016 10:32 pm
Landale Joined: 22 Aug 2005 Posts: 45 Location: Sweden	The game seems to have low framerate, maybe it's just the video?

Aleste Joined: 20 Sep 2019 Posts: 33 Location: Italy	Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2021 5:54 pm
Aleste Joined: 20 Sep 2019 Posts: 33 Location: Italy	They did a "remix" of this, basically stripping out most of the new content to revert to a closer rendition of the arcade.... What's the general opinion of this remix around these parts?

Logbomber Joined: 06 Apr 2009 Posts: 207	Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2021 12:27 am
Logbomber Joined: 06 Apr 2009 Posts: 207	I finished both versions and really they are both about as good as each other, it's nice that the Remix is more like the original but the other version had new interesting bosses which were cool. Either game is not really that great but they do help if you need a Wonder Boy fix. By the way the non-remix version is still available on the Playstation store, but it was removed from Steam unless you had already purchased it.

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