Wonderboy III: The Dragon's Trap

[TWRMotorSport]

I know its not technicly my turn but bilthos one was a while ago and i have been prompted to post by other members so here we go...

Wonder Boy III: The Dragons Trap

Wonderboy has been turned into lizard-man and you have to find the salamander cross to turn back to your normal self

You start as lizard man and after the first mission where you have to escape the castle. When you have escaped you will be taken to the town. All of your missions willstart in the town where there is a church shop and a hospital amongst other things

After you defeat a dragon boss you change form. Each form has special abilities. You are able to climb walls with mouse-man, swim as pihrana man, and fly as hawk man. you can also be lion man.
Each character has different AP (attack power) DP (Defence Points) and CP (charm points)

As you defeat enimies you will gain money, items or weaponary.
you can then buy items or weapons with the money you gain. To select these items you press pause and then change items and use the button comos to attack or use an item. In the pause menu you have arm list, shield list, armour list and stone. also you may have keys.


On the game screen you have a life bar, medicine, gold and when fighting a boss, dragon HP .

There are about 25 different enimes that you can encounter each with differing abilites and vunrabilities to the huge arsenal of weaponary and items the game has to offer.

The game has millions of little places that are really difficult to find and each has either items or rare item shops that are really useful. I doubt anyone knows all of the hidy-holes around the game.

This is an all time classic and a really good game its very good as a pick-up-and-play because of the password save feature that restors all of your weapons money and armour(the code is in the church and changes every time you get anything new). and also as an in depth player for hours of fun

Overall an awesome game

TWR198

[rupert]

Great choice and i can't beleave we havent had this allready!

I had this game as a kid and thought it was amazing, such an epic game! I cant remember if i actually completed it but if I didnt I certainly got quite far in. I seem to remember reading a walkthrough to help me that I found in a magazine.

Have you seen Maxim's game maps for this game?

[Chunkchenko]

i had to read a walk through 2 or 3 years ago when i bought my sms from GS with WB 3. i dont think i completed it too i still have my save codes written on paper in the box lol

great choice of game one of my favourites so far.

[Stan]

That's fine dubs, no problem. Man, must play, but yet, feel like must beat second game before playing this...

[rupert]

Apr 23, 2008 23:20:41 GMT Stan said:

That's fine dubs, no problem. Man, must play, but yet, feel like must beat second game before playing this...

I really didnt enjoy Wonder Boy in Monster Land, i never had it as a kid so I think the problem is that III is so much better it makes Monster Land seem bad. Wonder Boy 1 is nice, it has a chram about it, it knows its just an all out straight platformer and it does it very well.

[grolt]

The Wonder Boy series is great because each one has it's own great strengths, and none are the same experience. The first is fast, frenzied arcade fun. The second relies a lot more on exploration - finding those hidden coins, exploring all the lands and upgrading your equipment to give you that extra edge. The third builds on that by relying more on shape shifting and using each character's powers to help open up new realms of the game. One has unlimited continues, another has none and the last relies on passwords - each one has it's own special difficulty. I really think you should give the second another shot, rupert, it's an amazing game too.

There's no question though, Wonder Boy III is a masterpiece. I can't believe it hasn't been covered before, either. I finished it in full last summer, after pages upon pages of scrawled passwords. I distinctly remember some expletives written along the way, something along the lines of "Mouse man sucks a giant..." But man, what fun.

I really praise Golden Axe Warrior for its detailed and well-thought out world, where uncovering a power or place in one land immediately impacts all the others. Wonder Boy III takes that to the more traditional platformer and in so doing gives it a depth to which virtually no other old-school side-scroller can even compare. It's a fun game right from the start with your most basic powers, but the beauty of the game reveals itself in layers, as each levels intricacies reveal themselves with each new character form. It's amazing.

Endings are always make or break for me with video games too, and while this one gets few points for originality (guess what happens to our knight and his princess), it really executes it in a lovely and even poignant fashion. Again, with this game it's all about execution - there is nothing that rivals it.

I love, love, love this game. Thanks for picking it and giving it, once again, the respect that's due.

[krooper13]

This is such a fantastic game, though I find it odd that SEGA have never tried to update the series. If this was a Zelda game it would be considered an all time classic.

[grolt]

Apr 25, 2008 0:38:17 GMT krooper13 said:

This is such a fantastic game, though I find it odd that SEGA have never tried to update the series. If this was a Zelda game it would be considered an all time classic.

Yeah, they should stop running Sonic into the ground and bring the Boy and the Kidd back in polygonal glory.

[Totoro]

The best game I've played on the SMS and a true classic. Everything about this game is great. The worlds are truely magical, well thought out and massive. The graphics and sound are amazing and it has so many hidden features.

You can keep your Sonic and even the great Alex Kidd couldn't produce a series as good as Wonder Boy.

This game IS a classic and another superb RPG which is the master system's strength as a system.

[Geishaboy]

I could try and describe how much I love this game, but really, its more than words

Good choice, I too cant believe this hasent been chosen before

[Jo Musashi]

I can still recall seeing this one at Toys r Us, playing on a TV display in a glass case...also that they never reduced the price of Ys from $64.99 for about 10 years

Yeah this is a great one...I also like the TurboGrafx clone, because the scrolling is smoother.

[psychofox]

One of the best games ever made on any platform.

Great pick

[Phil]

Actually this is a game I've never really played. Played the 2nd one a bit and the 4th one to death but not this one. Might give it go soon....

[rupert]

Here's Maxims game maps, I think it makes the game look quite small, feels massive when your half way through playing it

www.smspower.org/maxim/maps/wb3.html

[uffbulle]

Excellent choice. I thought this must've been picked before sometime but apparently not.

The game did feel rather small the last time I beat it. I remember it taking me months when I was a kid but now I can do it in a couple of days.

Has anyone tried the remake of the TG16 version for PC? I highly recommend it to WB3 veterans, it's super challenging and overall very well made.