Monster Lair review (vc-reviews.com)

[R.O.B.]

Monster Lair - TurboGrafx-16

Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair is a quite different game to most of the games in the Wonder Boy series. You play a green-haired dude who must attack the invaders that attempt to collect weapons and use them to destroy the land. The game starts out like a simple platform game, but it's just when ...

2 star(s)

Read the Monster Lair Virtual Console review

[ICEknight]

I can't believe the review gave this game just 2 stars... It's not like it gets more repetitive than, say, classics such as Bubble Bobble. This game is a re-invention of the Adventure Island concept, which adds more variety in weapons, 2 player support, shoot 'em up levels and some great boss fights.

The graphics are quite nice (despites the lack of parallax in this version), and it features some quite funny enemies, some of which you might recognize from previous and later Wonder Boy games if you've played them through. Also, from what I've been able to listen to, the remixed CD music it includes is quite similar to the excellent soundtrack from the arcade version, but with some arrangements (which you might like or not, depending on your tastes)... I just wish you could choose between remixed and original, because I just loved the arcade's music. Oh well.


I seriously recommend this game to any fan of classic arcade games, as well as Wonder Boy and Adventure Island fans. I know I'm gonna download it as soon as it hits the European Virtual Console.

[mixer152]

I bought this the other day seeing as I had the MegaDrive version as a kid and wanted to see how this one is compared to it. The music is topnotch stuff like the megadrive version, not sure which I prefer.

Single player can be quite a bore though

[ICEknight]

Just finished it for the second time since I downloaded it. I can't stress enough how much I love this game.

It's really a great game even in single player... I used to enjoy the arcade when I was little and this conversion does indeed feel much better than the MegaDrive port. They were able to fit all of the original levels, and the graphics and even the sound effects are truly faithful to the arcade.

Since its so long and difficult, here's a tip for those who are willing to give this action platformer/shooter a shot:
When you run out of continues, press Left, Right, Down, Up, hold Select and press Left. If you succeed in doing it before the GAME OVER music ends, you'll be rewarded with a bunch of continues... So it's kinda like a minigame to earn them.


It even has a hidden sound test, which is a nice touch.