In 1988, Japanese developer Westone found itself at a crossroads. The company first saw success a few years prior with the release of Wonder Boy in arcades. Later, Hudson would license Wonder Boy's gameplay for use in its Adventure Island series, and Westone's arcade-born platformer soon began to generate a steady flow of easy money on consoles.
In the meantime, however, Westone had created a coin-op sequel to Wonder Boy -- Wonder Boy in Monster Land. Monster Land was a much more ambitious game than the primitive Wonder Boy, pairing RPG elements with more sophisticated platforming. With the original Wonder Boy's gameplay remaining popular in the Adventure Island series, however, Westone was faced with a difficult choice. Should the company continue to evolve the adventure elements of Monster Land for its future games, or should it revert to the simple but well-liked Wonder Boy formula?
In the end, Westone split off into non-linear, exploration-based platforming for the Monster World series. Monster Lair was the company's last attempt at traditional Wonder Boy-styled gameplay.
Released in arcades in 1988 as Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair (not to be confused with Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap on consoles, otherwise known as Dragon's Curse, otherwise known as...ah, forget it), today's TG-16 CD Virtual Console release plays like a reimagined Wonder Boy. At its heart, Monster Lair's gameplay boils down to hopping platforms, collecting fruit to keep your stamina meter charged up, and killing monsters before they kill you.
Unlike Wonder Boy, though, forced scrolling keeps the game moving at a consistent pace. Monster Lair also features a number of weapon pickups, ranging from missiles to spread shots. If this sounds like shoot'em-up material, the second half of each stage shouldn't come as much of surprise, as that's where the game turns into a full-blown horizontal shooter, complete with waves of enemies and huge bosses.
It feels weird and different, but it also feels very much like Wonder Boy and Adventure Island. If you're a fan of either game, Monster Lair won't disappoint. The TurboGrafx-16 CD version on the Virtual Console features the added bonus of overwrought electric guitar solos that play in the background of every stage (because it's a CD-ROM game from 1990, see), along with...no, actually, that's all that was added to the CD version. Otherwise, it's pretty much exactly the same as the arcade version of Monster Lair.
Also worth noting is that the TG-16 CD version only gives you three continues to complete the game, which may affect your enjoyment somewhat. The game goes on forever, too -- there's something like 15 stages in all -- so you'll be playing for a long time if you ever want to see the ending.
Monster Lair's worth your Points if you know what you're getting into. The platforming might be more simplistic than you'd like, the shooter sections feel really half-baked, and if you're expecting Metroid-style exploration along the lines of The Dynastic Hero, you won't find it here.
Still, it's got that early CD-ROM charm going for it. I like it, personally, but I don't think it's worth eight bucks.
You might disagree, though, especially after listening to the out-of-control guitar riffs in this video. Does Monster Lair provide eight dollars' worth of 1990s electric shred? You decide!
