It's like Zelda II, but cuter, shorter, and much more playable.
Judged as a pure sidescroller, the game leaves much to be desired. The titular Wonder Boy, referred to as "Shion" in this installment, is rather stiff in his animation and movement. At the game's outset, I immediately felt Mario withdrawl rearing it's ugly head as I bemoaned my avatar's lack of agility or a dedicated "run" button. The initial weapon, "Gradius", seems to have a reach of about four pixels and takes several strikes to put down the weakest of enemies. Throughout the first fifteen minutes or so of gameplay, I wondered if I had spent my Wii Points foolishly.
After traversing a grassy area peppered with tree-stump cottages and some surly soldiers guarding an impressive-looking walled city, I arrived in a forest hamlet infested with hostile ambulatory mushrooms. A quick survey of the opressed fairy townsfolk led me to their Queen, who pleaded for deliverance from these sinister fungi. At last, direction! I was even given a tiny fairy companion that occaisionally dropped health restores. However, the frailty of my current gear quickly became apparent as I found myself repeatedly assaulted by these goofy-looking toadstools. The gold bouncing up from their corpses was well-spent on armor upgrades in town, and soon I had launched my offensive on the 'shroom hideout. The first boss totally kicked my ass, but eventually I made short work of him with a purchased spear, earning the right to progress to the next area.
The RPG elements fit very nicely into the platforming action. Since you are constantly faced with increasingly more powerful enemies, you will be compelled to improve your attack, defense and movement speed with the costly equipment upgrades that are funded by your violent exploits. There are also spells, potions and other quest items that can be equipped to aid you on your travels. Combat is a bit frustrating at times due to your limited mobility and range of attack, but none of the run-of-the-mill enemies became insurmountable obstacles against my advancement. NPCs are everywhere, and while their dialogue is pretty bland, it is also straightforward and informative. The various helpful companions that tag along for certain portions are also a nice touch.
Generally, the game is pleasant to look at. The anime-styled character design is very good, and many locales are presented with a rich variety of vibrant colors. The dungeons are a bit plain, but this could simply be to provide visual contrast between the surface world and the cold corridors of an enemy stronghold. The bosses get nice big sprites, too. It's actually a bit suprising that the game looked this good on the Genesis back in the day.
The sound is adequate. Owing to the inherent limitations of the Genesis sound board, it's all standard FM Synth and as such does not contribute much to the experience. At least the music, which drones harmlessly in the background, is varied between locations.
Although I haven't finished it yet, the game seems to run a bit on the short side. I know that there are only six or seven boss characters to beat and I've already defeated two of them in about as many hours. Honestly, though, I don't think lengthening the game would make it much more enjoyable for me. I like to play in 15 to 30-minute increments, so as to mitigate any sense of repetition I might get from blowing straight through the game. Considering the nature of the gameplay, I think it's just about right.
All in all, I think games of this sort are a perfect fit for the Virtual Console. Wonder Boy in Monster World is engaging without being overly involved; it's a lighthearted take on sidescrolling RPGs. It's old enough to offer nostalgia to those who are familiar with it, but recent enough to not look or play like total ass. It's also a fairly obscure title (perhaps due to the horrific box art for the original Genesis cartridge) and can be a brand-new experience to people like myself who were too caught up in the Nintendo culture to pay heed to quality Genesis games when they were released. If you like RPGs, if you like platformers, or if you just want to play something a little off the beaten path, check out Wonder Boy in Monster World.