Monster Boy and the cursed Kingdom coming Dec 4. Previews round-up thread

Dashful · Nov 1, 2017

Big news: The game is coming December 4 and getting a PS4 and Nintendo Switch physicoal release!

What is Monster Boy?

A legendary game series returns with an all-new adventure! Monster Boy is a colourful side-scrolling action adventure created in cooperation with Ryuichi Nishizawa, the creator of the Wonder Boy* Monster World* series (* Trademark of SEGA Corporation Japan). Monster Boy is being created to bring back the enjoyment of classic games that shine by simplicity. Pure, exciting gameplay; upbeat music and smooth graphics. You'll need to overcome huge bosses, find hidden passages, discover powerful equipment and use all your wits and skills to remove a powerful curse. Monster Boy can transform into 5 different creatures, each with their own skills and abilities. Take advantage of all the unique powers to open new paths and advance in an epic story. Monster Boy is a love letter to gaming from the 80's and 90's - will you join us and celebrate together with us?

It was also initially pitched on Kickstarter as a sequel to Flying Hamster II, but with the Monster World type of gameplay.

As time moved on, it changed its title and subtitle to settle on this.

It also went through multiple art style over time to finally end with the character sprites in the banner at the top and the following look for the environments.

Finally, here's the latest trailer they've put up back in August, still using the previous set of sprites.

And a gameplay video from gamescom 2017.

The game is expected in 2018 I believe at this point.

I liked keeping up to date on this game on that other site and since there doesn't seem to be a thread already, I went ahead and created one.

Curse me and turn me into a lizard if there was already one.

Flarin · Nov 1, 2017

I played this at PSX last year and really enjoyed it. Great art style too. Hoping it ends up great!

Dashful · Nov 1, 2017

Flarin said:
I played this at PSX last year and really enjoyed it. Great art style too. Hoping it ends up great!

Good to hear.

Dragon's Trap remake was a nice warm-up for this too. This one is going to be huge.

thomasmahler · Nov 1, 2017

Had the chance to play this a while with the developers and the hour or so I played is basically exactly what I wanted from a new Wonderboy in Monster World Sequel. Pretty sure this is gonna be good :)

Flarin · Nov 1, 2017

Kyolux said:
Good to hear.

Dragon's Trap remake was a nice warm-up for this too. This one is going to be huge.

Totally. I prefer the transformations and art style in this more. The frog was really fun. My favorite of what they had playable.

Stencil · Nov 3, 2017

Never played this series; so this one is a brand new entry? I wonder if it will stick to it's old-school roots, or if there will be any modern QoL or any general modern-gaming elements added.

Ronan_Berthelot · Nov 3, 2017

Stencil said:
Never played this series; so this one is a brand new entry? I wonder if it will stick to it's old-school roots, or if there will be any modern QoL or any general modern-gaming elements added.

Yes it's a new episode. Another studio as done an amazing WonderBoy 3 remake this year :

Tailzo · Nov 3, 2017

I loved the Wonderboy 3 remake, I'm keeping an eye on this :)

Phife Dawg · Nov 3, 2017

Looks great, new sprites look way better imo. Definetely on my radar.

Dashful · Nov 3, 2017

Nice to see people hyped for this. There's been years of work poured into it so far.

Hopefully it delivers.

Delstius · Nov 3, 2017

New transformation update.

I love the work they put into this. They reworked the visuals a lot on this project but each time it's a great improvement.

Oneself · Nov 3, 2017

Devs were on the previous forum, hopefully we'll see them here at some point.

Post Call Gaming · Nov 3, 2017

Not sure how I feel about the new character sprites. I feel like they've gone too far into making them more "realistic" whereas I appreciated how they looked before when they were more chubby.

However, I'm glad that they changed the name of the game - I remember at one point the word "Booze" was in the title - and it's shaping up nicely!

Deleted member 5148 · Nov 3, 2017

I'm super confused,
I thought this game was already out since I saw it posted in gaf like 4 months ago.

Also, I remember blonde kid from the arcade version, I don't remember him transforming into anything.
And Why am I thinking of adventure island and wonder boy?

jay · Nov 3, 2017

I will play this, but I also want someone to give Nishizawa a budget to make more games.

Dashful · Nov 3, 2017

Delstius said:
New transformation update.

I love the work they put into this. They reworked the visuals a lot on this project but each time it's a great improvement.

Yeah, agreed, will switch up the OP when I get home.

Oneself said:
Devs were on the previous forum, hopefully we'll see them here at some point.

I reached out to Thomas on their blog, he's aware that I created this thread. Hopefully he can get an account here quickly enough.

DMiz said:
Not sure how I feel about the new character sprites. I feel like they've gone too far into making them more "realistic" whereas I appreciated how they looked before when they were more chubby.

However, I'm glad that they changed the name of the game - I remember at one point the word "Booze" was in the title - and it's shaping up nicely!

I love the new look but I get your point. Best part though is that they're creating custom animations for each forms now.

Dragonzdogma said:
I'm super confused,
I thought this game was already out since I saw it posted in gaf like 4 months ago.

Also, I remember blonde kid from the arcade version, I don't remember him transforming into anything.
And Why am I thinking of adventure island and wonder boy?

There was a remake of dragon's trap released in spring. This one is a new title completely.

As for Wonder Boy, it's the same series, so yeah. Amd adventure island was a relicensed port of wonder boy originally.

ReyVGM · Nov 3, 2017

Looks nice.

CDX · Nov 3, 2017

I was never a huge fan of the series but I have played a few of the past games in this series and I enjoyed everyone I've played. So I'm looking forward to actually playing it.

The art in this looks so beautiful.

Stencil · Nov 3, 2017

Ronan_Berthelot said:
Yes it's a new episode. Another studio as done an amazing WonderBoy 3 remake this year :

Thanks for the info, though I've come this close to buying Dragon's Trap numerous times so I'm familiar ;)

Glad to see they're continuing to make these!

Thomas Kern · Nov 8, 2017

Hi Everyone, thanks a lot for the positive feedback and excitement about our Monster Boy project. I'm Thomas, executive producer of the game and will check this thread occasionally! ^_^

Thomas Kern · Nov 8, 2017

Stencil said:
Never played this series; so this one is a brand new entry? I wonder if it will stick to it's old-school roots, or if there will be any modern QoL or any general modern-gaming elements added.

It's a new game with many fresh ideas and QoL improvements that are expected from a modern game. Still, at its core it distills what made retro games so great. Easy to get into, super quick to start, great soundtrack and instant satisfaction. :)

Mega Man Zero · Nov 8, 2017

Thomas Kern said:
Hi Everyone, thanks a lot for the positive feedback and excitement about our Monster Boy project. I'm Thomas, executive producer of the game and will check this thread occasionally! ^_^

Good to see you made it over to this forum. I love all the redesigns so far.

Are the new designs and animations the final step? Are you guys nearing completion?

Are the gameplay and level designs done, or are those also getting more work done on them?

The ๖ۜBronx · Nov 8, 2017

Thomas Kern said:
Hi Everyone, thanks a lot for the positive feedback and excitement about our Monster Boy project. I'm Thomas, executive producer of the game and will check this thread occasionally! ^_^

Wow, awesome to see you here, you should look to get verified if you haven't already! Just wanted to say that I think what your team has done with the art style is fantastic. I'll be honest, I wasn't a fan when it first came out but through your constant iteration you've really nailed down a style that's cohesive and compelling. The game looks like a joy to play and I'll be picking it up for the Switch day one.

Phonomezer · Nov 8, 2017

Which platforms?

Thomas Kern · Nov 8, 2017

Thanks, MMZ! The development team is still having multiple tasks on top of the new animations. There's an ongoing process of 2 major level reworks and multiple touches on the whole game world. The team is doing a great job and the game offers a huge amount of variety with many great gameplay elements. I played and loved Mario Odyssey and when I went back to Monster Boy test sessions it still felt great and not dull so I'm confident we have a really good game & worth the wait. :)

Morgan J · Nov 8, 2017

will buy or insta-death!

Thomas Kern · Nov 8, 2017

The ๖ۜBronx said:
Wow, awesome to see you here, you should look to get verified if you haven't already! Just wanted to say that I think what your team has done with the art style is fantastic. I'll be honest, I wasn't a fan when it first came out but through your constant iteration you've really nailed down a style that's cohesive and compelling. The game looks like a joy to play and I'll be picking it up for the Switch day one.

Thank you very much! I'm glad you like the art style. It also plays great! :)

Thomas Kern · Nov 8, 2017

Phonomezer said:
Which platforms?

Monster Boy releases on Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 at the same time.

Phonomezer · Nov 8, 2017

Thomas Kern said:
Monster Boy releases on Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 at the same time.

Great, cheers!

The ๖ۜBronx · Nov 8, 2017

Thomas Kern said:
Thank you very much! I'm glad you like the art style. It also plays great! :)

Oh I have no doubt, I'm a designer (though not in the games industry sadly) so I tend to put a lot of stock in the visuals of things and it's exciting to have such a rich effort to look forward to in that area. Especially having seen the iteration on the design as time has gone on. I don't suppose there's any opportunity to see some of the concept work, either in-game, via an art-book or otherwise? Always love to see the processes that happen behind the hobby I enjoy.

TheBeardedOne · Nov 8, 2017

Neat art style. Interest piqued.

Thomas Kern · Nov 8, 2017

The ๖ۜBronx said:
Oh I have no doubt, I'm a designer (though not in the games industry sadly) so I tend to put a lot of stock in the visuals of things and it's exciting to have such a rich effort to look forward to in that area. Especially having seen the iteration on the design as time has gone on. I don't suppose there's any opportunity to see some of the concept work, either in-game, via an art-book or otherwise? Always love to see the processes that happen behind the hobby I enjoy.

Yes the visuals are indeed very important and to be honest, if someone would've shown us the current design when we started with the game we wouldn't have believed it's coming from ourselves :D The team has learned a lot during the long development phase. Concept work: We currently don't plan to include it in the game as it's already quite big and we need to be careful with the space requirements in case we go physical (fingers crossed) ;).

baudelinog · Nov 8, 2017

This should be on the Vita!

And a Master System downgrade version!!!!

The ๖ۜBronx · Nov 8, 2017

Thomas Kern said:
Yes the visuals are indeed very important and to be honest, if someone would've shown us the current design when we started with the game we wouldn't have believed it's coming from ourselves :D The team has learned a lot during the long development phase. Concept work: We currently don't plan to include it in the game as it's already quite big and we need to be careful with the cartridge space.

That must be a fantastic feeling, it's great to hear. Thanks for the info - no worries, just curious as it's always interesting to see!

Thomas Kern · Nov 8, 2017

The ๖ۜBronx said:
That must be a fantastic feeling, it's great to hear. Thanks for the info - no worries, just curious as it's always interesting to see!

Yes we may find one way or another to share all the development sketches and even early music pieces with our community. Loads of stuff was made during development :)

Thomas Kern · Nov 8, 2017

baudelinog said:
This should be on the Vita!

And a Master System downgrade version!!!!

You mean a demastered version of the game with Master System graphics ? :) Well, it wouldn't work to have a pixel 8-Bit representation of the game because the gameplay features are too advanced, but we have other surprises in the game :)
Unfortunately we can't make a VITA version because the game has specs that require much more RAM than the VITA has available.

The ๖ۜBronx · Nov 8, 2017

Thomas Kern said:
Yes we may find one way or another to share all the development sketches and even early music pieces with our community. Loads of stuff was made during development :)

That would be amazing to see – definitely keep us posted, but also be sure enjoy some well-earned rest after release! If I could just ask a couple more questions out of curiosity; what was one of the most enjoyable moments in development, and one of the most challenging? I don't stumble across the teams behind games I'm interested in often so excuse the barrage, and thank you again for the engagement.

Lugnutal · Nov 8, 2017

loved Dragon's trap. Can't wait for this. I played Lost in Monster World as a kid on the Genesis and to have these today really brings back the memories. Can't wait!

KatieKatsup · Nov 8, 2017

Loved the Wonder Boy remake and am super excited to get this one on launch! So glad it's also coming to Switch. I feel like the system is perfect for these games.

Deleted member 18807 · Nov 8, 2017

The WonderBoy 3 remake looks so much better, in aesthetic terms.... :/

Thomas Kern · Nov 8, 2017

The ๖ۜBronx said:
That would be amazing to see – definitely keep us posted, but also be sure enjoy some well-earned rest after release! If I could just ask a couple more questions out of curiosity; what was one of the most enjoyable moments in development, and one of the most challenging? I don't stumble across the teams behind games I'm interested in often so excuse the barrage, and thank you again for the engagement.

The most enjoyable moments are when all things come together and fit perfectly. Like a new gameplay idea that plays great and each media element just pushes that idea further - music, graphics, sound effect. Most challenging or perhaps awkward moment was early in development when we realized that we can't just make HD tilesets to create a nice looking HD game world. You really need to add an insane amount of details to make a world similar believable as a low-res pixel-based world. The reason is that pixel games are almost like books. A lot is happening in the brain, completing the artwork. This is not applicable when you deliver a sharp image. It immediately looks dull if certain details are missing. Its very challenging to make a good looking and dynamic HD Action Adventure.

The ๖ۜBronx · Nov 8, 2017

Thomas Kern said:
The most enjoyable moments are when all things come together and fit perfectly. Like a new gameplay idea that plays great and each media element just pushes that idea further - music, graphics, sound effect. Most challenging or perhaps awkward moment was early in development when we realized that we can't just make HD tilesets to create a nice looking HD game world. You really need to add an insane amount of details to make a world similar believable as a low-res pixel-based world. The reason is that pixel games are almost like books. A lot is happening in the brain, completing the artwork. This is not applicable when you deliver a sharp image. It immediately looks dull if certain details are missing. Its very challenging to make a good looking and dynamic HD Action Adventure.

That's a really interesting insight and one I'd not considered (but makes complete sense!). The book analogy is perfect, and I can totally see how low-res pixel-based worlds are aided by the users imagination relative to worlds that aim for high fidelity. I appreciate you taking the time to answer, and look forward to getting the game when it comes out and enjoying the experience you have all worked so hard on.

Wanderingstar0 · Nov 8, 2017

I'm pulling for this one! The remake showed how good the original was and looked gorgeous doing it. A high bar but the developer looks to be taking their time to get it right. Nice to see.

Thomas Kern · Nov 8, 2017

Drezus said:
The WonderBoy 3 remake looks so much better, in aesthetic terms.... :/

I think Wonder Boy 3 looks great but I also think that Monster Boy looks fantastic! :)

llexan said:
Loved the Wonder Boy remake and am super excited to get this one on launch! So glad it's also coming to Switch. I feel like the system is perfect for these games.

Thanks a lot! It will play beautifully on the Switch. We created an own custom game engine so we can make full use of the Switch Hardware.

Matesamo · Nov 8, 2017

For some reason I thought this and the remake were the same. Don't ask me why, lol. Anyways, this looks great and will be a day one purchase on Switch.

GhostTrick · Nov 8, 2017

Got to hand it to you guys, you really managed to nail the artstyle. The paper grain aesthetic really shines here whereas the game looked like a bit too shiny before. And yet it's still different from Wonder Boy 3 remake, which means Monster Boy has its own unique aesthetic. Props to you people.

If I could give one or two advice, it would be to allow, in the settings, a paper grain filter and/or a CRT filter.

Thomas Kern · Nov 8, 2017

GhostTrick said:
Got to hand it to you guys, you really managed to nail the artstyle. The paper grain aesthetic really shines here whereas the game looked like a bit too shiny before. And yet it's still different from Wonder Boy 3 remake, which means Monster Boy has its own unique aesthetic. Props to you people.

If I could give one or two advice, it would be to allow, in the settings, a paper grain filter and/or a CRT filter.

Thanks a lot! We're already experimenting with some filters ;)

Soapex · Nov 8, 2017

Ronan_Berthelot said:
Yes it's a new episode. Another studio as done an amazing WonderBoy 3 remake this year :

I played the original on the sega master system as a kid. It was a great game. Hopefully the remake is just as good.

Deleted member 22713 · Nov 8, 2017

Any idea what resolution the game will be in docked on the Switch?

Are there any plans for a PC release at all? Dragon's Trap remake came to GOG and Steam a couple of months after console release iirc.

Thomas Kern · Nov 8, 2017

PenSeph said:
Any idea what resolution the game will be in docked on the Switch?

Are there any plans for a PC release at all? Dragon's Trap remake came to GOG and Steam a couple of months after console release iirc.

The game will run 1080p/60fps in docked mode. Yes there are plans to release it on PC, too but at a later time.

Monster Boy and the cursed Kingdom coming Dec 4. Previews round-up thread

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