The last five years have been good to the Wonder Boy property. Remakes of Wonder Boy and Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap arrived in 2016 and 2017, respectively, and a spiritual successor launched in 2018. Now, in 2021, we have a remake of Monster World IV called Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World. Thanks to new 2.5 cel-shaded graphics, remixed tunes, and some quality-of-life tweaks, it feels like a fresh experience. At the same time, however, it's also loyal to its source material. This loyalty brings with it both pros and cons.

Asha in Monster World follows the young girl Asha, a would-be warrior who leaves her village looking for adventure. She ends up in Rapadanga, the capital city. There she meets Queen Praprill XIII, who grants Asha the title of warrior and requests that she search Monster World for four missing protector spirits. Soon the young adventurer sets off for several far-flung areas of the land, each hiding a missing spirit. By her side is her trusty blue Pepelogoo, a floating, winged Kirby-esque sidekick who's both faithful companion and puzzle-solving multi-tool.

While the story in Asha in Monster World is pretty standard fare, it has some entertaining flourishes. The townspeople in Rapadanga have interesting personalities, which change throughout the game as things go sideways in the capital. Pepelogoo is a charming sidekick, one you'll no doubt grow attached to throughout the adventure. The game features an eye-catching opening crawl, in the style of Flash Gordon and Star Wars. Finally, the medieval Arabian setting is a fun departure for the series.

Indeed, Asha in Monster World, true to the 1994 original, departs from the Wonder Boy series in several ways. It's certainly more linear than most, and its role-playing elements have been pared back. In general, the game leans more toward platform-adventure than action-RPG.

That's not a bad thing per se. In fact, developer Monkey Craft (and Westone before it) introduces some enjoyable combat and platforming scenarios to justify the changing of genres. Asha can attack forward, slice upward, and thrust downward, in addition to deploying a shield and unleashing a charged magical attack. When these fighting mechanics meet with the game's varied assortment of monsters, the results are impressive — particularly near the end of the game with the introduction of aggressive, shield-bearing enemies. The action isn't quite as gripping or tactical as, say, Zelda II, but it's in the same ballpark.

Platforming is solid too, in large part due to Pepelogoo, who enables a double jump and a floating descent. Moreover, the game's four main dungeons offer up plenty of opportunities to put these skills to the test. Asha must leap over pools of lava, float down rivers surrounded by electrified hazards, skate over icy surfaces, ride a magical carpet among the clouds and, in the final and best dungeon, leap across moving conveyor belts and bounce off Sonic-esque bounce pads.

This final dungeon, a casino-themed sky fortress, is the best of the bunch. Regrettably, not every dungeon in the game is as enjoyable or as engrossing. Perhaps to make up for the lack of a significant overworld — Asha travels to each dungeon directly via a warp gate in Rapadanga — the game's dungeons are quite long; overlong, in fact. They tend to repeat the same situations and backgrounds again and again, leading to a feeling of monotony. The worse offender is the Ice Pyramid. It consists mostly of long, empty hallways. 

Rapadanga, the game's hub, is just the opposite. It's densely packed with NPCs, shopkeepers, and secrets. In the city you can spend accumulated gold to buy upgraded swords, shields, and bracelets, which will make future dungeon dives less taxing (make sure to invest in an elemental shield before each trip to a dungeon; 33% of the time, magical attacks of the same element will do no damage). You can also take on side-quests, receive letters from your family back home, and search for hidden treasure chests. Best of all, Rapadanga is multi-layered, meaning you can travel into the background to find secrets. 

This multi-directional movement system is made possible by the game's 2.D graphical framework which, along with its cel-shaded aesthetic, was met with some fierce resistance from fans upon its initial reveal last year. The good news: the game looks fine. Better than fine, in fact. Is it as glorious as Ben Fiquet's hand-drawn graphics in Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap? No, but what is? Overall, Asha in Monster World enjoys a charming, colorful visual style that feels like its own thing but also honors the Mega Drive title. It doesn't hurt that original Westone designer Maki Ōzora assisted Monkey Craft in character design.

In the same way, Westone composer Shinichi Sakamoto helped remix the game's music, based closely on the 1994 title. This is still the same basic soundtrack, but richer, deeper, and rounder in sound. It's definitely a highlight. Speaking of sound, Asha in Monster World features voice-over work, a first for the series. Japanese actress Ai Fairouz lends her voice to Asha, Praprill XIII, and Pepelogoo. This gives the game a little extra personality, especially in animated cut-scenes. One small but annoying thing worth noting: the English text suffers from a few typos.

Cel-shaded graphics, remixed music, and voice acting aren't the only novelties in this remake. Monkey Craft and director Ryuichi Nishizawa, who created the Wonder Boy IP, have added a few quality-of-life features, including the option to save at any point (outside of boss battles) and the ability to revisit completed dungeons. There's also an easy mode, although normal mode shouldn't pose a problem for seasoned players.

Missing from the proceedings is an unlockable hard mode or some kind of new game plus. This isn't mandatory, of course, but it would definitely help round out the package. You see, Asha in Monster World, like Monster World IV before it, is a brief experience. You could finish the game in 4-5 hours.

A hard mode would also make the game more challenging — something it really needs. Since this title offers all kinds of powerful gear and healing items, plus plenty of opportunities to increase your heart count, and the added ability to save almost everywhere, it's rarely demanding. This is particularly true for boss battles. Asha in Monster World has many boss fights, sometimes 2-3 per dungeon — which is great, but they're often pushovers. You can ignore the patterns and skip the attack openings, and just spam your sword and rely on healing potions to make it through. 

Compared to recent Wonder Boy offerings, Asha in Monster World is a bit of a letdown. Judged on its own merits, though, it's a decent entry in the franchise. It boasts some engaging platforming, puzzling, and combat situations, and it benefits from an expanded hub area, rearranged music, and several QoL features. Nishizawa and company could have updated a few old-school level designs and mechanics to improve the experience, but chose instead to preserve the identity of the original. The result is a remake that faithfully sticks to the established formula, warts and all.