Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom
A legendary game series returns with an all-new adventure and in stunning HD! Monster Boy is a colorful side-scrolling action adventure created in cooperation with Ryuichi Nishizawa, the creator of the famous Wonder Boy in Monster World series. Monster Boy is being created to bring back the enjoyment of the classic games that shine by simplicity. 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. Transform into 6 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. We put all our passion into Monster Boy to create a truly enjoyable love letter to gaming from the 80’s and 90’s – will you join us and celebrate together with us?
Game Discussion
Steam User 4
It's a very cool metroidvania game, great graphics and animation, cute story and characters. It plays wonderfully well on the Steam Deck too. I haven't finished though because I got tired of redoing a small section of a level which required fast reaction timing to get through with it. I would eventually have done it, but I really dislike redoing a thing over and over again so I quit, but this is a "me problem" not a game fault which is why my review is positive despite I dropped the game before the end (I think I was around two thirds of it).
Steam User 4
Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom is a stunning love letter to the Wonder Boy series, delivering a beautiful blend of modern gameplay mechanics and retro charm. For those of us who grew up with Wonder Boy in Monster Land and Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap, this game is like revisiting old friends—but with fresh twists and a gorgeous, hand-drawn art style that reimagines the whimsical world we remember.
The gameplay in Monster Boy is enriched by varied transformations that keep the puzzles and combat engaging, and each form (from a fire-breathing dragon to a powerful pig) brings unique abilities that perfectly capture the spirit of the original games. The levels are crafted with creativity, offering a wonderful mix of exploration, platforming, and puzzle-solving that remains challenging yet rewarding.
As for the soundtrack, it’s simply superb, capturing the heart of the series with compositions that feel both familiar and new. The music effortlessly combines the nostalgic tones of past games with fresh melodies that enrich each scene, making it one of the best soundtracks in recent platformers.
This isn’t just a tribute to the classics; it’s a game that stands on its own, taking the best of old-school charm and modern game design to deliver an experience that’s both nostalgic and thrilling. Whether you’re a longtime fan or new to the series, Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom is a must-play adventure that truly honors its legendary roots.
Steam User 2
The music is amazing. The transformation mechanic is addicting and marvelous too. I hope in the future a sequel of this game. Please add frog tranformation again
Steam User 2
Great game, lots of fun, great exploration and more challenging to complete than you would assume at the start, with lots of great design and music.
I love all the inspiration it took from Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap (and the remastered music) and turns it into a different game with its own charm, secrets and exploration. Overall the secret areas are fair and the games gives you enough help to completely explore the map (minus the main secret on the Village of Lupia's well which is a bit hard and had to use a guide for).
Loved the new versions of the music and the mix of transformations with their abilities.
One negative aspect is the platforms, you can see in the reviews quite a few people complain about the controls, but the real issue is the platforming, specifically the hitboxes on the edges of the platforms, you need to aim for the center of the platform and avoid the edges as much as possible, specially on small platforms or you will just fall through. It takes a bit to get used to it, its not too bad, but if you are used to really tight platforming games its a bit annoying.
Steam User 1
Great on Steam Deck.
This game is deceptively difficult and can become a little frustrating in the end. I enjoyed the game overall but put it down just before the final boss.
I had no desire to keep playing by the end but really would recommend the experience to metroidvania enjoyers. The gameplay is just really fun. Would love to see a game take this idea a few steps further.
Steam User 1
Despite the few issues that I have with it, I really do want to commend Game Atelier for how amazingly of a job they did with this game. The platforming is great and the transformation mechanics and the unique things that they bring to the table are stellar! The music and art direction is fantastic and the story is exactly what it needs to be. The game is great overall as it honors the past Wonder Boy games and what they established while seemingly also taking a couple gameplay elements from Wario platformers. However, the obnoxiously cryptic puzzles that plague the last third of the game along with the complete lack of replayability does hurt it a bit, as I feel they could've added a boss rush mode or some sort of challenge mode that would allow you to enjoy things without having to replay the entire game. This game is close to being perfect in my eyes, so I hope the devs look very closely at what people take issue with as their next attempt could absolutely knock it out of the park if they do it right!
Steam User 1
A worthy successor to the original "Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap", with better gameplay (more free and creative use of the shapeshifting) and of course better graphics. Note that this is a new game and is distinct from the WB3 remake.