Wonder Boy
Escape
1986
1–2 Players
Arcade
Arcade
Platform
Sega Enterprises
Not Rated
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Description
Just when things were going great with Tom-Tom and his girlfriend Tanya, some thug of a woodland king had to kidnap her and hide her away, and Tom-Tom doesn’t have a clue where. That’s why he has to explore deep dark forests, cross endless oceans, climb treacherous slopes, survive endless volcanoes, and even walk through clouds. But Tom-Tom will never be totally alone. You see, when he goes through the exotic locations, he has to come face to face with its inhabitants, like bees, spiders, snakes, coal-kids, frogs, bats, snails, coyotes, and octopuses, to name a few. The hatchet is Tom-Tom’s only line of defense against these menaces.
There are ten areas, each containing four rounds each, but the tenth area can’t be accessed unless Tom-Tom collects all the dolls during his rescue mission. During his journey, he can break open different eggs that will reveal hatchets, skateboards, mushrooms, milk, and even guardian angels. You can ride the skateboard through each round, as long as you don’t collide with an inhabitant. When you complete each round while still riding the skateboard, you’ll start the next round still riding it. As you progress through each round, your vitality will start to get low, but it can be increased by getting milk, mushrooms, potato chips, or fruit that appear everywhere you go. As well as the normal eggs, there are also speckled eggs that must be avoided, otherwise the God of Death will be released, and once he follows you, you’ll lose vitality much quickly. At the end of every fourth round, there is a king waiting to destroy you with his fireballs or lightning bolts.
There are also warp-gates, but you don’t find them, they find you. Warp-gates appear in rounds 1-4 of each area. If you happen to get one fruit, a special item will appear. These special items include handbags, wristwatches, a pair of shoes, a teddy bear, and a bottle of perfume. Another girl will appear and take you up to the clouds where the object is to collect as many hearts as you can without falling down or getting the item again. Once you have collected all the hearts, you can get the item to return to the surface, and more often than not, you’ll get further in the round.
Wonder Boy
Overview & History
Released by Escape (later known as Westone) and published by Sega in 1986, Wonder Boy is a vibrant, side-scrolling platformer that carved its own distinct identity in the arcade golden age. The storyline is refreshingly whimsical yet urgent: you control a caveboy named Tom-Tom (later rebranded as Wonder Boy) who must rescue his kidnapped girlfriend, Tanya, from the clutches of the evil king, Dr. Drak. While originally developed for arcades, its massive success spawned countless home ports and famously birthed Sega's iconic mascot, Alex Kidd, as well as Hudson Soft’s adapted clone, Adventure Island. The arcade original remains legendary for its blistering pace, bright tropical aesthetics, and a challenging score-chasing loop accompanied by Ryuichi Nishida's unforgettable, upbeat chiptune soundtrack.
Gameplay Features & Mechanics
Unlike standard platformers of its era, Wonder Boy introduces a relentless survival mechanic: a constantly draining vitality timer represented by a row of hearts at the top of the screen. Players must frantically rush forward through a variety of distinct zones—spanning prehistoric jungles, dark caves, and ocean shores—while collecting rolling pieces of fruit to replenish their dwindling life force. Tom-Tom can jump over perilous gaps, leap onto moving platforms, and dispatch aggressive cave-critters like snakes and bees using a trusty stone hatchet. Along the way, players can collect rare skateboard items that grant blistering speed at the cost of vulnerability to obstacles, grab milk bottles for bonus health, and locate hidden fairy eggs that unleash a temporary invincible pet named Tina.
Keyboard Controls
- Arrow Keys / D-Pad: Move
- Action Keys: Attack / Jump
- Enter: Start / Pause
Video
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★ 4.3 / 5 · 189 votes
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