Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap

For the 2017 remake, see Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap (2017).

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Master System JP EU
Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap
System(s): Sega Master System, Sega Game Gear, Virtual Console
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Westone M2
Peripherals supported: FM Sound Unit
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1
Official in-game languages: English 日本語
Release Date RRP Code US 1989-09 7026 EU 1989 7026 UK 1989 £27.9527.95 7026 SE (Rental) 19xx AU 1989 7026 KR 19xx JP 1992-03-27 ¥3,8003,800 G-3308 EU 1992 2422 UK 1992 £24.9924.99 2422 US ▼ 2009-11-09 500pts500 EU ▼ 2009-10-09 500pts500 AU ▼ 2009-10 500pts500
Non-Sega versions PC Engine

Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap, called Monster World II: Dragon no Wana (モンスターワールドII ドラゴンの罠) in Japan, is a direct sequel to Wonder Boy in Monster Land, and was developed by Westone and published by Sega for the Sega Master System in 1989.

The game should not be confused with Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair, which despite being made by the same people and carrying a similar title, focuses more on being a side-scrolling shoot-'em-up with platform segments.

Gameplay

The Dragon's Trap is a direct sequel to Wonder Boy in Monster Land, to the point where the introductory stage is a remixed version of the final round of Monster Land, complete with music and a fight with the main villain of the last game, the (robot) Dragon, Meka. The game begins with Wonder Boy being able to slay enemies and take damage with relative ease, but after beating Meka, he will be "cursed" and be forced to escape the castle as "Lizard-Man". Once this is done, Wonder Boy III proper will begin.

Gameplay is similar to Monster Land, however the "arcade" elements of the previous game, such as time limits and a linear progression through levels are dropped for a more open-ended world, with Wonder Boy visiting areas more than once. The objective is obtain all the parts of the "Salamander Cross" by beating "boss dragons", allowing Wonder Boy to return to his human form. As more pieces are collected, Wonder Boy will receive powers allowing him to travel to previously inaccessible parts of the map.

Like Monster Land, equipment and health can be upgraded along the way. Enemies drop coins, which can be used to purchase items from shops. The game is much larger than its predecessor, and now includes a password system to allow players to pick up where they left off.

Transformations

	Hu-Man
	Your human form.
	Lizard-Man
	Your first transformation. Besides long range attack and ability to crouch, it is the weakest form.
	Mouse-Man
	Diminutive size allows him to squeeze through small areas and climb on checkered blocks.
	Piranha-Man
	Can swim underwater.
	Lion-Man
	Swipes the sword in a 180 degrees arc towards the front and can break blocks around him. Strongest attack power.
	Hawk-Man
	Can fly around and reach places otherwise impossible to reach. Takes damage if touches water.

History

Legacy

An arguably better version (minus the Wonder Boy branding) exists in the form of Dragon's Curse, released for the TurboGrafX-16 in the years that followed. Confusingly this version of the game is known as Adventure Island in Japan, though bears little resemblance to the Adventure Island franchise, itself branding off from the original Wonder Boy game.

The Dragon's Trap was also brought to the Sega Game Gear in 1992. International releases of this port dropped the "III," calling it merely Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap (a prototype ROM with the original name circulates around the Internet).

Both the TurboGrafx-16's Dragon's Curse and Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap have been released on the Wii's Virtual Console service, despite being roughly the same game. Similar situations have occurred with Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair and Wonder Boy in Monster World.

The game was eventuallly remade by Lizardcube and published by DotEmu in collaboration with the original game designer Ryuichi Nishizawa. The game was released on April 18, 2017 on PlayStation 4. Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch and PC in June of that same year.

Versions

Localised names

Also known as

Language	Localised Name	English Translation
English	Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap	Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap
English (US)	Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap	Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap
Japanese	モンスターワールドII ドラゴンの罠	Monster World II: Dragon no Wana

Production credits

Game Gear version

Original Game

• Director: Ryuichi Nishizawa
• Programmer: Takanori Kurihara
• Designer: Hiromi Kurihara
• Sound Composer: Shinichi Sakamoto

Reprogrammed

• Direct/Program: Ryuichi Nishizawa
• Designer: Kanako Kohyama, Rieko Sumi
• Sound Composer: W.S.S. Sakamoto
• Assistant Director: Napalm Watanabe
• Presented by: Sega/Westone

• Japanese cover artist: Masanori Yoshihawa
• Japanese cover figure making: Hideo Nakajima

Source:

Sega TV Game Genga Gallery

Magazine articles

Main article: Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

SE advert

Print advert in Games Preview (DK) #8: "8/9 1989" (1989-xx-xx)

Print advert in Computer & Video Games (UK) #96: "November 1989" (1989-10-16)
also published in:

• ACE (UK) #26: "November 1989" (1989-10-xx)

Print advert in Computer & Video Games (UK) #97: "December 1989" (1989-11-16)
also published in:

• Computer & Video Games (UK) #98: "January 1990" (1989-12-16)

Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1992-03: "March 1992" (1992-02-08)

Print advert in Beep! MegaDrive (JP) #1992-04: "April 1992" (1992-03-07)

Print advert in Excalibur (CZ) #12 (1992-09-01)

Physical scans

Master System version

Sega Retro Average
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Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap <meta itemprop="ratingValue" content="">

Master System, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Master System, EU
Cover
Cart Manual

Master System, EU (Sega®)
Cover
Cart

Master System, EU (8 languages)
Cover

Master System, SE (Rental)
Cover

Master System, AU (Hotline sticker)
Cover
Cart Manual

Master System, AU (Hotline/NIAL stickers)
Cover
Cart Manual

Master System, AU (Not for rental/hotline stickers)
Cover

Master System, AU (OziSoft sticker)
Cover

Master System, AU (Blue Classics sticker)
Cover

Master System, AU (Classics; Silver)
Cover
Cart

Master System, KR
Cover
Cart

Game Gear version

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source

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Based on 0 review

Sega Retro Average
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Game Gear, JP
Cover
Cart Manual

Game Gear, EU
Cover
Cart Manual

Technical information

ROM dump status

System	Hash	Size	Build Date	Source	Comments
?	CRC32 679e1676 MD5 e7f86c049e4bd8b26844ff62bd067d57 SHA-1 99e73de2ffe5ea5d40998faec16504c226f4c1ba	256kB		Cartridge (EU/US)
?	CRC32 a74c97a7 MD5 0e8146c23d7947b4677b9b2ca12850e0 SHA-1 d98344a2c644ce9a0184e8f836271c038aa16a23	256kB		Cartridge (EU)
?	CRC32 ea89e0e7 MD5 8e6934c31498569302ff3119c2496043 SHA-1 5c4d25432512852f48f22280544bd7d034aab744	256kB		Cartridge (JP)

External links

• Nintendo catalogue pages: US, AU

References

NEC Retro has more information related to Dragon's Curse