Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap
From Sega Retro
| Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap |
|---|
| System(s): Sega Master System, Sega Game Gear |
| Publisher: Sega |
| Developer: Westone |
| Genre: Action |
| Number of players: 1 |
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) or 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.
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 resemblence 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).
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 is similar to Monster Land, however the hero, Wonder Boy, finds himself cursed early on in the game and spends his time defeating other dragons to return to his human form. The game was highly received for its gameplay and music, and is often even said to be one of the greatest Master System games of all time. It was given the 1989 Game of the Year award by Electronic Gaming Monthly.
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. A similar situation occured with the sequel, Wonder Boy in Monster World.
Physical Scans
Master System Version
Game Gear Version
EU front cover
EU cart
JP front cover
| Games in the Wonder Boy Series | |
|---|---|
| Wonder Boy (1986) | Wonder Boy in Monster Land (1987) | Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair (1988) | Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap (1989) | Wonder Boy in Monster World (1991) | Monster World IV (1994) | Monster World Complete Collection (2007) | Sega Vintage Collection: Monster World (2012) | Arcade Archives Wonder Boy (2014) | Wonder Boy Returns (2016) | Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap (2017) | Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom (2018) | Wonder Boy Returns Remix (2019) | Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World (2021) | Wonder Boy Collection (2022) | Wonder Boy Anniversary Collection (2022) | |
 |
Monster World Complete Collection Original Sound Track (2007) |
 |
Wonder Boy V Monster World III Koushiki Guide Book (1991) |