Console: Turbografx-16
Cost: 600 Wii Points
You may not be aware, but this game was originally released as Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap for the Sega Master System, and was considered by some to be the greatest game for the console. Like most of the other games in the Wonder Boy series, it was ported to the Turbografx-16 under a different name, due to an odd agreement between Sega and developers Westone, where Sega kept the Wonder Boy brand and characters and Westone owned the code. To further complicate things, it was also released under different names in Japan and Brazil.
Anyway, the game picks up close to where Wonder Boy in Monster Land left off- or more precisely, it overlaps that game. The first section of the game is actually a simplified version of the final section of Monster Land. The hero locates and does battle with the Mecha Dragon. However, upon defeating the boss he finds himself cursed, and is turned into a dragon. The hero must escape Mecha Dragon's castle, which is starting to collapse (he was a "load-bearing boss"). Now his only hope of returning to normal is to find the Salamander Cross, which can break the curse.
Similar to Zelda II, Dragon's Curse is a side-scrolling action/adventure with RPG and platformer elements. Although it lacks an experience system, there are shops where new and more powerful equipment can be bought (money is obtained by killing enemies), and you can find upgrades to boost your maximum health. The game is structured non-linearly like Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and the Metroid series, so you can go anywhere as long as you have the ability to do so, and you'll end up doing plenty of backtracking. As you progress through the game you take on other dragons and acquire new transformations, each with their own unique abilities which enable them to reach places you could not previously. For example, as a pirahna you are able to swim, and in hawk form you can fly.
There's plenty of different environments for you to explore and secrets to find, and there's a good variety of enemies which require different tactics to defeat. The fact that the enemies respawn after a short while may annoy some, but if they didn't there wouldn't be much of a challenge, because (as mentioned previously) a lot of time is spent backtracking. However, one of the game's biggest flaws is the level design. While some areas are well laid out and look quite interesting, often you'll find yourself simply going straight forward in one direction with the same type of enemy repeatedly appearing to attack you. Another problem is the audio, as some tracks and sound effects can get annoying after a while. On the plus side, the graphics are not bad for a game of its age.
This is a game that is worth considering if you're a fan of series like Zelda and Metroid. Of course, it comes recommended for fans of the Wonder Boy franchise, especially since Master System games are currently not available on the Virtual Console. There's quite a few hour's worth of gameplay, so it's not a bad way to spend 600 Wii Points.
Graphics: 7/10
Sound: 5/10
Gameplay: 7/10
Lifespan: 8/10
Rating: 7/10
