Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap

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Critics Recommend

Average Score

Total Reviews: 64

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Critics Recommend

Critic Reviews: 64

Critics Consensus

# Reviews: 64

A summary of the critical opinion for this game will be provided after release or a minimum of 15 reviews have been aggregated.

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Critic Reviews for Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap

Reviews

High Score - 100/100

Low Score - 60/100

Bronze TIER

56% of scored reviews fell within the range of 80 to 86 / 100

Jon Ryan (IGN)

7.1/10

“While its antiquated roots cause some minor frustration with unreliable hitboxes and unnecessary grinding, the foundational combat and exploration is still engaging and fun after 30 years. From long-time Wonder Boy fans to platformer enthusiasts who’ve never heard of it until now, you’ll likely be able to find whimsical fun and a neat bit of genre history in this charming adventure.”

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Ewen Hosie (Eurogamer)

Recommended

“The Dragon’s Trap’s HD sheen belies the simplistic gameplay of its era, but there’s undeniable charm in that simplicity.”

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Mike Williams (USgamer)

4/5 stars

“Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap is a faithful remaster of a classic that a lot of folks missed. Developer LizardCube has kept the original gameplay completely intact and laid some amazing 2D art and great remastered soundtrack over top of it. It’s a faithful preservation of a classic, retaining any of the gameplay pitfalls the original had, but it’s surprising how great Wonder Boy III is with some visual and aural polish.”

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Read the Reviews (64 total)

Outlet	Author	Score	Date	Quote	Read
Atomix	Emilio Reyes	85 / 100	04-27-2017	Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap is a dream come true for all the fans of the original Master System classic, Lizard Cube gave us a new standard on how to make classic games remakes.	Read review
CGMagazine	Jed Whitaker	8 / 10	04-18-2017	Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap not only introduces us to Wonder Girl, but adds beautifully reimagined hand drawn graphics, and the ability to seamlessly swap to the original game.	Read review
COGconnected	Stephan Adamus	73 / 100	04-18-2017	I'm normally the type of player who will for sure choose the 8 or 16-bit option, but the modern art and music in Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap were so good, that I played 95% of the game full modern.	Read review
Cubed3	Gabriel Jones	7 / 10	04-18-2017	Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap is a superb remake. It's a flawless port with various minor improvements sprinkled throughout. It's also drop-dead gorgeous. The original game's age is clearly shown when it comes to matters such as equipment and level design. Even with these issues, the quest still hits all of the right notes. It doesn't waste the player's time, nor does it ever get overly frustrating. Each leg of the adventure makes a lot happen with very little, thanks to smart enemy placement and rock solid fundamentals. Altogether, this journey is one that any generation can find joy in.	Read review
Destructoid	Kevin McClusky	8.5 / 10	04-17-2017	Even though the Master System was an also-ran next to the NES's dominance, there were some real gems created for it, and Wonder Boy 3 just might have been the best game released on the platform. Lizardcube and DotEmu have done a lot of work to bring The Dragon's Trap up to today's standards, and the new version plays as good as it looks. It's plain to see how much effort went into making this into the best possible version of a game that deserves to be a classic, and it's absolutely worth your time.	Read review
Digital Chumps	Alex Tudor	7 / 10	04-18-2017	Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap is a delightful trip down memory lane. The art for the characters and environments are absolutely astounding, but with a dated gameplay style, it's difficult to say this remake is fully realized. Yes, purists will love that The Dragon's Trap is a nearly 100% replica of the original with updated art, but I feel as though the love given to the art of the game should have been given to the gameplay as well.	Read review
Digitally Downloaded	Brad L.	4.5 / 5 stars	04-24-2017	I am so happy that The Dragon's Trap was rereleased in this way. Its visual style appeals to a whole new generation, and the love and attention given to the game as a whole will make fans of the 1989 original smile from ear to ear. From the hand-drawn visuals to the instrumental soundtrack, everything about The Dragon's Trap remake shows how remakes should be done. This isn't a mere cash-in for nostalgia's sake, this is a remake that has been targeted for all audience, a rare gem for sure.	Read review
DualShockers	Tomas Franzese	8.5 / 10	04-19-2017	Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap sets a new standard for what remakes should include, and I hope future ones can follow in these footsteps with projects that are just as passionate. While it can't escape a few of the original title's annoyances, it is still an engaging and enjoyable experience for 2D-platformer and series fans, and will most likely garner the franchise some new fans, who will come into contact with the series for the first time with this game like I did. I never owned the Sega Master System, but I am elated that I got to experience this all-but-forgotten gem.	Read review
Easy Allies	Ben Moore	3.5 / 5 stars	04-20-2017	Video Review	Read review
EGM	Mollie L Patterson	8 / 10	04-17-2017	1989's Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap could have felt way out of its league here in 2017, but the impressive job that LizardCube has done updating it for our modern era has really given it a second life. It's a great retro-meets-future gaming experience marred occasionally by elements that just don't work as well all these years later.	Read review
Eurogamer	Ewen Hosie	Recommended	04-18-2017	The Dragon's Trap's HD sheen belies the simplistic gameplay of its era, but there's undeniable charm in that simplicity.	Read review
Expansive	Ray Willmott	8 / 10	04-18-2017	Wonderboy The Dragon's Trap is one of my favourite experiences on Switch to date	Read review
Forbes	Erik Kain	9 / 10	04-18-2017	There's lots of little things about the game that are surprising. In Mario if you fall as you move across a level, you'll fall to your death. Here, however, you'll fall into a water level. It's just such a quirky, different game than many of its more famous counterparts.	Read review
Gameblog	Gianni Molinaro	8 / 10	04-18-2017	Lizardcube did an amazing job, showing so much love and care for this	Read review
GameGrin	Mark Brearley	8 / 10	04-18-2017	The Dragon's Trap: Wonder Boy is an excellent remake of a beloved classic. The enhanced visuals and superb audio really bring the game into the modern age complementing the excellent design of the original. Unfortunately, inherited design flaws such as some obscure puzzles, imprecise hit detection, and the lack of a hints system do hold the game back. However, these issues do not detract too much from the overall experience. This modern version of a classic game will appeal to a new generation of gamers and also remind longtime fans why they fell in love with the original.	Read review
GameMAG	ACE	7 / 10	05-07-2017	Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap is a great opportunity to look at one of the early games of the genre with a new hand-drawn graphics and a great soundtrack. If not for the lack of convenient maps and shortcuts next to the bosses and primitive by modern standards combat system, the game could claim the title of best remake of 2017.	Read review
Gameplanet	Gareth Talbot	9 / 10	05-02-2017	Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap is everything a remake should be: a thoroughly modern yet completely reverent update that preserves the soul of its inspiration for a new generation of gamers to enjoy.	Read review
GamePro	Mirco Kämpfer	74 / 100	04-18-2017	Technically great remake, that didn't age well in terms of playability. For fans of the genre and historically interested people nevertheless recommendable.	Read review
Gamers Heroes	Casey Scheld	6 / 10	04-18-2017	Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap is quite the looker, but the gameplay definitely shows its age. Fans of open-world platformers may enjoy scouring its world for secrets, but those weaned on modern-day titles may end up getting frustrated with its controls and design.	Read review
GameSpew	Brandon Langrock	8 / 10	04-29-2017	Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap sets the bar incredibly high for future recreations of classic games. Not only does it pay reverence to the source material in nearly every conceivable way, it also manages to modernise the original game through an astounding level of quality in presentation.	Read review
GameSpot	Heidi Kemps	8 / 10	04-19-2017	Short but sweet, this superb remake reintroduces an overlooked classic in style.	Read review
Gaming Nexus	Russell Archey	8.8 / 10	04-18-2017	Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap is a fun and challenging game that I'm glad to see got a remake complete with optional retro assets. For those who, like me, never had a Sega Master System back in the day, this is a great opportunity to check out the game as well as the series in general. Plus if you have your old passwords from the SMS version and never finished the game, now's your chance.	Read review
GamingTrend	Noah McGuire	65 / 100	04-18-2017	Though the graphics and soundtrack showcase the superb effort to update the original game for hardcore series fans, frustrating gameplay mechanics and archaic design keep Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap from rising above anything but average.	Read review
GearNuke	Ali Moin	7.5 / 10	04-21-2017	Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap is a well done remake of a classic action game. It allows the player to experience the game from the perspective of both the new art direction as well as the old one, making for an interesting experience.	Read review
Geeks Under Grace	Joe Morgan	8 / 10	04-18-2017	With this new rendition of Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap, it's easy to see why so many old-school fans loved this franchise. The world design and inventory systems are well designed and the remastered visuals and audio will have you salivating. It's a blast to discover and utilize the special skill of each animal form. The whole family will have a wonderful time with this classic. (The ability to swap visuals and audio to retro at the click of a button is pretty slick too.)	Read review
God is a Geek	Chris White	8 / 10	04-18-2017	It's still relevant now just as it was all those years ago, and getting a beautiful art style helps to keep Wonder Boy fresh and enjoyable.	Read review
Hardcore Gamer	Kyle LeClair	4 / 5 stars	04-17-2017	Despite carrying over a couple of issues from it's early Sega days, Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap is still a stellar platformer and metroidvania game.	Read review
Hey Poor Player	Francis DiPersio	3.5 / 5 stars	04-18-2017	. If you’re a fan of the original or just looking for a charming, retro-inspired adventure, Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap is a game you’ll want to experience at least once.	Read review
Hobby Consolas	Daniel Quesada	84 / 100	04-19-2017	It not only proves that the original was solid enough to endure modern expectations, but even refreshes it with style and affection. If you are a retro and platforming junkie, go get it.	Read review
IGN	Jon Ryan	7.1 / 10	04-18-2017	I had just as much fun during my six- or seven-hour playthrough of Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap as I have with many of its contemporary counterparts. While its antiquated roots cause some minor frustration with unreliable hitboxes and unnecessary grinding, the foundational combat and exploration is still engaging and fun after 30 years. From long-time Wonder Boy fans to platformer enthusiasts who've never heard of it until now, you'll likely be able to find whimsical fun and a neat bit of genre history in this charming adventure.	Read review
IGN Italy	Fabio Bortolotti	9 / 10	04-18-2017	Wonder Boy: The Dragons Trap is a shining example of a remake done right. This is both a love letter to the original and a way to bring in the present an undervalued gem.	Read review
JVL	L_sK	8 / 10	04-18-2017	Creating a remake, what a difficult mission ! On the one hand, you have to keep the core of the game intact, and in the other hand, you have to put it in the modern era. Lizarcube's team did it brilliantly by keeping the strengths of the original game almost in its entirety and by giving it a more pleasant aesthetic. With its old-school gameplay and its beautiful graphics, Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap is a nostalgic journey which could be enjoyed by the older players and the younger ones. At least, if losing and starting over isn't a problem for you.	Read review
Luis Alamilla	Luis Alamilla	7 / 10	04-18-2017	Video Review	Read review
Metro GameCentral	GameCentral	7 / 10	04-19-2017	One of the best retro remakes there's ever been, and although the gameplay sometimes shows its age the graphics are amongst the best of the year.	Read review
MonsterVine	Spencer Legacy	4 / 5 stars	04-18-2017	Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap should be used as a benchmark for future remakes of classic games.	Read review
New Game Network	Charlie Nicholson	83 / 100	04-25-2017	Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap doesn't always put enough distance between itself and its Master System roots to fully appeal as a modern platformer, but it's so brimming with charming, challenging discoveries that dated design choices don't infuriate anywhere near as often as they reward.	Read review
Niche Gamer	Michael Jordan	6.5 / 10	05-31-2017	Wonder Boy is a beautiful game built on the foundation of a classic, but that's just it, a foundation. Wonder Boy is almost a glorified painting at its core. It's beautiful and worth looking at, but won't be worth owning for most gamers. The core of the game is ok, but not amazing, and it never was. It could have been so much more with some work, but when they aimed to mirror the original 1 for 1, it limited all possibility for it to be something more.	Read review
Nintendo Life	Damien McFerran	8 / 10	04-17-2017	It's clear that the team at Lizardcube are massive fans of the original Wonder Boy III, and that affection translates into what is without a shadow of a doubt the definitive version of a game which has previously been ported to the Game Gear and PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16. The new visuals are sumptuous and the soundtrack	Read review
NintendoWorldReport	Neal Ronaghan	8 / 10	04-17-2017	But through all those old-school problems, The Dragon's Trap is still a strong and engaging Metroid-esque platformer that features a pleasant interconnected world filled with areas packed with secrets and grand old-fashioned platforming. It's well worth overcoming the outmoded aspects to experience a fresher take on a great game.	Read review
NZGamer	Hadyn Green	8 / 10	05-10-2017	Hadyn received a digital copy of Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap from DotEmu for review.	Read review
Paste Magazine	Dan Solberg	8 / 10	05-11-2017	Still, in a world of HD rehashing and the seemingly obligatory impulse to re-render old games with the latest in photorealistic graphics tech, it warms my heart to witness the stylistic human touch of Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap. It's a splendid homage, a playable history exercise, and an unexpected touchpoint for the expressive potential of hand-drawn animation in 2017.	Read review
Player2.net.au	Paul James	Recommended	05-26-2017	Dated in some respects, polished and refined to a bright sheen in others, Wonderboy still manages to engage the player thanks to a solid fundamental core of simplistic but challenging combat, and a vast landscape to explore.	Read review
PlayStation LifeStyle	Chandler Wood	8 / 10	04-18-2017	There are some inherent flaws that have been present for 28 years which don’t explain some of the more vague complexities, and without the nostalgia factor to highlight the classic, it could seem like just another indie metroidvania — albeit an exceptionally exquisite one — but Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap is a great example of a game made with the kind of passion that sometimes gets lost in the massive productions of modern gaming.	Read review
PlayStation Universe	Garri Bagdasarov	8.5 / 10	04-17-2017	Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Curse is simply wonderful. Not only does it keep the spirit of the original, it proves that you don't need to overthink and recreate a formula that works just as well in 2017 as it did in 1989. Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Curse is a must buy.	Read review
PS4Blog.net	Ceidz	8.5 / 10	12-12-2017	Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap is a great classic that has now gotten a new chance to shine. Even though this game is almost 30 years old, I was surprised by how well it holds up today.	Read review
Push Square	Stephen Tailby	7 / 10	04-17-2017	Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap is a ruthlessly faithful remake of the Master System classic that boasts a dramatic and beautiful audiovisual makeover. The game itself is still very enjoyable with a world map that's fun to work through and a lean Metroidvania structure that introduces new ideas right to the end. The controls are quite loose, which can lead to some frustration, but by and large this is a wonderful recreation that both fans and newcomers will enjoy.	Read review
Saudi Gamer	عصام الشهوان	8 / 10	04-26-2017	Considered to be a hidden gem that was ahead of its time, this edition is possibly the best remake of a retro game ever. A unique game with a special charm, one that is highly recommended for classic game fans and anyone looking for special experience and doesn't mind a bit of work to get there.	Read review
Slant Magazine	Jed Pressgrove	4 / 5 stars	04-16-2017	Lizardcube has both made The Dragon's Trap more vibrant and set a fascinating standard for game remakes.	Read review
SpazioGames	Domenico Musicò	8 / 10	04-18-2017	Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap is a remarkable remake of a classic from '89, with an oustanding artistic direction and a clever re-arrangement of the original OST.	Read review
TechnoBuffalo	Ron Duwell	4 / 5 stars	04-18-2017	Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap is a really solid retro release, and if you are new to the series, it could provide a decent starting point for your new retro adventures. If you're more into the HD graphics, it's a solid platformer that gets by on teasing your intuition and challenging players to find the best path forward.	Read review
TechRaptor	Joey Thurmond	8 / 10	04-18-2017	Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap is a monster of a remake. It gives a fairly forgotten gem a profound buff to let its inherent charm shine through even brighter with gorgeous artwork and music. Its animal-altering mechanic and hoards of enemies guarantee that you're in for a good, fun challenge, and while its platforming and boss fights may not have the same impact, it's no wonder why the developer saw Wonder Boy fit to return.	Read review
The Games Machine	Danilo Dellafrana	9 / 10	04-24-2017	Wonder Boy: Dragon’s Trap is a really short experience, but an amazing one. This is, hands down, the most genuine and touching tribute to one of the greatest classics. Play it, love it.	Read review
TheSixthAxis	Dominic Leighton	8 / 10	05-02-2017	Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap is a perfect example of a remake that's been done for reasons beyond simple material gain. Lizardcube have clearly put everything they have into making it unerringly respectful of the original – for good and bad – but this has all the look of a gorgeous modern indie platformer, while retaining the old-school gameplay that made it so memorable the first time around.	Read review
TheXboxHub	Ethan Palmer	4 / 5 stars	04-17-2017	Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap is an astonishingly beautiful game to both look at and play. Its story is as charming as ever and the gameplay doesn’t ever over-complicate itself. The large variety of stages have enough to keep things interesting, while the amount of creatures to play as, with their unique skills, and ability to change from modern to 8-bit graphics at the touch of a button is marvellous.	Read review
Thumbsticks	Tom Baines	5 / 5 stars	05-07-2017	Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap may be out of its time – it's rock hard, a little obtuse, and won't lead you by the hand – but benefits from a stylish and sensitive makeover that stays painstakingly true to the mechanically perfect original. The Dragon's Trap is a remarkable thing, then. Not only is it a retro remake that's actually not crap, it's as good as the day it first came out and even holds its own against modern releases.	Read review
TrueAchievements	Rebecca Smith	4 / 5 stars	05-01-2017	As an introduction to the Wonder Boy franchise, you can't go wrong here. As a blast from the past, it will hit all of the right buttons.	Read review
TrueGaming	عمر العمودي	7 / 10	04-20-2017	A remake that certainly deserves to be played by fans of classic titles bearing in mind that it still has its original design difficulties which in turn may be a nuisance to current generation gamers no doubt.	Read review
USgamer	Mike Williams	4 / 5 stars	04-18-2017	Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap is a faithful remaster of a classic that a lot of folks missed. Developer LizardCube has kept the original gameplay completely intact and laid some amazing 2D art and great remastered soundtrack over top of it. It's a faithful preservation of a classic, retaining any of the gameplay pitfalls the original had, but it's surprising how great Wonder Boy III is with some visual and aural polish.	Read review
VGChartz	Evan Norris	Recommended	04-20-2017	Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap sets the bar high for retro remakes. It represents the celebration and conservation of an unrecognized classic.	Read review
Video Chums	A.J. Maciejewski	7.8 / 10	04-21-2017	Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap may essentially be the same game as the original but its brand new graphics and sound make it worth checking out for existing fans and newcomers alike.	Read review
Wccftech	Kai Powell	8.2 / 10	04-19-2017	Much more than a fresh coat of paint, Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap is a new classic nearly thirty years in the making and truly a project of passion for Lizardcube.	Read review
Windows Central	Paul Acevedo	5 / 5 stars	04-26-2017	Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap is an absolutely perfect remake of a classic game that predates many of today's gamers. Lizardcube and DotEmu not only brought The Dragon's Trap back for a new generation to appreciate, they also lavished it with utterly incredible artwork and newly performed music.	Read review

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Game Info

Game Description / Storyline:

A modern version of cult classic Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap! A close collaboration between Lizardcube, DotEmu and legendary series creator Ryuichi Nishizawa, based on Westone Bit Entertainment’s original masterpiece.

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