Slipgate Complex

 Wonder Boy Anniversary Collection (Switch)

Developed By: Bliss Brain

Published By: ININ Games

Date of Release: January 26, 2023

Price: $49.99

Well here we are, once again with Wonder Boy on the Switch. ININ games is up to their usual shenanigans, after claiming that their massive Anniversary Collection for Wonder Boy would be a limited retail only affair, they have gone and released it digitally after all the fans bought the subpar digital edition that lacked most of the content. It's the same situation as their Turrican collections. it's pretty much a lazy cash grab as usual.

Wonder Boy Anniversary Collection on the Nintendo Switch contains the most iconic entries in the series. The original Wonder Boy is a platforming title which will of course feel familiar to anyone who has played Adventure Island, as it is pretty much the same game. Wonder Boy in Monster Land was the second game, and it's very much an action RPG rather than a straight up platformer (it also has some of the most horrifying boxart on the Master System). The third title, Wonder Boy in Monster World, is actually the fifth title and is a metroidvania-lite action RPG. as for the fourth title in this collection? Monster World IV is the only game in this collection that doesn't star the titular Wonder boy, and instead stars a newcomer Asha. it's a full on metroidvania and arguably the best title in this collection. The other games are great too, but anyway.

There is definitely a lot of gameplay here in this set, and unfortunately you don't get much more than that. Each game is well emulated, however some of the graphics settings are a bit odd, with the last two games in the set having forced bilinear filtering with the CRT emulation that muddles the image. All that's really on offer here is a barebones gallery that has boxart and manuals and not much else. At least digital customers finally get the best games in the series, but this could have been the case from the beginning. Which raises the question: why are digital fans getting screwed here?

 Why bother releasing the first gimped digital collection to begin with other than to screw people over with a cash grab, forcing them to buy the full collection later on tog et the rest of the games with no upgrade path for suckers loyal fans who purchased the first release? It would have made more sense to have just one collection with all the games available at the beginning, but as ININ has proven in the past they are ALL about forcing people to double dip to line their pockets. So buy this if you REALLY want the extra games, but otherwise just flip ININ the bird and download an emulator. I know that I for one won't trust any of their claims of "physical exclusives" ever again.