Running, collecting fruit, throwing hammers.
All the ingredients you need for a simple yet fun game.
In terms of scale and sophistication, it isnt exactlyFallout 4.
Its bold, chunky graphics.
Wonder Boyfollowed the usual pattern of Japanese games in the 1980s.
Thereafter, things got really complicated, but well return to that topic later.
At any rate,Wonder Boyfollows the platformer format that madeSuper Mario Bros.a system-selling phenomenon for Nintendo.
Indeed, designer Ryuichi Nishizawa recently said thatWonder Boywas born out of his frustration with Nintendos seminal game.
Again, the game dangles a reward in front of you to see if youll take the risk.
The hidden areas, multiple paths, and all-round refinement ofSuper Mario Bros.are nowhere to be seen.
Admittedly,Wonder Boys a bit of a bewildering grab-bag visually.
In fact, its not clear what the overarching theme inWonder Boyreally is.
Tom Toms apparently a cave boy whose belle has been kidnapped by a villain named Drancon.
But if hes a cave boy, wheres the rest of the prehistoric theme?
But nevertheless, theres something about it: the relentless pace.
The pleasing rate at which Tom Tom can throw his seemingly inexhaustible supply of hammers.
(Thinking about it, where is he pulling those hammers from?
Probably best if we dont linger on that detail too long, either.)
The name change came about becauseWonder Boywas developed by a company called Escape, later called Westone.
Thereafter, theWonder Boyseries branched off in two different and unexpected directions.
The series arguably reached its peak just as it finished.
Meanwhile, theAdventure Islandseries carried on over at Hudson, with numerous sequels appearing on the NES and SNES.
Anyway,Wonder Boygot a lot of sequels, some of them very good, others rather less so.
But while it continued to evolve over its lifetime, the original still holds a simple, cheerful appeal.
