Hello and welcome to my LP of Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap, the 1989 sequel to Wonder Boy in Monster Land! It's one of the better Master System games. I'm sure some people reading this will think I'm damning it with faint praise there, but us Sega kids know that what I'm saying is it's really quite good. Really quite damn good. The plan for this LP is I'll play the game through in the usual way, then show off some secrets afterwards, including WE5T 0NE 0000 000, the hidden boss doors, the Hades Armor glitch, and maybe the Tasmanian Sword glitch and associated sequence break. Let's kick off:
Kshhhhhhhh
V-whum.
Deh-Dah!
Good advice.
Here's the first difference from WBiML: A menu, and the option to continue! Let's see where I was up to:
Oh. Well, password save is better than nothing, I suppose. Passwords in this game are made up of numbers and letters (upper case only), with the letters I, O, Q, and S not being used (I assume so that you won't get them mixed up with 1, 0, and 5. If only all game password systems were so considerate!). At the moment I don't have any passwords, so I guess I'll have to go back:
Spooky! Readers of my previous LP might remember this plot from that game: WBIII starts shortly before the end of WBiML, with a simplified version of the last stage and a much easier version of the final boss. The Castlevania series would later steal this idea for Symphony of the Night, but you could argue that the theft is justified by WBIII more or less taking its plot from Castlevania II.
Here's our man! Note the green hair, another change from WBiML. Let's see what he can do.
Attack!
Jump!
Jump and attack!
Duck!
Duck and attack!
Yeah, he's quite a guy. Check out those stats:
Pretty sweet. I don't know how much you all know about numbers, but 255 is the highest number there is and that's how much attack power and how many defence points Wonder Boy has at the moment, thanks to his legendary gear. His charm points aren't quite as high (perhaps due to the green hair?), but they aren't relevant at this point in the game so that can be forgiven. Also note that he is a HU-MAN.
A monster! Gross!
I make quick work of the giant cobra. It disappears without dropping so much as a coin.
I fight another, again getting nothing for it.
An intersection! I'll dig out my map from WBiML. As I recall, the lower path is the way forward.
What.
Another change from Monster Land: The correct path here is the top one.
Unlike the giant cobras, cyclopses have a reaction sprite when you hit them. 2020 comment: incorrect! Not sure what I was thinking here, the GIF a couple images back clearly shows a cobra reaction sprite.
So, in Monster Land you had to go down at this juncture. Having learned my lesson from the first intersection, I go right instead.
Whoops. I'm back at the start.
This time I get it right. In WBiML, the correct path here is to the right.
I deal with the giant bats and head right, just like in WBiML.
Aww phooey. I'm back at the second room.
To my surprise, a cyclops drops a fire ball.
I head down, miss out on a heart, take the left and almost fall on a wandering bone (according to the manual. The name the game itself gives is wandering born).
Off to the right is a locked door. I can't open it.
To the left are some steps and the metallic core of the castle.
This door leads to the MEKA Dragon. An epic battle ensues (warning: there are a bunch of flashing colours in this .gif. I don't know if they're the sort to trigger photosensitive epilepsy, but be careful just in case):
Once again, there are some changes from Monster Land. For one, the dragon has put on some weight, despite all the running it does now. Also, instead of a dot that changes colour, you get a hit point counter in the top right corner. Just like in WBiML, you can only damage the dragon by hitting it in the head, but when you do this happens:
It's pretty sweet.
The dragon still throws fire, but it doesn't do a whole lot of damage. Before long:
Ka-Pow!
This little spirit dude appears at the end of the fight. It starts dropping coins, then swoops:
What you do here is jump over the thing and get some cash.
What I do here is forget which button jumps and which button attacks, and guess badly.
The screen flashes, and I'm transformed!
I step outside. I wish I could've collected that money that was just floating there, but I guess it was not to be. Let's check our stats in this new form:
Lizard-Man is a lot weaker than Hu-Man, even with the Legendary gear. Oh well. Let's see what he can do:
Jump!
Spit fire! That's pretty cool, actually.
Duck!
Duck and spit fire!
I am prepared to declare Lizard-Man a winner.
This enemy will always drop a large heart. Lizard-Man is suspicious, but his powers are useless against it.
Just like in Monster Land, it refills all your health. Unlike in ML, you don't get any points for it. This game doesn't have scoring.
We're back at the locked door, but still keyless.
Oh. There we go.
Thank goodness we can leave this terrible monster castle behind.
Just as soon as I complete this escape sequence. You might've noticed that the background has been flashing from black to red since I killed the dragon. Yeah, the place is falling apart.
Blocks fall from the ceiling for a while, then I reach a dead end. Game over, I guess?
Of course not. The falling blocks conveniently form a staircase and I make good my escape. Outside even the sky is changing colour.
Another locked door, and me without a key. Why even bother though? The place is falling apart. Obviously no one will ever enter there again.
I face some skeletons (in-game name: skelton). Unlike wandering bones, they have heads. I'm not sure if that makes them more or less creepy.
This master skelton has a hat. I've always thought it looks more like a nightcap.
I show 'im who's boss and clear out.
Just in time!
OK, now that we're finished with Wonder Boy II, time for number III to start for reals!
Hey! What happened to my health? And why does that church have a cleaver stuck to the door?
And why is the priest a smoking pig with an eyepatch? My guess is that WB took the cleaver off the door and threatened him with it to get him to relinquish this password. Anyway, if you'd like to continue the adventure at home, you can use this code to pick up where I left off! The game is readily available on virtual console (2020 comment: not anymore, sadly, but the very good remake is out on a variety of platforms). I don't recommend this code though: it's pretty much the second worst possible in the game (if I didn't have that fireball I picked up in the castle, that would be the worst). Play the extremely easy first level yourself and actually get some cash from the boss.
Anyway, I'll leave it there for today. Join me next time for the adventures of Lizard-Man!
Kshhhhhhhh
V-whum.
Deh-Dah!
Good advice.
Here's the first difference from WBiML: A menu, and the option to continue! Let's see where I was up to:
Oh. Well, password save is better than nothing, I suppose. Passwords in this game are made up of numbers and letters (upper case only), with the letters I, O, Q, and S not being used (I assume so that you won't get them mixed up with 1, 0, and 5. If only all game password systems were so considerate!). At the moment I don't have any passwords, so I guess I'll have to go back:
Spooky! Readers of my previous LP might remember this plot from that game: WBIII starts shortly before the end of WBiML, with a simplified version of the last stage and a much easier version of the final boss. The Castlevania series would later steal this idea for Symphony of the Night, but you could argue that the theft is justified by WBIII more or less taking its plot from Castlevania II.
Here's our man! Note the green hair, another change from WBiML. Let's see what he can do.
Attack!
Jump!
Jump and attack!
Duck!
Duck and attack!
Yeah, he's quite a guy. Check out those stats:
Pretty sweet. I don't know how much you all know about numbers, but 255 is the highest number there is and that's how much attack power and how many defence points Wonder Boy has at the moment, thanks to his legendary gear. His charm points aren't quite as high (perhaps due to the green hair?), but they aren't relevant at this point in the game so that can be forgiven. Also note that he is a HU-MAN.
A monster! Gross!
I make quick work of the giant cobra. It disappears without dropping so much as a coin.
I fight another, again getting nothing for it.
An intersection! I'll dig out my map from WBiML. As I recall, the lower path is the way forward.
What.
Another change from Monster Land: The correct path here is the top one.
Unlike the giant cobras, cyclopses have a reaction sprite when you hit them. 2020 comment: incorrect! Not sure what I was thinking here, the GIF a couple images back clearly shows a cobra reaction sprite.
So, in Monster Land you had to go down at this juncture. Having learned my lesson from the first intersection, I go right instead.
Whoops. I'm back at the start.
This time I get it right. In WBiML, the correct path here is to the right.
I deal with the giant bats and head right, just like in WBiML.
Aww phooey. I'm back at the second room.
To my surprise, a cyclops drops a fire ball.
I head down, miss out on a heart, take the left and almost fall on a wandering bone (according to the manual. The name the game itself gives is wandering born).
Off to the right is a locked door. I can't open it.
To the left are some steps and the metallic core of the castle.
This door leads to the MEKA Dragon. An epic battle ensues (warning: there are a bunch of flashing colours in this .gif. I don't know if they're the sort to trigger photosensitive epilepsy, but be careful just in case):
Once again, there are some changes from Monster Land. For one, the dragon has put on some weight, despite all the running it does now. Also, instead of a dot that changes colour, you get a hit point counter in the top right corner. Just like in WBiML, you can only damage the dragon by hitting it in the head, but when you do this happens:
It's pretty sweet.
The dragon still throws fire, but it doesn't do a whole lot of damage. Before long:
Ka-Pow!
This little spirit dude appears at the end of the fight. It starts dropping coins, then swoops:
What you do here is jump over the thing and get some cash.
What I do here is forget which button jumps and which button attacks, and guess badly.
The screen flashes, and I'm transformed!
I step outside. I wish I could've collected that money that was just floating there, but I guess it was not to be. Let's check our stats in this new form:
Lizard-Man is a lot weaker than Hu-Man, even with the Legendary gear. Oh well. Let's see what he can do:
Jump!
Spit fire! That's pretty cool, actually.
Duck!
Duck and spit fire!
I am prepared to declare Lizard-Man a winner.
This enemy will always drop a large heart. Lizard-Man is suspicious, but his powers are useless against it.
Just like in Monster Land, it refills all your health. Unlike in ML, you don't get any points for it. This game doesn't have scoring.
We're back at the locked door, but still keyless.
Oh. There we go.
Thank goodness we can leave this terrible monster castle behind.
Just as soon as I complete this escape sequence. You might've noticed that the background has been flashing from black to red since I killed the dragon. Yeah, the place is falling apart.
Blocks fall from the ceiling for a while, then I reach a dead end. Game over, I guess?
Of course not. The falling blocks conveniently form a staircase and I make good my escape. Outside even the sky is changing colour.
Another locked door, and me without a key. Why even bother though? The place is falling apart. Obviously no one will ever enter there again.
I face some skeletons (in-game name: skelton). Unlike wandering bones, they have heads. I'm not sure if that makes them more or less creepy.
This master skelton has a hat. I've always thought it looks more like a nightcap.
I show 'im who's boss and clear out.
Just in time!
OK, now that we're finished with Wonder Boy II, time for number III to start for reals!
Hey! What happened to my health? And why does that church have a cleaver stuck to the door?
And why is the priest a smoking pig with an eyepatch? My guess is that WB took the cleaver off the door and threatened him with it to get him to relinquish this password. Anyway, if you'd like to continue the adventure at home, you can use this code to pick up where I left off! The game is readily available on virtual console (2020 comment: not anymore, sadly, but the very good remake is out on a variety of platforms). I don't recommend this code though: it's pretty much the second worst possible in the game (if I didn't have that fireball I picked up in the castle, that would be the worst). Play the extremely easy first level yourself and actually get some cash from the boss.
Anyway, I'll leave it there for today. Join me next time for the adventures of Lizard-Man!
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