FDG Entertainment has released a teaser video of Banjo Guy Ollie playing the Wonder Boy theme (on a banjo, of course) with a bunch of screenshots from a new game successor to the series. It’s to be called Monster Boy and the Wizard of Booze.
It’s actually a reworking of a game called Flying Hamster II by Game Atelier, which had a cancelled Kickstarter due to finding a publisher midway through the campaign. That publisher, it turns out, is FDG Entertainment. And this the direction they wanted to take the game.
So far, Monster Boy has been confirmed for PC and PlayStation 4, but more platforms have been teased. The game’s website reveals that Game Atelier and FDG Entertainment are working with Ryuichi Nishizawa, who was previously the founder ofWestone Bit Entertainment, and the creator of Wonder Boy and the Monster World series.
“[I]t can be considered as an official part of the series. Since the trademark is owned by SEGA we had to pick a different name,” writes Game Aterlier on its Kickstarter page.
The screenshots in the teaser video (the same ones in this article) reveal that Monster Boy will be a brightly colored 2D action platformer with a cartoon finish. The screens show the eponymous Monster Boy wielding a sword and shield, fighting against a crab in a seaside village, as well as a sunflower and large mosquitos in a forest. He can also be seen outside a blacksmiths in a gloomy town where, presumably, you’ll be able to get new equipment.
Before Sonic the Hedgehog happened, SEGA hoisted Wonder Boy as its platformer mascot during the ‘80s, less so into the ‘90s. There were five sequels to the first game with the last one, Monster World IV, being released in 1994. Since then, the skateboarding tyke has been obscured with the years, only being resurrected in ports for mobile and the Wii Virtual Console.
