Producer: Activision
Retail Price: £9.99

Wonder Boy's minuscule heart-throb Tina is kidnapped by the evil King. What can a boy do but rescue this distressed damsel?

King (King, you understand, not a king) holds the slight Tina in a far distant world separated from our hero by seven territories; each is divided into four lands and each of these is divided into four areas.

Wonder Boy passes through scenically scrolling woodlands, platforms suspended above seas and totem-pole alleys, and jumps over obstacles.

But should Wonder Boy lay a chubby cherubic limb upon an advancing mollusc, a killer frog or stumbling midget mannequin, then he shuffles one of his four mortal coils.

To help him in his unwholesome quest, Wonder Boy can gather helpful items by making like an omelette chef and cracking open the large eggs that occasionally lie upon his path. From these, useful objects such as skateboards, temporarily protective fairies and stone axes appear. The axes can lay low troublesome beasts, and earn Wonder Boy points.

But even Wonder Boy needs food, and so our little diapered dynamo collects nourishment by touching the carrots, apples and fruit bunches he finds upon the way. His vitality is replenished when he gets through a land, anyway.

When the last land of a territory is reached, a deranged ogre must be defeated before Wonder Boy can go on to the next territory and come a little closer to planting a kiss upon his treasured girl.

There is a two-player option.

COMMENTS

Control keys: O left, P right, Q to lump, any bottom-row key for other activities
Joysticks: Sinclair, Kempston
Use of colour: mono
Graphics: poor; badly-defined sprites
Sound: annoying tune on the 128
Skill levels: one

Wonder Boy is quite playable, but technically uninspiring. The scrolling is awful, and the tune, good at first, goes from bearable to boring to very annoying; it doesn't keep to a regular rhythm, but slows down noticeably when the screen scrolls. And the dull screens need colour. Disappointing, and poor value.
MIKE

The game itself, similar to Super Mario Brothers isn't bad - but the implementation is unprofessional and doesn't match recent Activision products. The action on the monochrome display can become confusing - the character outlines aren't bold enough to distinguish them from the background. Add to that the jerky character-scrolling, and you've got a product that won't excite anyone.
RICKY

Let's face it: the arcade game was pretty, but extremely tedious. And the cuteness has been lost in the transition to the merely monochrome Spectrum screen. The character-scrolling is jerky and the collision-detection is inaccurate: both mistakes could have been avoided. But despite the bad structure I found the concept of Wonder Boy fairly addictive, and the two-player option is competitive. It could have been good, but Wonder Boy is a sternutatory game.
PAUL

The Hit Squad
£2.99 re-release

What a classic arcade machine! I don't know what makes Wonderboy so appealing - probably the mixture of cartoon style characters, frustratingly addictive gameplay and platform layouts and evil snails!

The idea is to rescue your girlfriend Tina from the clutches of the evil King. He lives far away, so there's a lot of travelling to do before you reach her on foot or by zippy skateboard to get there double quick.

If you're used to modern super smooth scrolling and almost full colour sprites, Wonderboy is a shock. The smoothing jerks all over the place but doesn't spoil the game too much and graphics are monochrome, with a different colour for each level. They're nicely drawn though, and quite close to the arcade in all but size. All the nasties of the coinop are here including the slimy snails, spitting snakes and the frog that just sits there and croaks!

It s good fun and a joy to play on the 128K with no waiting between levels at all. The 48K has the horrid multi-load system. If you are after an addictive arcade adventure this is for you.

Activision
£9.99

Wonder Boy is another example of an old favourite, the running, jumping, standing-still game. Based on a hit arcade from Sega, it features the activities of our cute little hero as he tries to rescue his kidnapped girlfriend Tina. Sexist little program, huh?

Clad in a very fetching leopard-skin nappy, Wonder Boy has to run through the jungle grabbing fruit off the trees and avoiding snakes, killer bees, really strange plants and some not very nice chasms. The fruit scores points and the rest kill you so its important to know the difference! As usual, helpful objects just happen to be lying about (fell off the back of a safari, guv). These take the form of eggs - kick one and it'll fly through the air. When it breaks, a useful item pops out. There's a stone axe that can be thrown at things, knocking them out of the way, and a skateboard which you can run over snakes on (reminds me of that old country song "Dead skunk in the middle of the road..."). Best of all are the fairies, which give you immunity, as long as you don't do something stupid like jump into a bottomless chasm. Pressing fire, if you're moving, speeds things up a bit - you'll run faster or jump higher, which'll often be necessary if you're to grab the available food or avoid all the hazards.

Graphically Wonder Boy is nothing to beat the jungle drums about. Don't be fooled by the screenshots on the cassette inlay - look below the pix and you'll see, in very small letters 'Commodore version', On the Speccy there ain't no multi-coloured graphics - Wonder Boy is a lime green sprite against a gripping lime green background. The other big problem is the way the different levels have been set up. There are seven 'bizarre and dangerous territories', the insert says, each of four lands, which then break down further into four areas, each of which is made up of loads of screens. Trouble is, every land has to be loaded separately...

This really breaks up the flow of the game. There you are, charging through the jungle, clobbering the flora and fauna as you go, and all of a sudden you have to stop, load in the next level and start again. Fine if you have a disk version, but for everyone else it's a reef pain in the leopardskin-clad fundament.

So all in all, not the greatest example of addictive gameplay i've ever seen, though if you really feel like a scream in the jungle you could certainly do worse. If you like the original, then give it a whirl - otherwise leave the jungle to the monkeys.

BARGAIN BASEMENT

It's time to tiptoe down those creaky old stairs again. JONATHAN DAVIES leads the way...

Hit Squad
£2.99
Reviewer: Jonathan Davies

Without wishing to sound smug or anything, I'll quietly point out that I beat Level One of this on my first go without losing a life. Now, this could mean one of two things. Either a) I'm completely ace, or b) Wonderboy is a bit on the easy side, and maybe designed for the the 'younger player'. What do you reckon? Oh thanks.

Well anyway, Wonderboy is a fairly standard run-alon-avoiding-and-collecting-things stuff. The collectables are generally items of fruit, and the avoidables are things like killer snails and lethal flies. Eek! And possibly worst of all are the terrifying psycho-stones which lie there, menacingly, waiting for you to stumble against them and trip to your death. The scenery scrolls towards you (well, maybe 'lunges' would be a better description), and consists mainly of trees, platforms and water. At the end of it, somewhere, is Wonderboy's girlfriend Tina who needs rescuing.

There are a fair number of levels to get through and, all in all, it's pretty good fun. A bit cute, but fun. As it's so easy I didn't end up ripping out huge handfuls of hair (like I usually do with games like this). In fact, I almost began to enjoy myself at one point.

Label: Activision
Author: In-house
Price: £9.99
Memory: 48K/128K
Joystick: Kempston, Sinclair
Reviewer: Jerry Muir

Wonder isn't always that wonderful! Think of Wonderloaf, the blandest bread since sliced polystyrene. When you discover that Wonder Boy is yet another scrolling running, jumping and collecting game you may wonder whether you should part with your dough.

But, wonder of wonders, Wonder Boy isn't the blunder boy he might have been, because despite the hackneyed plot which has you rescuing yet another damsel in distress (called Tina!!!), this is one of those well balanced games that slowly seduces you, and every time you lose a life you'll feel you have to have just one more go.

To convert the original Sega arcade game to the Spectrum without the dreaded attribute clashes, Activision has chosen monochrome graphics, which are large and nicely animated with a smooth scroll, though there is a little flicker at times.

The main sprite is the Boy himself, of course, running from the left and collecting fruit and junk food as he goes to keep his strength up. It's a test of timing as obstacles, such as mounds of boulders and bonfires, roll in from the right but the game is carefully designed so that a leap will also often collect a banana or apple. This sort of neatness lets you build up a natural rhythm, at least on the first levels, so you don't have to break your stride.

Also scattered along the path are the amazing giant eggs. Breaking these open will reveal some sort of aid to Wonder's quest, such as the invaluable stone axe, which lets him fire at the giant frogs, snails and other nasties. There's also a skateboard, which speeds your hero's progress and even guardian fairies who provide temporary protection.

Eventually things get more difficult though. The continuous path is replaced by a number of platforms, though a little nerve and last-minute leaps will see you across these. But inevitably, Boy will collide with a wandering animal. This need not mean instant death - instead the objects collected will vanish until he's only got his life to lose.

Falling off the edge of a cliff doesn't give you a second chance though. Neither does running out of energy. But at least you're only sent back to the start of the current section, not the whole game.

Just when you think you've got Wonder Boy beaten it throws up some new surprise. You've learnt when to jump off the clouds that float up and down but when you'll suddenly find yourself on one that's gliding sideways, and if you don't stop running you'll slide over the edge. You'll also have to learn when to use the extended jump, achieved by pressing fire along with the relevant movement key.

Playing Wonder Boy is a process of learning what lies next and being prepared for it. That's why it's so seductive. As you die you realise your mistake and you're determined not to make the same slip next time, so back you go... But don't worry about exhausting the program too quickly because with seven territories of four lands, each of which consists of four areas, there's undoubtedly enough to keep you going for ages. 48K owners will have to load these individually, but 128ers can cram them all into the expanded memory.

At the end of each land - that's four areas remember - you'll get bonus points for the amount of energy that you have left, so don't waste your strength.

Wonder Boy is an uncomplicated game that's tricky to play, but easy to get into. It's got all the classic addictive features that make you pour your pennies into a coin-op's slot.

Label: Hit Squad
Price: £2.99
Reviewer: Garth Sumpter

The Wonder Boy Sega saga hits the small screen second time around in this latest addition to the Hit Squad label. Wonderboy must journey through seven territories each made up off four lands with four distinct areas. The reason? True girlie love. Yes, he's out to rescue his girlfriend Tina from the greasy clutches of the evil King.

And how does he do that you may well ask? Well, being blessed with the intelligence of the average stuffed beaver, he must rely upon his leaping ability to avoid killer frogs, bees and snakes. Along the way, refreshment is also provided by collecting the odd bit of exotic fruit or less than exotic MacBeefy's junk food, all of which help to keep his vitality up (fnak!) Once his vitality is spent (fnar) Wonder Boy is wasted and, being anything but wonderful, is worm fodder.

Wonder Boy's various enemies are best either dispatched or avoided - you can leap over them or use the alternative, and far more enjoyable route of smacking them around the head with a stone axe.

Each time Wonder Boy starts, whether from the start or after a nasty death, he must collect a weapon by jumping on an egg. Sounds a bit girlie does it? Well old WB's no Easter bunny 'cos inside the eggs are a stone axe, a skateboard which acts as a super speed up or... well... okay, so in one egg there's a fairy an it's more than a wee bit woofty but the good fairy (yeeeuck!) does give of WB protection from all the nasties for a space of time.

So, as old shortstuff scrolls his slightly Jerky way from left to right, he must avoid all the killer boulders, bonfires and bees not to mention (so why mention it? - Jim) snakes and the odd killer frog.

All told, Wonder Boy is okay. It's obviously the pre-runner of the later, (and much greater) Wonder Boy II (which was an added board to the original arcade game) and Super Wonder Boy in Monsterland, both of which have the added depth of bigger worlds and shops to buy weapons, potions and the like. Wonder Boy was good. But nowadays, it's not that good!

Hit Squad
Spectrum, C64, Amstrad £2.99

Another Sega coin-op, Wonder Boy was a kind of diaper-clad Super Mario Brothers without the depth or wit. Seven levels of scrolling jumpabout action separates Boy from his main squeeze, Tina, who has been captured by the evil King. Collect the fruits and the magic dolls, and hunt down the extra weapons (a stone mallet and a skateboard being two). Dodge the manic frogs (have you ever seen a manic frog?), the manic bees and the manic snakes, then do in the manic ogre at the end of the level. None of the conversions are particularly enjoyable, but it you were once a fan of the coin-op they might have some sentimental value.