Wonder Boy in Monster World -- All in One.

I had completed The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks and I found myself with a choice. I could either start something from the backlog, or wait four days and pick up either Darksiders or Bayonetta. I decided to wait and not start anything major. To fill those four days I looked to Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, and the Virtual Console for the perfect four day game to fill the gap. I decided on Wonder Boy in Monster Land for the SEGA Genesis via the Virtual Console on the Wii. Wonder Boy in Monster Land was developed by Westone and published by SEGA. In Japan the game is known as Wonder Boy V: Monster Land III and is an extended remake of Wonder Boy in Monster Land. I call it an extended remake as it expands the original game so considerably that it might as well be a new game entirely. Wonder Boy in Monster World is great fun. It's an action RPG with Metrodvania leanings before there even was such a thing as Metroidvania. The game was originally released in 1991. It has the typical large sprites and colorful graphics of that stage in the 16-bit era. The game also features some great music, both new and old. The remixes of Wonder Boy in Monster Land's tracks are wonderful. I originally rented Wonder Boy in Monster World back in 1991 and I always intended to purchase it but never got around to it. It's great that I was able to purchase a download version of it all these years later. I don't think I could have enjoyed replaying Wonder Boy in Monster World any more than I did over the last few days. The game is still as fun and charming as it originally was. And the final boss is still as freaking hard as it ever was. In fact the final boss of Wonder Boy in Monster World might be in the running for the hardest boss of the 16-bit generation. I'm giving Wonder Boy in Monster World a 9. I just love this series. Now if there was just some way to get the final game in the series in English and officially released over here...