I LACK THE PATIENCE ANYMORE.

If you’re here to find out if the collection is worth $30 all I have to say to you is that it is a bundle of roms in a half decent emulator wrapped up in an uninteresting package. If you have ever emulated anything on a PC, you’ve likely had a similar experience and this game offers very little more than that outside of a rewind feature and you can decide if that is worth $30 to you. The gallery is depressing in how shallow it is, clearly the devs didn’t put much effort into it so I won’t bother with it. What I will put effort into calling out that for an incomplete collection of Wonder Boy titles, $30 is a bit much especially when the big missing title is The Dragon’s Trap, a direct sequel to Wonder Boy II and arguably the best game in the series. If you’re willing to miss out on the original Wonder Boy (which is just the skeleton that Adventure Island was based on and later improved on) there is a $10 bundle on Xbox called Sega Vintage Collection: Monster World that includes achievements, nicer game specific borders instead of a generic collection border, and new time trial modes because the collection was made by M2 and they almost always go above and beyond. It can be played on Xbox 360 and is backwards compatible on all current Xbox devices. Basically, don’t buy this collection. Please.

This is a cash in on the new found love the Wonder Boy series got after the successful Dragon’s Trap remake from Lizardcube and the wonderful successor to Wonder Boy, Monster Boy, from Game Atelier. I can say that because I once again return to ININ, Strictly Limited Games, their parent company United Games Entertainment, and to some extent every boutique game seller that works off of FOMO (fear of missing out). I previously covered some issues I had with them when I reviewed Space Invaders Invincible Collection but I chose to handle it a bit nicer than I felt because I didn’t know if I fully understood the scenario…

PLATFORMS: SWITCH, PS4
MSRP: $29.99
DON’T SUPPORT THIS GAME

I understand the scenario. United Games Entertainment are greedy fucking pigs and use FOMO tactics while holding beloved franchises hostage, selling neutered versions of game through their ININ label to stores worldwide while their Strictly Limited brand gets the complete versions sold at a premium in limited stock. Why can’t the complete Wonder Boy collection be sold in stores? There isn’t a good answer, at least not when this is a pattern of behavior and not a single on off event.

I am getting ahead of myself, I will return to this point.

This starts with Limited Run Games, arguably the first boutique physical publisher created so a studio could publish physical versions of their games. It expanded and then sort of snowballed into the beast it is now, arguably got bigger because of FOMO tactics which they have done work on trying to fix through open pre-orders, but it is what it is. Essentially at this point LRG is not a boutique publisher but just a publisher that doesn’t sell in most retail stores. I have my issues with LRG like saying they are about game preservation when that has been proven to be false quite a few times through their actual releases but overall, they are just a publisher and people are gonna have issues with them. I bring them up however because what they did was ignite a market of copycats such as Special Reserve, Signature Edition, iam8bit, Super Rare, etc. All of these companies likely have a multitude of their own issues, however one thing these companies rarely do is keep a game off of digital storefronts which is what Strictly Limited does.

Strictly Limited keeps their complete versions, such as Wonder Boy Anniversary Collection, and chops out a ton of content (in this case the various console/arcade ports of certain titles, The Dragon’s Trap, and Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair) and repackages it as Wonder Boy Collection for ININ to then put on the eShop and sell as if it were the complete product. Fuck you. I have zero tolerance for dubious behavior such as this. Especially when ININ, on their own website for the Wonder Boy Collection has the gall to write the following:

“Limited Editions – As the legendary game series is celebrating its 35th anniversary, our friends at Strictly Limited Games are preparing something very special! The extensive Wonder Boy Anniversary Collection (Nintendo Switch/PS4) in Limited and Collector’s Editions will include even more of the most iconic Wonder Boy games ever released.”

“Our friends at Strictly Limited Games…” They are not your friends. They are your sister company. I would go so far to say you are the SAME company. How dare you not disclose that fact to customers. I also bring this up to make it clear that this isn’t as if both companies refuse to acknowledge the existence of one another, so people can’t slag this off as ignorance of one hand not knowing what the other is doing. So if ININ can get these games shipped across the globe there’s zero reason why the complete versions of these games can’t make it to retail chains everywhere. It then baffles me further when the already ludicrous prices on Strictly Limited games are hit with horrible shipping prices because they have to come from the UK. It’s a way to shift costs onto customers. JUST RELEASE THE WHOLE GAME WORLDWIDE AND EVERYONE WILL BENEFIT.

The Space Invaders Collection had a messy release in Japan as well, but it was more complete before United Games Entertainment got a hold of and did what they do between Strictly Limited and ININ. They later released the complete version on eShop to get people to double dip which is a really scummy move. The Turrican collection is a completely different story because while ININ sold and released the smaller, incomplete Turrican bundle the complete games (split over two cartridges likely to increase profits) have still not gotten to customers because of a multitude of reasons including trying to make additions to games but lacking the understanding on how to do so. It’s a mess to say the least. Bubble Bobble was harder to see if it was split up or not but there were two distinct releases so once again, if anything, there’s a chance of getting some people to double dip. United Games also owns an online store for physical games where they say things like “Strictly Limited Games & Gamesrocket exclusive, 59.99€/ $64.99 each. Individually numbered. Limited to 1,200 copies worldwide.” How about mentioning you two are OWNED BY THE SAME PARENT COMPANY. It’s this big incestuous ouroboros where I can’t comprehend what the end goal is other than looking real bad once people (on bigger websites) start talking about how terrible this practice is.

I guess I should leave off with some sense of how to fix this…

Save big collector’s editions to Strictly Limited and let ININ handle the complete versions for release. Change the cover art or something between the two releases but maintain the same game on both carts. Even a full removal of the ININ physical release for a digital only release outside of Strictly Limited’s physical release would be welcomed if it meant I got to experience the full collection. Just be upfront too: explain that you’re the same company handling different release methods. If certain games come with a limited licensing deal be upfront with that information. Mistakes are going to happen, so why choose to make them.

Receipts bitch.

Review copy of game provided by publisher.

Good
  • Hey it’s Wonder Boy and if it’s literally the ONLY way you can play them they are mostly here
Bad
  • Missing Dragon’s Trap because it’s locked away on a limited, physical only release from the same company
1
Detestable
Written by
Anthony is the resident Canadian. He enjoys his chicken wings hot and drinks way too much Coca-Cola. His first game experience was on his father's Master System and he is a loyal SEGA fanboy at heart.