Just so you're warned, this is going to be a small entry. Let's get to it shall we? 

 

 

May has been quite a productive month for me; from my car to my home I’ve done quite a lot. Wanna see?

1)       My cleared up my crappy room! Well it’s no longer crappy!  I have so much dust, junk, paper work and talcum powder around the room it isn’t funny. I’m bad at throwing finance paper away as I always think; “Oh, what if I need to keep it?” So they tend to pile up until they eat away at my bedroom floor. I’m terrible at dusting; I also use talcum powder to dry myself (which gets EVERYWHERE! Seriously. It’s deadly stuff). So yeah my room was a tip, but with mum we did a major clear up! No more dust/talcum powder, less crap, I now have a small flat screen TV in my room with a mini bookcase underneath to hold my DVDs. I haven’t cleared my financial documents yet but that’s the next step I plan to take in a few weeks.

2)       I’ve now got a savings account! Nothing major but now I feel like I’m doing an adult thing and savings some of my hard earned cash instead of just spending it.

3)       My right indicator bulb in my car had been off for weeks, since the beginning of April to be precise. I FINALLY got a new bulb about mid-May; I am now safe on the road again! Yay! Now all I need is diesel, which thankfully is cheap…wait a minute…doh!  

 

Almost immediately after I posted my last entry; I saw Katy! We went to the ICA College in London on 28^th April to see the Japanese film; Death Note, based upon the manga of the same name. I finished the manga recently (see my LJ entry on my thoughts on the entry). Basically I loved it! The whole manga is a masterpiece! The film was highly enjoyable, didn’t quite capture the essence of what makes Death Note so addicting but was very well done. The ICA College plan to show the 2^nd Death Note film in the summer, I’m sure Katy and I will be among the first to purchase a ticket! I had a good evening with her, not just because of the film and company but it was the first time I’ve stayed out so late since my salmonella poisoning. I didn’t get home till midnight which for me is a big deal!

 

Andy came back for 4 days on 14^th May. I saw him after work on Friday evening; we had the house to ourselves so it was nice just to be catch up in our own little space. The following day I had several chores to complete so we didn’t meet up until 2pm, again though we had the house to ourselves for several hours. It was probably the first time in ages that Andy and I were alone in my room let alone in my house! It also gave me the chance to show off our new furniture and have a laugh without interruptions from mum and Daniel (no offence to them!). Later on I picked Daniel up from Brian’s house and had to make dinner for the family (as mum was in London the entire day). I cooked 3 meals and 2 of them turned out ok! Daniel had spaghetti hoops and meatballs (not taxing but he seemed happy), Mum had lamb chops with chips and hoops (this one went a bit pear shaped, just the lamb really as it wasn’t cooked all the way through even though I grilled it at least 10 minutes longer than the suggested time on the pack) she ate what she could and I was a bit disappointed but now I know to put it in the oven! And last but not least, Chicken in white wine sauce with chips and vegetables (this most successful, as I didn’t poison anybody!).

He went back on the Sunday but 2 weeks later he came back for more! I saw him Saturday evening for dinner, we drove to Bluewater and had TGI’s (which, to me, has gone downhill. The menu used to be massive, now it’s all Jack Daniels’ this and Jack Daniels that). We then drove back home for some private time (fun all round!). The following day he came round for dinner, I wasn’t feeling my best that day but we still had laughs nether-the-less.  

We also had another catch up 2 weeks later; we went out to dinner at Bluewater on Saturday evening, which made a nice change since we usually stay in doors or stick around the Sidcup area but since all the stabbings, oddly enough, Sidcup isn’t as appealing as it used to be.

The following day Andy came round for dinner again (yes, we are trying to fatten him up! Hmm!), so not much went on apart from good food and company. Then on Thursday I went round his house after work; something I haven’t done in a while considering that previously I was too tired to do anything else after a long day at work. We had a laugh, a nice dinner, and although I didn’t stick around for too long, it was enough to keep us smiling until he returns for good on 18^th June!

 

My next visit was from George, a friend I hadn’t seen since Daniel’s 16^th birthday party – which then I wasn’t feeling 100% at and of course my attention was divided. He’s been going through a bad patch lately (I won’t go into detail ‘cos it’s not mine to go into) and lately all I’ve been able to do is e-mail and/or chat to him via MSN, which itself can only do so much. So he drove to Bexleyheath on Saturday 7^th June and we went out for lunch at Noodle Time. We mainly chatted about our recent events and past memories. We also walked a bit since George hadn’t properly seen the Broadway (Bexleyheath shopping centre) since he moved and was amazed how much it changed. For me only a few bits and bobs have improved but I live there so all changes become a blur in the end. He had to leave by 4pm but before then we drove around his old neighbourhood in his car (he still drives like a boy racer who just got his first pair of wheels!) and he had a go on my Wii (which he looked like he enjoyed). I also lent him some manga; hoping to get him into the Chobits and Death Note addiction! 

 

I haven’t spoken about work in a while; mainly because not much has happened. However May and June proved to be very busy months. It started off as bad but gradually turned into something much greater. 

As you may know, I was promoted recently; before Christmas I was told that my new title would be “Scheduling and Promotions Assistant” – which meant that I would still perform my regular office-based duties but I would also make promos across all kids programmes. I was told that I would receive training in Avid Media Composer and would move over to the production side of television; an area I haven’t been in since I was a freelancer for GMTV2 a year and a half ago. I was looking forward to this new challenge as I missed working in production and to be honest, my weekly duties in my role are not enough to fill up my whole week. If I did all my jobs back to back with no breaks from Monday morning, by Tuesday afternoon I would have nothing else to do for the rest for the week. So working in promotions was a welcome change. After 2 months of silence, in March an e-mail was sent around to everyone to confirm this, as well as other people’s promotions in my department, including other people told they would be making promos as well. I wasn’t fazed much as I thought we would all muck in and learn off each other.

Approaching the end of April; I noticed that other colleague’s new jobs were taken affect – but not mine. I hadn’t been told yet when I was getting training and when I would be making promos. In addition; over hearing conversations I heard that I might not be making them after all! Just researching for them!

I had enough by then so I decided to talk to my boss, who’s a good friend of mine, to ask the head of department what was going on. Mark (my boss) agreed that it’s about time I was told of the situation. Then on Wednesday 14^th May, Mark told me of the result of his chat with the head of the Kids department (also named Mark); basically I was told that I would not be getting any avid training. I would have to learn via other people, such as watching them and asking questions. The same was for promos; I had to learn to make them on my own.

 

So even though my colleagues have had the advantage of training and told how to make a promo, I’ll have to make do with none of the above. As you can guess, I was not happy about the result; it didn’t seem fair that everyone else had found their feet in their new roles yet I was being left behind to fend for myself. Most of my colleague had 3 days to 1 week’s worth of avid training and yet they expected me to learn it myself from watching others use it. Like learning Japanese by simply listening to someone else speaking it. I’m not stupid, I do pick things up quickly but I felt it was out of order. I was promised something that wasn’t given to me. Can you imagine how horrible it feels to watch your colleagues moving forward and achieving their goals when you’re stuck in the same place? What’s worse is that if I hadn’t asked when I did, how much longer would I have to wait to find out that information? 

As a result; I did some research on the internet and decided to book a training course for myself. Knowing that GMTV would not pay for it, I was willing to fork out over £500 for a 2 day course over a weekend. As I was getting ready to pay, mum suggested I talk with my father, Brian, who works high up in GMTV. I was reluctant as A) we don’t have a good relationship and B) I didn’t want to come across as a stroppy teenager who went crying to her father every time she didn’t get what she wanted. However; it gave me the idea to chat to another colleague, Amy. She’s a friend of mine who’s worked with me since I started GMTV so I decided to ask her opinion. So over a cup of tea/coffee; I asked her if it was worth paying for a training course outside of work and her thoughts on how I should progress forward. In a turn of events; she agreed to train me! It was a lovely surprise; I wasn’t expecting it as I presumed that all those who use Avid Composer would be too busy to train me. We wasted no time as that same afternoon I was sitting at her desk learning the basics! The lesson continued to the next day with pages of notes to reference from! We started to build 2 promos, a template to compile a cartoon and I also helped finish her other promos by selecting sound effects with the editor. Those 2 days really outshone the gloom that Wednesday had brought.

 

On my second day of training, I wrote a script for a promo concerning an up and coming new Action Stations schedule for the weekends on ITV4. I handed my script to Amy who said it was good and would forward it to the Deputy Head of the Kids department, Becky (who mucks in a lot with the Production Side of things). She gave me the A-OK to use the script and make a promo as a test run. So I got Mike (production assistant who does voice over work for several things) to do his magic and I began work the next morning. On my first day at working on the promo; it didn’t go as planned. I was hoping that everything would go smoothly, at the time I wanted to show everyone what I was I’m capable of but due to only learning Avid 2 days before and having not much help in how to develop my promo, I went a bit slowly. But, now thinking about it, it was a good thing that everything didn’t go my way at the time as I learn from it. I had to get Mike to re-record the voice over (as promos have to be 20 seconds long and the voice over was less than that), plus there were several issues concerning times and logo use, meaning that I had to stay till 7pm 2 days in a row one week. I worked tremendously hard though, despite my inexperience, the editor I worked with when finishing off the promo and Mark W (Head of Kids) both complimented me on my promo. Saying it was a “fab” first attempt and it really boost the show. Plus I got many “thanks” and kudos for staying late to work on late minute changes. Plus during this time, I was helping Amy with Wakey! Wakey! which is a job in itself, so the last week in May was a tough one but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

Despite the uphill struggle to get there I can say I’m much happier now than I was before, and not just because of the compliments I received. Originally I typed up my ordeal saying it was unfair and, to be honest, whiny about it, but I’m glad I asked Amy to help and pushed myself to get things done as it all worked out in the end! I’m now finished my second promo – Pokemon. So if you happen to be up from 06:00 to 09:25 during the week with nothing to do; switch over to the CITV Channel, ITV4 for the weekdays or ITV1 for the weekend and look out for my promos! They’re on rotation now so hopefully you won’t have to watch too many episodes of Teen Titans before you see my work on screen! Let’s hope that this is the first stepping stone onto something greater.  

 

On the health front; I’ve had a little slip up on my gluten diet. About mid-day on a May Sunday, it was very warm outside so me, mum and Daniel had lunch in our back garden. We had mini snacks such as mackerel, mini sausages, salad, crisps and French bread. I was fine until I stupidly ate half a sausage roll and a pork pie…it was such a stupid mistake as I was thinking “I wonder if this has gluten in it?” as I took a bite of out a mini sausage but the thought didn’t occur to me when I had the pastry of the sausage roll! I had a stomach ache afterwards, which I put down as a “bad day”, it wasn’t till the evening that I realised what I done! Oh well it’s my first slip up since I started my diet, and some good did come of it, even though I had a stomach ache after lunch I actually recovered quicker than before I started it. So I’m getting better! Also; I had a heavy cold during the last week in May. I had one last year but couldn’t take any painkillers or decongestion as they irritated my stomach and made me feel sick. However I felt so fluey that I decided to risk it and take a decongestion. I’m happy to say I had no side effects! I took Decongestion/painkillers during the night time and I felt fine for that as well! Another sign that I’m on the way up!  

My main concern at the moment is my energy levels; they are not as high as I would like them to be. Sure it’s better than it was a few months ago but I’m still in the situation that if I spend one day with a friend, I have to spend the next few days recovering from it. For example Katy, after seeing the film with her I invited her out to dinner that same weekend. However after going to work, meeting Katy afterwards and not getting home till midnight I was wiped! I had to cancel the dinner, preventing me from seeing Katy again before she went back to university. Still, I can take tablets again and am recovering quicker from gluten, can’t have everything now can I?  

 

 

 

 

 V.

 

Wonder Boy in Monster World is originally a game that was released back in 1991 for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. It was later ported to the Sega Master System a certain amount of time later. Several years later, a ‘remake’ was made for the TurboGrafx-CD console, it featured new characters, music and graphics, however due to the consoles limited marketing the game failed to reach the popularity of the original version. Then in 2007 both version were made available on the Wii virtual console.

 

Wonderboy in Monster World is one of my favourite games of all time, one of the first I’ve played in my lifetime and I still have an original copy of it for the Sega Mega Drive (as well as the console). When I read several years ago about an enhanced version, renamed and in some aspects redone on another console, I was quite intrigued. It never occurred to me that I’ll ever get to play it, so I read much about it as I could on the internet and eventually the interest for it died down. It wasn’t until I bought a Wii and browsed through the virtual consoles that my interest re-sparked, I bought the Wii points needed and downloaded the remade version with glee. A few hours later, having already known what to do and all the boss strategies, I completed the game. It then got me thinking, which game is better and what version should others download if they hadn’t played either title?

 

Here’s where this guide come in, I’ve broken down nearly every aspect of each game from the plot to the characters, and at the end of each section I’ll select a winner. The one with the most points at the end is the better game; I’ll also do a small evaluation at the end.  This comparison is based on my experience with the Sega Mega Drive version of Wonderboy in Monster and the downloaded version of The Dynastic Hero for the Wii. Therefore I will not be comparing controls (as it would be unfair).

I’ll try very hard not to give any spoilers away, and if I do it’ll be more on the lines of boss and world descriptions rather than strategies and plot elements. Also, to save typing each game title I’ll use abbreviations, so Wonder Boy in Monster World will be WBIMW and The Dynastic Hero will become TDH.

 

I would like to thank Sega-16, a Sega site that has many articles and reviews of Sega Mega Drive games for this idea. They original did a comparison of the two games which was very insightful, because of them I decided to take it further, make sure to check out their site!

Got that? Good! Let’s crack on…

 

The Story

WBIMW: Shion is a boy who lives in Monster World, a planet infested with monsters (go figure?); he must set out into the world and stop the evil BioMeka’s plans to take over Monster World. Occupied by only his armour and sword, Shion sets off to save his people.

TDH: When the Fairy Princess, Brenna, is kidnapped by the lizard king, Mandra, Dyna must set out into the land of Tarron to battle Mandra’s evil forces and save Brenna, along with the rest of the world!

 

As you can see, the synopsis for both games is no longer than 2 sentences. There isn’t much difference between them apart from name changes and the princess has a slight more reference in TDH (although she’s present in WBIMW and has as much input into the story as TDH’s princess). There isn’t much development in the story throughout either games; the puzzles are the same, the worlds and battle the same bosses are relatively the same and the order to complete each one are identical.

Both stories are not grammy-nomination worthy; they’re just there to set the scene more than anything.

 

Winner: Draw  

 

The Hero

Every adventure needs a hero right? Who’s going to slay the beasts and save the damsel in distress when there’s no hero?!

WBIMW is centred on Shion, a blue haired boy with silver armour and a sword as company on his travels. With big anime eyes and no other facial features, he fits well with the Monster World environment as it has many cartoon based themes. His upgradeable weapon and armour only have small details between them but are effective enough to tell the difference between each upgrade and don’t make the hero look over done.

 

TDH’s main character is, in one word, ugly!

Dyna has a too detailed armour design and its all one colour, so it comes off as this big beetle armour mush! With his serious facial expression, he looks like a human who stumbled upon a cartoon world and is trying to get out! Who can blame him? If I stumbled into a world where everyone was much cuter and colourful than me I wouldn’t want to stick around for long! The details on the upgradeable weapons and armour are slightly altered and have different colours, but these don’t flatter the already too detailed beetle armour.

 

Shion was created with the Monster World; therefore he fits better in it and doesn’t look quite so dorky. Dyna was remake with the rest of the cast to give the remake a bit of an edge; ultimately Dyna is the worst looking out of all the remade characters!

 

Winner: Wonderboy in Monster World  

 

Gameplay

Both games operate like a platform game with added RPG elements, the games mostly involve jumping at the correct times to reach platforms, fighting random enemies and collecting gold to buy new armour for the dungeon ahead.

Both TDH and WBIMW flow fluidly from walking around the screen to throwing the sword at the enemy. Jumping is an easy task (important in platform games, if you can’t get jumping correct the game falls apart) as the buttons respond well. Entering through doors and areas in WBIMW is quick in simple, yet in TDH it seems to enter ‘slow mo’ mode when walking through doors, it’s quite noticeable if you’ve played WBIMW previously.

Our heroes can also perform magic; the character learns magic as the game progresses and can also increase the amount of times a spell can cast if they find the relevant hidden treasure chests. Magic is set on the bar at the top of the screen, two spells can be set at once, you perform spells by pressing the action button and selecting left or right (depending what spell you want). Somehow, in WBIMW, it’s much easier to perform as you can hold the action button and alternate between both left and right commands. In TDH however, you must press both buttons together at the exact same time, plus an enemy must be within range to perform. Therefore performing spells is slightly easier in WBIMW.    

Winner: Wonder Boy in Monster World.  

 

The Graphics

WBIMW had colourful graphics, they were detailed enough to separate the hero from the townfolk and demonstrate each world as its own. For the Sega Mega Drive, they were lovely visuals, though not the best, they did the job quite nicely for a side scrolling game. TDH pretty much keeps the visuals from WBIMW but introduces a more varied colour palette, sure they are not as bright as its older partner but TDH gives depth to rocky mountains and adds the shine to the monsters where they were flat before.

TDH is for the PC Engie/TurboGrafx CD, which I don’t have much experience in, but from what I seen there was not much else they could improve massively on visual wise, they did what they could; it would be unfair to give the edge to TDH when the graphics were basically the same as WBIMW.

 

Winner: Wonderboy in Monster World  

 

The Music

The WBIMW soundtrack, while not groundbreaking enough to be released onto a CD, had its charm. The melodies were simple but they were catchy, easy to remember (so they get stuck in your head easily) and they complimented each world very well. Even when some the tracks were repeated (e.g. the background track for the Pyramid level is the same for the Volcano level), the songs worked well with the cartooned theme world and its inhabitants, the music is a joy to listen to overall.

 

I haven’t found any proof yet but I’m almost convinced that Seikou Nagaoka, the composer for the original Tenchi Muyo OVA, provided the music for TDH. My first clue was that the song in the opening FMV had a song lifted from the Tenchi Muyo OVA soundtrack but with added lyrics! The rest of the tracks have many similar elements compared to the Tenchi Muyo soundtrack as well but it’s the opening song that gave it away.   

I did like his work on the Tenchi Muyo OVA soundtrack, I even have some of soundtrack on my ipod, but the tracks composed for TDH, though nice and easy on the ears, are not memorable. They are MP3 files and each track tries to bring something else into each level that the previous soundtrack doesn’t, but several tracks (like the main hero in TDH) are too serious compared to the cartoon styled enemies and environment, and some are even too quirky (if that makes any sense?).

Seikou Nagaoka tries his best, you can’t deny the music is good, but several tracks that are repeated work with one world but not the other. Using the same example above, for the music in the Pyramid level, Seikou Nagaoka adds an ‘Egyptian’ theme to it, which is fair enough but when the track is used for the volcano level as well, it feels out of place.  

Both soundtracks are good in their own right, but the edge ultimately goes to…

 

Winner: Wonderboy in Monster World  

 

The Script

TDH script is all over the place, many item and equipment names were changed when there was no need (such as Pygmy Armour was changed to Tiny Armour, or something like that), but their purpose remained unchanged.

TDH script tries to ‘jazz’ it up slightly, such as the characters offer a little more conversation and information compared to WBIMW, where all the townsfolk seem to be blunt and robotic. TDH also tries to be ‘hip’, such as providing the lines “What’s Up?”, “Y’know?”, “Go get ‘em!” etc, it almost seems like a ‘dumb down’ version of the original WBIMW script, which wasn’t exactly hard to follow to begin with!

Where TDH sinks more though is spelling, oh the spelling, even the most simple to spell words are left uncorrected. Sure, I’m not the best example of a good speller, but you’d think that SOMEONE would have corrected where someone else went wrong, especially on the RE-RELEASE on the Wii virtual console! Shame on those who couldn’t be bothered! 

The WBIMW script may not be very heart warming and more to the point, but at least there are no spelling mistakes, items have relevant names and it’s easy to follow without making the player feel patronised.  

Winner: Wonderboy in Monster World.  

 

Friends and Foes

This was the section I was most interested in when I found out about TDH, in this comparison I discovered a while back, it stated that most friends were replaced with cute creatures (such as bees and fairies) and the enemies are now all different. This section was the main reason my curiosity for TDH got the better of me.

 

Let’s start with the hero’s companions, both heroes gain friends to help them in certain dungeons throughout the game. The companions range from help defeat enemies to finding hidden hearts and gold. They cannot leave the town they originate from, so therefore they have limited use.

At first they seem untouched (apart from having slightly different coloured sprites), it’s not until you reach the Ice World when you notice the change. The ultra cool mini grim reaper in WBIMW is replaced with an ugly flying beetle and the even cooler baby dragon is replaced by a girly bee.

What’s the problem with that you ask? First of, the Ice World where you obtain the grim reaper/beetle is also known as the ‘Dark World’, it makes sense for a grim reaper to be there but not the beetle, I did a little research and I’m pretty sure beetles are not fond of the cold, therefore you would not find them in a glacier town. The same principle goes for the bee, originally known as the Dragon world, it’s located next to a volcano and it’s also near the desert, where a large pyramid is also located. Again, with little research, bees like warm weather to collect pollen but I’m pretty sure they would object to the heat from a volcano! (If I’m wrong about any of these facts please feel free to correct me). Then again, the incarnations of both helpers do the same amount of damage to enemies and provide the same amount of input to the story (which is not a lot) so apart from my rant above there’s not much difference.

 

Now onto the enemies, all the baddies on the TDH that the hero kills to progress and obtain gold are all the same. However apart from two, all of the bosses have had a make over. The bosses are now all a type of reptile, including the giant mushroom being replaced by a giant toad, the snowman in the ice world is now an ice dragon (a beautiful looking on too!); the two boulders in the dwarf village are now two turtles, and so on. It makes sense in a way to have all the enemies a collective race, but the mini baddies on the field that the hero kills seem distanced from the bosses all together, you’d think that the reptile baddies would send some reptile fiends to hold the hero off, but not one is in sight. The baddies are nicely designed and are easily the most detailed character sprites within TDH, it’s a shame they didn’t stretch their efforts to the smaller enemies as well.

 

Lastly, the random strangers that the hero talks to and/or saves within the game are mostly the same. The human’s walking around and sitting behind the shop counters are all intact, the only major changes are made to those who have a little more input into the story. For example the Dark World Prince is now non existent in TDH and the Princess you save early on has a new wardrobe, hair and breasts implants! You get a glimpse of her in the opening anime sequence of TDH; she has a wacky purple dress, green hair and Jordan’s breasts. Actually, all the new female characters created for the game seem to have had breast enhancements.

 

Personally, I don’t like some of the new characters; mainly my complaint goes towards the new helpers and the females that aid the hero in TDH. I understand if they wanted to add more females to the game to make it appeal a wider audience, but the size of the breasts are just ridiculous! Ok, I’m an anime fan and should be used to this sort of art by now since Japan like to make the female’s cleavage defy gravity, but still, it bugs me somewhat that TDH is basically a big strong man saving the world for these well endowed defenceless women.     

 

Maybe I’m reading too much into something that’s not there, but that’s the impression I get from this game. Don’t get me wrong, I think they were quite creative about the new bosses, but WBIMW characters fitted better into the context of the story and were more suitable for the intended audience. 

 

Winner: Wonderboy in Monster World  

 

Difficulty

This section is a little complicated considering that there’s no obvious winner, throughout both games I made many comparisons regarding this subject.

First off; the enemies are easier on TDH, this is not so obvious early on but as you progress, you notice that both run-of-the-mill enemies and bosses take more damage from the weapons provided. For example, in the beginning of the Ice World in WBIMW with the strongest weapon you can get before entering the town, you can kill the penguin enemies in 4 hits. However in the same situation in TDH, the penguin is destroyed in 3. In fact it seems like the enemies get easier as you progress, so the final boss is a pushover (especially without the buzz saw!).

 

On the other hand, TDH comes off as tight-fisted, for instance the enemies provide you with less gold, the difference is very noticeable in the last dungeon, as this place was a source for much gold if you wished to save up to buy some of the more expensive items in the game. Building up money to purchase weapons in TDH takes longer as items are worth the same much as in WBIMW. 

Also the potions that can be bought to recover the character’s health are very stingy! Early on in the game in WBIMW, the standard potion recovers the character completely and as the hero gains more hearts; you need to buy a stronger potion. In TDH, the weakest potion available recovers HALF of what the same potion in WBIMW does! The same principle applies to the elixirs (a potion that revives a fallen character once), the enemies have less health, but they do the same amount of damage to your character, so the player must be a bit more cautious in TDH. Despite this, I only died during one boss battle early on the game, the rest of them were a walk in the park. To sum it up, in TDH, it’s easier to kill and to be killed!

 

Another factor is the save points, in WBIMW you must save the game at the inn and if you happen to die, you’ll be greeted with a ‘GAME OVER’ screen and must re-start from where you last saved it. In TDH, if you die, you are brought back to the inn fully recovered, however your potions and elixir (if used before dying) are gone so must re-stock (spending money you lack in this version) but you don’t have to re-do any puzzles or switches activated before you died. So in many situations, you could just simply walk back to the boss battle with little to stop you.

Overall I feel that WBIMW has the right balance between recovery items and damage taken, damage dealt and enemy HP and buying weapons with money obtained. Despite being slightly harder and the final boss can prove to be quite tiresome, WBIMW feels more like a triumph at the end while TDH is quite easy throughout with little after rewards. Either way, which ever version you play first, the other version will be no different, puzzle solving wise.

 

Winner: Wonderboy in Monster World.   

 

Endings and Replay Value

Everything must come to an end right? Sadly happiness is not eternal, but games can be if they are enjoyable enough to tackle it from the beginning all over again, or if there are enough extras to come back to later on.

Both games lack replay value, unless like me you loved the game at a tender age and long to re-live your old favourites. There are no unlockables to speak of, there are a few hidden things (such as hard-to-find chests, getting max on all magic, etc) but unless you loved the game first time round you’re unlikely to pick it up again.

TDH has 4 save files, so if you’re the type of person who likes to try various ways of completing a game (like with the weakest weapon, or without dying) you can achieve it here and keep records of your achievements. However WBIMW has 1 save file only, so if you want to play from the beginning again you’ll lose your current record.

Ending wise, TDH comes out on top, it ties the hero with his old friends (so they don’t look like they were taken advantage and then disposed of like in WBIMW) and you’re also treated to a viewing of several world and character artwork in the credits. In WBIMW, the ending is rather abrupt and shows hints of a possible romantic interest with a particular character, but it’s nothing spectacular.

Both endings are not going to win any awards, but TDH is the lesser of the two evils.

 

Winner: The Dynastic Hero

 

 

Price and Memory

If you wish to purchase the original copies of both games, you can buy WBIMW cheaply in a second hand shop (if they’ve got it) or on eBay; I bought my copy for a fiver. Sega Mega Drive consoles are not too hard to locate and purchase neither. On the other hand, the original copy of TDH is very rare and difficult to find, just as much as the console it was available on. If you do happen to find it be prepared to burn a hole in your pocket. Both titles are available to purchase on the virtual console for 800 wii points each in Europe territories, which makes tracking down TDH so much easier and you pay a decent price for it! Considering TDH was a nightmare to find before hand, the edge goes to TDH, despite the fact that TDH takes up slightly more memory on your Wii memory. 

 

Winner: The Dynastic Hero

 

Conclusion

TDH – 2

WBIMW – 7

Draw – 1

 

Well the numbers speak for themselves, as the old saying goes, nothing can ‘out do’ an original, whether it’s a game, film or television series, the original is always closer to people’s hearts. So where does that lead those who have never touch either game?

Wonder Boy in Monster World was one of the best well known games on the Sega Mega Drive, all the elements work well with each other and it presents small challenges in its short life span. The Dynastic Hero is nothing more than WBIMW with a touch of cosmetic surgery; it’s like watching a film you’re fond of with improved special effects and with alternative costumes. Underneath the visuals nothing much has changed. If you pride yourself in playing/owning games that are rare and worth a fortune, The Dynastic Hero is the game for you. If you prefer the original version, Wonder Boy in Monster World is the one to go for. In the end, they are both good games and worth a play through if you want a good, cheap and quick RPG/platform game.

 

 

 

You're probably wondering why I have a picture of a snowy garden when the title has "Spring" on it. Well let me tell you, that picture is a photo of my garden on Sunday 6th April 2008. Yes it's meant to be SPRING and yet THIS is the weather we get in England! I shouldn't be complaining really as it's now Thursday 24th April and the sun is starting to blaze through...but I just thought I'd share that with you!  

 

 

 

Andy came back home for a 3 week Easter holiday; since I was unable to take time off for him (since Mark, my boss, was on holiday and I’m the only one capable of covering for him) I only got to see him at the weekend. Despite seeing each other for 3 weekends we didn’t get up to much as one weekend I was ill; we mainly chilled at each others houses, took a work one day when the weather was lovely, played some games, just chilling really. I plan to hopefully visit him at uni one weekend in May or June as I haven’t seen his uni since October 2006. When he next comes home it’ll be a few days after my birthday (June 16^th) and a few days before I go on holiday! Yes despite not being fully recovered from my previous trip overseas I’m off to Greece for one week in June. I’m a little frightened actually, I’m still ‘on edge’ since my last holiday and since I know that even the WATER is lethal in Greece, I’m a little anxious. I’m sure once I’m out there lying by the pool side in the glorious sun I’ll be fine but when even your mother is concerned about you going (all parents are when their child goes on holiday abroad without for the first time), you can’t help but feel more so  yourself.

 

I saw Landa during the back holiday Easter weekend; I picked her up from her house, drove to Bluewater for a meal and some shopping. Whilst I was at her home (that I hadn’t been to in ages) I got re-acquainted with her parents. I saw her mum just before Christmas 2006 (!) but her dad I haven’t since…I can’t remember! Their English has gotten far (they’re from Yucaslavia), they both seemed well and they looked happy to see me (always a bonus - pleasing parents). At Bluewater it was quite busy (expected as it was a bank holiday), so we decided against the cinema as the queue was so freaking long! We had a nice Chinese lunch at Amoy and browsed some shops. I didn’t buy anything but Landa bought some jewellery and other random crap. We also had a coffee before I dropped her home. It's always nice to see Landa, even if our catch ups tend to be short. I plan to take her out after her exams have finished in May - maybe after that we can see each other more.  

 

I took both Tuesday 15^th and Wednesday 16^th off in April to celebrate my mum’s birthday! Her big day was Tuesday but I took the following day off as mum and Daniel were both on Easter holidays and I wanted to spend more time with them. The evening before, Monday after work, we went into London for dinner out. After a walk looking at all the restaurants in Leister square we settled on ‘Rock Garden’. It’s quite pretentious but the food was lovely! I had sea bass with Ratatouille (which I’ve never had before) and I ate every little bit of it! The fruit drinks they provide are nice too.  

On mum’s actual birthday she had a cold so didn’t feel too great, but we took a nice drive on the lovely sunny day to Faringham. It's about a 10 minute drive from my old 6th for college (North West Kent, Dartford), we has lunch at the Lion Hotel (food was ok, didn't have what I originally wanted) and then took a gentle stroll around the area 'cos the weather was lovely.

Farningham looks like a 'country side' sort fo town; there's lots of greenery, small old houses, streams and very narrow roads! It looks lively in the sushine and a perfect place to settle down since it's so homely and quiet - but I knew as soon as the weather turned icy I would be cursing whoever built those roads!  

We went back home to rest *cough play computer games cough* and then went out again for dinner at the Laughing Buddha (a Chinese restaurant near where I live). We always like this restaurant but we don’t go it very often, so it was nice to come back to it.

The next day was not as easy going as we had to take care of my littlest brothers; Robert and Oliver. First we did a bit of shopping (the boys were well behaved) and then we drove to Wilmington (again near my college) for a lunch out. The food was nice (gammon and home made chips) and although the weather wasn't as nice as yesturday and the outside play area was quite scruffy and falling apart - we had a laugh. I usually don't spend much time with them apart from when they pop round to say hi with Brian, Daniel usually sees them every weekend. But I really enjoyed that day as I was able to actually feel like their sister; I played football with Robbie as Daniel ordered the food, I taught Ollie how to swing himself (I had a go myself to feed my inner child), I had more energy that day that I've had in the past year! It made a nice change. Later on we came home, me and Daniel taught the boys how to play the wii. We played Mario Kart (with the wii wheel) and Wii sports, a few tears kicked off when Robbie lost and wanted a wii for his own when he had to leave. Overall it was a good day.  

 

What’s the status on my on-going health problems you ask? Well…

I’ve started my new diet that I mentioned in my previous blog; I’ve cut out wheat, gluten and dairy. It’s been hard, I’ve had my ups and downs but the benefits do out weigh what I’ve given up. First of; my stomach has been a LOT better, I still had my bad days/moments but I have more energy, I can do more, I don’t have to lie down as much after eating whilst before I was always in pain after eating, plus I’ve lost some weight! The bad side is that I didn’t realise so much stuff had gluten and wheat in them! Dairy was not so bad as I was originally allergic to dairy when I was about 8 so I’m used to not eating dairy by now, but the gluten…its in bread, pasta, pastry…so I can’t eat Yorkshire puddings (love them with roasts), pizza, pita bread with kebabs, burgers beer-battered or bread crumbed fish (so its a nightmare when trying to order a take away), cakes, garlic bread…so some of my favourite things! And although I’ve bought some gluten-free stuff from Sainsbury’s and Morrison’s – most of them don’t substitute the real thing. I’ll just be glad when I’m fully recovered!  

 

As for the ‘high liver function’ I mentioned in my previous entry; I had another blood test since then and although it’s still higher than the level it should be, it’s decreased since my last reading. The doctor said it might be because some people’s livers are fattier than others; it could also be raised if I’ve gained any weight lately (which I have). He wants to keep an eye on it just in case and have another test in 6 months. Several weeks later I got a letter stating that the last test result from my blood came through and apparently my copper levels are high…so now he wants ANOTHER blood test and a 24-hour urine sample…sigh…when will this ever end?