Wonder Boy in Monster Land, known by its original arcade release as Wonder Boy: Monster Land,[a] is a platform video game developed by Westone Bit Entertainment and released by Sega in Japanese arcades in 1987 and for the Master System in 1988, with a number of other home computer and console ports following.

The people, helpless due to their lack of fighting skill, call for Wonder Boy, now a teenager, to destroy the monsters and defeat the MEKA dragon.

Players control Wonder Boy through twelve linear levels as he makes his way through Monster Land to find and defeat the MEKA dragon.

Other ports received mixed reception: criticisms included very slow multi-load times on the home computer versions, sub-quality sound, and smaller play areas.

[8] In the Master System version of the game, pressing the pause button on the console takes players to the Status Screen which primarily shows what items they currently have.

These doors contain shops where players can buy equipment, rooms which provide additional information needed in the quest, traps which contain powerful enemies, and exits to the next level which can be opened after finding a key.

Other rooms contain a boss in which the player must defeat to get the key to the next level, to earn additional gold, or to upgrade to a more powerful sword.

Many of these treasures are obtained by defeating enemies and include the following: gold; golden water jugs, necklaces, scales of justice, harps, mirrors, and crowns which increase the player's score; hourglasses which refill the Hourglass Timer; hearts which refill the life meter; gauntlets which temporarily double Wonder Boy's attack power; helmets which temporarily provide additional protection from enemy attacks; Wing Boots which allow Wonder Boy to fly over obstacles; Revival Potions; and magic mantles which make Wonder Boy temporarily invisible.

Other special items hidden in the game which the player must find include letters, the flute, various charms, the bell, and the ruby.

[9] Wonder Boy in Monster Land was created by Ryuchi Nishizawa and Michishisto Ishizuka, two of the three members of a newly founded company called Escape.

Later in the game's development, Shinichi Sakamoto came on board to compose its soundtrack; in an overview of the series by IGN, they said that the music "was a sigh of relief for those still haunted by the repetitive loops of the arcade original", adding that it contributed to the RPG style and that would establish the standard for all future Wonder Boy games in the series.

[22] Upon its release for the arcades in Japan in 1987, Wonder Boy: Monster Land had slow sales, but it would eventually pick up to become a decent seller.

[23][19] Sega ported the game to its Master System console in 1988, where in Japan it was titled Super Wonder Boy: Monster World.

It was also ported by Images Software for the Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, and ZX Spectrum and published by Activision in 1989.

[28][29] Hudson Soft released a version of the game titled Super Adventure Island for mobile phones on June 8, 2005 (2005-06-08).

[34] In Japan, Game Machine listed Wonder Boy in Monster Land on their October 1, 1987 issue as being the third most-successful table arcade unit of the fortnight.

The reviewer noted the diverse level designs and many "surprises" the player will encounter, and they praised the game's learning curve, saying that it "is well thought out and you really feel as if you made some progress before you die".

It was criticized for its long multi-load times on the ZX Spectrum, its jumping mechanics in which the character "floats around", and the graphics which was not as good as its predecessor.

The reviewer called Wonder Boy in Monster Land "a souped-up version of Wonderboy, which improves much on the original theory but at a slight cost to gameplay".

[28] Crash magazine praised the ZX Spectrum version of the game for its detailed sprites and smooth movements, playability, and combat system.

[41] Sinclair User magazine praised its gameplay, citing the ability to stab enemies with a sword, to collect gold and items left behind, and to go into shops and pubs and buy equipment.

[8] Spanish magazine MicroHobby said that the ZX Spectrum version brought nothing new from its arcade counterpart, but the execution was good; they lauded the game's graphics and its challenging and addictive gameplay, but they criticized it for its lack of originality.

[47] The Commodore 64 and Atari ST versions of Wonder Boy in Monster Land also received similar praise from gaming magazines.

[19] Amiga Format similarly gave the game poor ratings, including the small gameplay area as a result of displaying the other statistics, sound that is substandard to the Amiga computer's expectations, the lack of a "high score" feature, and limited continues (as opposed to the arcade version which had unlimited continues).

It also noted the lack of detail and variety in the graphics which did not make up for the slow multi-load times; the reviewer said that the enemies looked "about as dangerous as a dead tortoise".

[39] German magazine Amiga Joker liked the game's "candy-like graphics" and gameplay style, which they said compared to the title The Great Giana Sisters.

The reviewer praised the sound for being simple yet very effective, saying that it "is the ultimate compliment to pay a video game score" and comparing it to other Master System titles such as Alex Kidd.

It said that the game is an improvement over its Adventure Island-like predecessor, replacing the "fruit gauge" with an hourglass timer while retaining other elements such as finding invisible items and discovering secret areas.

The review said that the ability to earn gold and upgrade equipment which are laid out in the status screen tremendously adds to the replay value.