Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom

 Switch
User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 149 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 114 out of 149
  2. Mixed: 17 out of 149
  3. Negative: 18 out of 149
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  1. ILGerva
    Mar 26, 2020
    6
    It pretends to be a sequel of the Wonderboy's Saga but it fails the legacy.
    A basic metroidvania full of trial-and-error platform sessions, never very
    inspired, just copied from other titles.
    The Art Direction is childish and the animations are very bad.
    The only thing that saves the game is the nostalgia effect, in fact the game is full of easter eggs and old theme songs.
  2. TsukasaHiiragi
    Jan 14, 2019
    5
    Pros

    Detailed 2D graphics, bright and vivid Good soundtrack Cons Frustratingly difficult at times Pro controller recommended I have never seen a game more unfairly given praise than this game, Monster Boy is honestly a complete mixed bag. I honestly think bl1rt review is fairly accurate, Monster Boy is a brutally punishing game that rewards the patient player rather than    Pros

    Detailed 2D graphics, bright and vivid
    Good soundtrack

    Cons

    Frustratingly difficult at times
    Pro controller recommended

    I have never seen a game more unfairly given praise than this game, Monster Boy is honestly a complete mixed bag. I honestly think bl1rt review is fairly accurate, Monster Boy is a brutally punishing game that rewards the patient player rather than charging head on into all the outlandish and often, frustrating puzzles.

    There are literally respawn points all over the place, and seemly few during difficult and downright frustrating puzzle or pixel perfect platforming scenes where dying is all too easy and some areas are so difficult that they require exceptionally fast reflexes to change form/jump/special/change form/special etc etc to get through some puzzles and again honestly.... The stock controller makes it even more frustrating, this is totally best played with a pro controller, just to save on some of the more frustrating areas.

    Boss battles are really easy, yes you might die once or twice but once you figure out the pattern they become a literally a cakewalk, which is a shame because you could die 500 times trying to reach the boss battle.

    I would be wary of this title, even for Metroidvania and fans of Wonderboy series in general, this requires patience rather than skill, and more importantly requires a cool head because it will frustrate you quite often as several areas are down right evil in terms of difficulty.

    Some monster forms like pig are annoying, and it takes a fair while before you start to unlock other forms. Enemies often are placed in areas where they can spring out of thin air to instantly damage you with giving you absolutely no chance to react, unless you already died to them and know they are there! This aspect is unfortunate because the early sequences of the game are exceptionally difficult due to limited form options, once the game opens up more it does get better until later in the game where a few more areas become frustrating again.    … Expand
  3. Ypp
    Jan 16, 2019
    6
    I came in expecting a successor to 'Wonderboy : the dragon's trap' that I enjoyed a lot. And in some aspects this game really delivers : the soundtrack is nice, the character design and animations are flawless. The scenario is pretty conventional and without surprises, and the cutscenes a bit too "talky" to my tastes but still fine.

    However, when in Wonderboy the level design felt hard    I came in expecting a successor to 'Wonderboy : the dragon's trap' that I enjoyed a lot. And in some aspects this game really delivers : the soundtrack is nice, the character design and animations are flawless. The scenario is pretty conventional and without surprises, and the cutscenes a bit too "talky" to my tastes but still fine.

    However, when in Wonderboy the level design felt hard but rewarding, there are lots of time where I felt that MonsterBoy was actively punishing me for playing it. From ennemies that remove 2/3 of your life bar in one hit to ennemies that respawn without warning ON THE CHARACTER, there are a lot of times where I was about to throw my console on the ground. Some parts of the game lit a pure and undistilled rage in my heart until I unlocked a specific power, by which time it becomes trivial. In general, past the first dungeon, there's really no in-between in this game : either you die a thousand times on the same screen or it is totally trivial.

    Most checkpoints don't refill your lifebar, and you restart at the last checkpoint with only a small portion of your hearts, which means most of the time you're chain-dying and reloading only to get one-shot a few screens down the road.

    I thoroughly enjoyed Hollow Knight and Wonderboy. I can handle a hard game. But *this* is not hard. This is *pain*.    … Expand
  4. Phoenix-Prince
    Jun 15, 2020
    6
    If you love platforming and '90s nostalgia then this game should be on your radar.
    If you are anyone else be cautioned this game is hard.
    "This is my revised review as I have since finished it" The game starts off pretty tough once you turn into your first monster, but if you can whether the storm for about half the game there is something addicting, at least addicting enough to want to    If you love platforming and '90s nostalgia then this game should be on your radar.
    If you are anyone else be cautioned this game is hard.
    "This is my revised review as I have since finished it"
    The game starts off pretty tough once you turn into your first monster, but if you can whether the storm for about half the game there is something addicting, at least addicting enough to want to finish.
    I truly hated this game for the first half of the game, but after collecting items and upgrading equipment it started to become kind of fun. There are still moments where it really ticked me off and I wanted to smash the controller, but I stuck through and glad I did.
    My advice if you're interested in this game, that would be don't take the video reviewers at there word, when they say this game is great, it's not great, well at least not great if you only have a passing interest in platforming, otherwise they're probably right.
    While I enjoyed it at the end I still don't agree with all the praise, It really becomes frustrating unless you're really a die hard platformer gamer. This should have been pointed out, I don't know how or why it wasn't.
    At the end The game made me much better at platformers so That's pretty cool. Because of that and The surprising amount of fun I was having after I unlocked most of my forms and upgrading my equipment, I'm bumping up my original score from a "4" to a "6 out of 10". Slightly above middle of the road depending on what kind of gamer you are. If you want a challenge this game will challenge you, if you want to relax this game will not be you're go too for such.
    At the end of the day I'm glad I purchased it, I beat my first platformer and now im much better at them.    … Expand
  5. Fluffy-Chick
    Feb 14, 2022
    5
    I absolutely loved this game right up until I got stuck in the Crystal Caves where I cannot complete the required actions before the timer moves the platform back. It's unrealistic to expect everyone to be able to do that in the time allowed and now I have to just write off the remainder of the game

Awards & Rankings

23
#23 Best Switch Game of 2018
51
#51 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2018
72
#72 Most Shared Switch Game of 2018

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
86

Generally favorable reviews - based on 22 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 22
  3. Negative: 0 out of 22
  1. Nintendo Force Magazine
    Aug 22, 2019
    85
    Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom appears to have been well worth the wait. [Issue #38 – March/April 2019, p. 71]
  2. Cubed3
    May 22, 2019
    90
    Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom is not on the budget side of the indie spectrum, but what Game Atelier and FDG Entertainment have released is far from a cheap experience. The beautifully hand drawn art style, rocking soundtrack, rewarding boss battles, excellent progression system, and thrilling adventure, offers the very best of what makes a great action-adventure platformer, and turns it into a must own for anyone interested in the genre.
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  3. FNintendo
    Apr 13, 2019
    70
    Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom is a rather surprising and very enjoyable 2D platformer that openly dresses the skin of a metroidvania-style of game, with a well-structured experience, a high quality cartoon-like art style and well implemented gameplay mechanics. It does not reinvent the wheel when it comes to 2D platformers but it certainly does a very good job at delivering a quality metroidvania type of game.
    Read full review
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