This may appear to be a blatant Wonder Boy ripoff on the surface, and it kind of is, but I assure you it's a fundamentally improved work, and arguably holds up better than any of the classic games in the series it was inspired by, escaping their Master System trappings while keeping what made them great. Add in a generous dash of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, and you get one of the best platventures I've played in years, even rivaling Monster Boy in the Cursed Kingdom.

For starters, the maps are much more varied. The Wonder Boy series, fun as it is, has a lot of same-y endless corridor type areas, particularly in Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap. Aggelos does away with that by featuring smaller, more geographically varied screens with enemies that are a bit more active and interesting than your standard fare. The game also smartly gives you the downstab ability early, mixing up combat a bit and allowing you to daringly get the drop on enemies.

The game map flows together nicely, with the usual nice touches I enjoy in games like this, like a series of interconnecting caves and areas that connect with one another. The dungeons are very Zelda like in the sense that they involve solving puzzles and obtaining keys, finding the "dungeon item" (in this case, elemental magic), and then solving more puzzles.

What is key to me, however, is the fact that they removed the annoying "juggling" aspect of taking damage that was prevalent in the Wonder Boy games. In the classic series, an enemy would often rush you, and you would have to wait to hit the floor before you could start controlling your character or taking damage again. With some enemies, particularly bosses, this meant you could be held up above them as they dashed back and forth, or bounced into other enemies who would then bounce you even further back, sometimes off the screen (negating your progress on that current screen) or careening into lava.

What's left is solid hack and slash action with some light "RPG" elements such as a simple array of swords and armour to equip along the way. There's a bit of variance in attack range and the odd effect here and there (the lightning sword does extra damage underwater, the samurai sword hits multiple times, etc). It's tried and true, and it works.

The magic system is very well thought out and enjoyable, too. There are four elemental spells, each of which have both attack and transportation qualities. Some of these are quite creative: the Fire magic, for instance, allows you to create two portals that can be used to warp from one area to another; useful for clearing short distances, but even this warping ability has an offensive element to it, as any enemy caught in your fiery wake will take massive damage. Used with skill and finesse, this ability alone can decimate bosses.

The added Hard Mode is intense, perhaps unfairly so, but it's exhilarating, particularly the last battle, which is already a visual overload thanks to the cool looking visual aesthetic present in the final boss and its minions. At the time of writing this review, I have not quite made it to the final battle on Hard, but I've completed it on the Switch and it certainly gave me a run for my "grew up on the NES and doesn't even consider Battletoads that hard" money.

Last but not least, the charm is just practically gushing out of this game. It sounds like a Master System classic, and while not every track works all that well, the main Field theme is very catchy and hits a nostalgic nerve for a time that feels familiar but never existed. The graphics are simple, definitely a step above the Master System roots and more aligned with the Genesis titles, but I think that was the right decision here. Big wide-eyed monsters, vivid colours everywhere, and some great backgrounds await you. The dragon boss featured prominently in the game's marketing is the real standout, with his rubber-looking tummy scales. Too cute.

This is a fantastic game, even if you've never played a Wonder Boy or Zelda II for that matter. It's just the right level of challenging on the regular difficulty, and provides a masterful challenge on Hard Mode if you're so inclined. It's also fairly lengthy, clocking in at a good 10 to 15 hours on a first playthough.

If you're even the least bit interested in old-school Metroidvania games before Metroid met Vania, do not hesitate to pick this up. This is what Wonder Boy games looked and felt like as a kid, and I say that in the most complimentary way possible.