DECEMBER 2008

SEPTEMBER 2008

AUGUST 2008

JULY 2008

JUNE 2008

Game: Wonder Boy In Monster World (Sega, Genesis)

Compiler: Dammit 9x

For this month's "Maps of the Month" featurette, I wish to draw your attention to Dammit 9x's Wonder Boy In Monster World (Genesis) maps.

The main character in this game is a man named Shion.  Shion is on a quest to rid Monster World of, well, monsters.  And at some point he  saves a princess.

While the story could use more work, the game is much better.  It's a cute action platformer with RPG elements.  And yes, it is cute.  And very colourful.  Seeing those large, not-too-monstrous-looking boss monsters makes you wonder why sprite artwork isn't appreciated more than it is!

The Wonder Boy games are classics for any Sega fan.  Dammit 9x was enough of a fan to map this game out in its entirety, bosses and enemies and NPCs and shops and all, doing justice to a game that should not be forgotten.

So to recognize the effort put into this Genesis classic, Dammit 9x's Wonder Boy In Monster World maps will be known as VGMaps.com's Maps of the Month for May 2008.

Discuss the Maps Of The Month here!

Game: The Legend Of Zelda: Oracle Of Hours (Nintendo, GBC)

Compiler: JonLeung

For this month's "Maps of the Month" featurette, I wish to draw your attention to JonLeung's The Legend Of Zelda: Oracle Of Hours (GBC) maps.

The third game in The Legend Of Zelda: Oracle series for the Game Boy Color is finally mapped!  In this game, Link finds himself in the land of Falsia, where he meets Farore, who turns out to be the Oracle of Hours, responsible for the movement of the sun and moon.  An evil entity named Proodyl captures Farore, threatening to cause an eclipse to fully awaken its evil energies, and Link sets off on another adventure to save a doomed world!

Like the companion games, Oracle Of Ages and Oracle Of Seasons, this new world also has different states.  Whereas Labrynna has two time periods and Holodrum has four seasons, Falsia has both day and night.  During the day, flowers are open, the tide is low, and gargoyle statues block paths; during the night, flowers are closed, the tide is high, and gargoyles come alive, among other things.  Once Link obtains the Lamp Of Hours, he is able to use its captured sunlight to light (or extinguish) the Moon Lanterns to switch between day and night in order to traverse Falsia and make his way to Proodyl's Fortress to rescue Farore.  And just like the other games, the true ending comes if you've finished one of the other Oracle games and continued with a Linked Game.

Two years after Revned's mapping of Oracle Of Ages (January 2006) and TerraEsperZ's mapping of Oracle Of Seasons (February 2006), the three Zelda Oracle games are now complete!  As Link knows very well, it's always just a matter of time.

So to recognize the effort put into finishing off the "Triforce Trilogy", JonLeung's The Legend Of Zelda: Oracle Of Hours maps will be known as VGMaps.com's Maps of the Month for April FOOLS' 2008.

Discuss the Maps Of The Month here!

Game: Mario Vs. Donkey Kong (Nintendo, GBA)

Compiler: Peardian

For this month's "Maps of the Month" featurette, I wish to draw your attention to Peardian's Mario Vs. Donkey Kong (GBA) maps.

Besides being featured together in the Super Smash Bros. series, Nintendo characters have met each other a few times by way of cameos in each others' games.  But the two earliest franchise characters have competed and clashed a few times since the beginning, and continue to do so even in recent times.  Mario and Donkey Kong faced off in the first huge Nintendo game, named after Donkey Kong himself, before their futures split into two distinct franchises.  Mario may be Nintendo's main man, yet Donkey Kong was always nearby, ready for some kart racing, or other competitive sports, or some of the annual parties.  Whether or not the current Donkey Kong was DK Jr. and that Cranky Kong was the original DK is beside the point - the clash of Mario vs. Donkey Kong is a constant in the Nintendo universe.  Or at least, revisited, reenacted, repackaged and replayed...

It comes as no surprise that there would eventually be a game named as such - Mario Vs. Donkey Kong on the GBA is a relatively recent adventure that pits, well, Mario against Donkey Kong.  Looking to reclaim toys stolen from the big ape, Mario (now apparently in the toy business) must make his way through more than a hundred puzzlicious rooms!  Expanding upon the platforming puzzle elements first seen in the Super Game Boy release of Donkey Kong in 1994, the game is an incredible challenge to work through!  Cue my standard line about needing maps: well, you'll need all the help you can get, and Peardian (resident Mario mapper and multi-Mapmaker of the Month) at least provides these.  Timing your jumps in Expert Stage x-8? You're on your own there!

So to recognize the effort put into making these maps from a modern classic, Peardian's Mario Vs. Donkey Kong maps will be known as VGMaps.com's Maps of the Month for March 2008.

Discuss the Maps Of The Month here!

Game: Zoda's Revenge: StarTropics II (Nintendo, NES)

Compiler: Captain Drake

For this month's "Maps of the Month" featurette, I wish to draw your attention to Captain Drake's Zoda's Revenge: StarTropics II (NES) maps.

With the worst of winter upon us, wouldn't it be nice to break away to a tropical paradise?  Yeah, that'd be nice, wouldn't it?  But the sequel to StarTropics isn't as much of an island-hopping adventure, but a time-traveling journey!  Well, whatever gets you out of the snow.  ...Except that the first stop is an icy mountain in the past.  So much for that idea.

In any case, (and in any time period,) now's a good time as any to honour Captain Drake's Zoda's Revenge: StarTropics II maps!  The first game was a decent hit, thought the sequel came at the end of the NES era that many people may have missed it (because they were too busy debating whether the Genesis or the Super NES was cooler).  If you do play/replay Zoda's Revenge, Mike Jones' second (and last) game will take you on a quest that includes encountering the likes of Leonardo da Vinci and Sherlock Holmes.  The maps here include every area, even every pitfall, so with these maps, you should be able to save Mica and your other alien friends from the evil Zoda.  (But unfortunately you won't be able to save Mike Jones from Nintendo's choice to pull the plug on this franchise.)

So to recognize the effort put into making these maps from an underappreciated game, Captain Drake's Zoda's Revenge: StarTropics II maps will be known as VGMaps.com's Maps of the Month for February 2008.

Discuss the Maps Of The Month here!

Game: Ninja Gaiden Trilogy (Tecmo, Super NES)

Compiler: Will Mallia

For this month's "Maps of the Month" featurette, I wish to draw your attention to Will Mallia's Ninja Gaiden Trilogy (Super NES) maps.

It's another year, but for many of us, maybe it doesn't feel any different.  We still go through the same motions we did last time around.

The same could be said about Ninja Gaiden Trilogy, the upgraded/repackaged trio of Ryu Hayabusa's adventures, as we first saw on the NES.  Now they're all on the same cartridge, with upgraded 16-bit graphics and a new password save system!  The flying enemies still hit you when you're trying to make critical jumps, and the Jaquio's not any easier to defeat!  But at least the adventures are the same, intact with those nifty cut-scenes, and revisiting them is certainly not a bad thing.

The stage layouts are identical to the original NES games, but both are exemplary examples of oldschool platforming action for either generation.  Will Mallia has mapped all of the Super NES trilogy and most of the NES trilogy - truly, few people can survive three ninja adventures (or even these games) - and Will Mallia braved them twice!

So to recognize the effort put into making these "ninjatastic" maps, Will Mallia's Ninja Gaiden Trilogy maps will be known as VGMaps.com's Maps of the Month for January 2008.

Discuss the Maps Of The Month here!