12. Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap
I played the original version of this back in 2010 or so, and this is very much the same game under the hood. What an awesome port, though! It would have been cool enough to see the original running at 60fps and in widescreen (and this provides options to do that), but the drastic aesthetic overhaul here is gorgeous. Environments are the biggest improvement, imo: the original had many backgrounds that were extremely basic and repetitive in the original game, but these same areas now become massive, distinct, and memorable backgrounds with all sorts of detail and neat depth tricks. Most of the character sprites look way better, too, generally maintaining their original form's cuteness (generally) while getting way more fluid animation and even new animation logic (like the various forms of the main character now getting a "turn around while running" animation). Great renditions of the soundtrack, too!
This is a new high bar when it comes to re-releases of old 2D games. The tech here is masterful, M2-level stuff, the options are plentiful, and the new coat of paint could have easily been fucked up yet they nailed it.
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