As I played through Asha in Monster World, there was one question I kept asking myself: Why does this game exist?

The original Monster World IV was released exclusively for the Japanese market on Mega Drive in 1994, but fan translations as well as official western ports made accessible via online services for 7th gen consoles and the Genesis Mini has gained it global recognition as one of the console pinnacles.

Monster World IV has many things going for it. It's one of the best looking games on the Mega Drive, has excellent soundtrack and fun platforming+combat physics. A few areas of improvements such as revamped boss fights and more save points could have been added, but overall it is an excellent game. How does one recreate an already competent title?

I think the development team (which mainly seem to consist of former members of Wetstone that created the original) had three good options here:

1. Release the original game but with some improvements and optional modes (similar to Sega Ages release of Wonder Boy in Monster Land)
2. Remake the game in a completely new manner, be it a 3D-remake, an Action-JRPG interpretation or something completely different
3. Make a sequel

Sadly enough, they went with option 4: a remake almost identical to the original game but recreated in a new engine. This is a really weird decision for a game that by no means suffered from its hardware limitations in terms of graphics and sound. And the ironic part is that the game actually turn out worse in almost every area compared to a 27 year old game.

The graphics are underwhelming, with character animations and movement feeling stiff and assets uninspired. This isn't helped by constant frame drops. The musical reinterpretations of the original tracks feel constrained by budget limitations, with the poor flute performance in the Ice Pyramid theme and a cheap piano version of the Sky Castle theme being notable examples.

Worst of all, the recreation of the game in a new engine hurts the gameplay experience, with the collision physics and hitboxes being the primary offender. You basically bounce off every enemy you touch in a way that makes the moment to moment gameplay frustrating, and once stunlocked me for 2 minutes in a boss battle with many enemies.

In the end, the result is a game that looks, sounds and plays worse than its origin. And even if all was well made, this would still just be a pretty rendition of an already existent and fully enjoyable Mega Drive classic that no one asked for.

The concept of the faithful remake has become really destructive to the video game medium, since it simultaneously discourages developers to put resources into preservation of classic games (by remaking them instead of releasing the originals with QoL-features) and makes them prioritise remakes over actually doing something new and interesting with classic franchises.

On a positive note, this seem to be an exception for the Wonder Boy/ Monster World-franchise. The recent Monster Boy from 2018 was a new title in the series, and the Wonderboy III-remake was faithful, but in this case it was of a game with excellent gameplay but a dated graphical profile.

Hopefully, Asha in Monster World is just a deviation.