One of the co-founders of Westone is working on a new entry in the Wonder Boy series, which later became Wonder World, due out later this year on PC and PlayStation 4.

Westone Bit Entertainment’s Ryuichi Nishizawa, together with indie development studio Game Atelier, are aiming to produce a spiritual successor to the popular classic series from Sega, to be published by FDG Games.

The game, dubbed Monster Boy and the Wizard of Booze, will feature classic 2D side-scrolling action adventure gameplay just like the Monster World series. The protagonist is a brave boy who can change appearance and gain some new skills to help him navigate the world.

The project was initially pitched as Flying Hamster 2, a more in-depth follow-up to Game Atelier’s popular side-scrolling shooter Flying Hamster, but after securing a deal with the publisher, the studio canceled the crowdfunding campaign and left things hanging.
We're getting a new Monster World game

Now, they revealed three images from the upcoming game, available in the gallery below, as well as a reinvented song that might sound familiar to some. They also pointed out that the main gameplay direction will remain the same as in the original pitch, with some alterations to suit the Monster World franchise, in order for the game to turn out just like an official entry in the series.

That means that the protagonist will no longer be a hamster, but there will be a ton of additions, including new and exciting backgrounds, new transformations, and a huge open world.